by Steve Tanham
The River Kent forms a natural heart to the village of Sedgwick. The river has many faces. In 2015 it saw some of the worst floods in the region’s history. But most of the time, it’s peaceful and beautiful. It has some special moods, but you have to be there to photograph them. Not a matter of skill, rather right place at the right … Read More Time, place and lens
by Steve Tanham
Our two-week trip, ending in the Hebridean Island of Lewis, was coming to an end. The following morning, we would be on a ferry from Stornoway to Ullapool, then a fast route directly to Inverness, where we could pick up the main A9 to Perth, stopping in a travel motel, before setting off early for Cumbria and home. We decided to spend our last … Read More A Hebridean Diary (6-end) Great Bernera
by Steve Tanham
Norfolk and Cumbria are both famous for having ‘big skies’. I’m sure there are others, but over the years, I’ve had the best summer sky shots from these two places – each one vast in its own right. August has long been my favourite month for shooting photos of such splendour. The one above was taken near where we live, on the edge of … Read More August skies
by Steve Tanham
Coughton Court in Warwickshire, fifteen miles from Stratford-on-Avon, is the ancestral home of the Throckmortons, one of the UK’s oldest catholic families and a place of great intrigue during the time of religious persecution. It still possesses some of the best concealed ‘priest holes’ in the country. It also boasts a beautiful walled garden, worth visiting in its own right… The name Coughton (pronounce … Read More In the gardens of Coughton Court…
by Steve Tanham
We’ve known each other for just over a decade, though the oak has lived for at least ten times that. It’s a tree and a very special place in the landscape. It’s conveniently at the end of our shorter dog-walk, so I get to see it in all seasons. This time of year is mellow, and the colours in the landscape reflect that. Soon, … Read More The Oak and I
by Steve Tanham
From the road that curls around the small hills on the way to the beach at Reef, in the Uig district of Bhaltos, it looks like a large cairn. The second time we drove by we saw the noticeboard and stopped to take a closer look. We climbed up the path to find a beautiful and touching monument on the hilltop, whose design was … Read More A Hebridean Diary (5) When power is unchecked
by Steve Tanham
“You might wonder,” said our guide. “Why the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) would spend £112 million on a completely new interior for its world-famous theatre, only to leave in place these scruffy wooden boards… Looking at me, he continued: “Do you realise, Sir, you are treading the same boards that creaked beneath the stage shoes of Lawrence Olivier, Richard Burton David Tenant and Dame … Read More A photo tour of the RSC (1) Treading the Boards
by Steve Tanham
We had wondered about the real nature of this landscape. On this our third day on the Hebridean Island of Lewis, we paid a long-anticipated visit to Callanish, the place of the famous stones – though the main site is not a stone circle. There, I came across a sign that perfectly described the rather barren landscape all around us. The sign read: Welcome … Read More A Hebridean Diary (4) The Drowned Lands
by Steve Tanham
We had gone to bed early – exhausted by the journey from Poolewe to Uig. What felt like a full night later, I woke, refreshed, to find the sun streaming through the bedroom curtains… Not a sight we were used to on this trip. I smiled. It’s always nice when something really special ‘just happens’ on your birthday. Ahead of me was a day … Read More A Hebridean Diary (3) Of Coats and Kings
by Steve Tanham
The tree on the right marks the farthest point the setting sun reaches on its solstice progression across the ridge beyond the garden. From the dark wood lattice of winter, through the joyous green spring, to the fullness of summer, I never tire of standing outside the house and attempting to capture a little of its evening splendour… Falling away, now, as it nears … Read More Falling from Solstice
by Steve Tanham
The day was already old by the time the ferry from Ullapool had docked at Stornaway. We had been warned that shops were few and far between on the Hebridean island of Lewis and advised to take advantage of the supermarkets in the capital. The no-sunday trading laws imposed by the ‘Wee Free’ Presbyterian church were in force across the island, and we were … Read More A Hebridean Diary (2) Long road to Uig
by Steve Tanham
A rocky height of towering truth A hundred years of blood and sacrifice Laid waste in haste to crown a naked lie Where courtiers smile like truth and gloat Up among the goat-men at the throat Once taken, that first step reflects The once-fine earth, which now collects Within the wheels of grasping greed Old boys, less good, embrace the skin Beneath the hooves … Read More Beneath the horns of goats and men
Sun in Gemini 
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