Where in the World: January - March 2026

Starting off the New Year was quite quiet for me - relaxing at home, making the most of the dry intermittent weather and working my job.

January for me started off with some gorgeous frost and almost snow. I got to experiment with my flash (Canon 580 EX II) to capture the temporarily frozen world before it melted again.

I also tried out the flash on different flowers and plants.

Remember that photography is a process and, certainly with digital photography, you can experiment with different techniques as much as you like. Some work, and some techniques don't but that is part of the fun of it.

As well as experimenting with different flash speeds and strengths, I also found an old film camera at home. It took APS film, which, I very quickly realised was only available on certain sites as expired film. There were some interesting results.

As far as I know, any 35mm, APS and other types of film only have an expirary date bescause that is how long the manufacturer can gaurentee the colours/black and white chemicals of that film. However, if the film is kept in a dry cupboard, out of direct sunlight (or even in the fridge apparently) then it can still maintain some of its colour.

I had APS film that expired in late 1990's and early 2000s. One of the films had a red vignette around the edge of most of the photos, which I found very interesting. The other film just had a slight tainted colouring to the photos.

It was fun having a film camera, but I very much struggled with it. I much prefer digital photography at the moment, but I do have another roll of film to try.

February passed into March and soon, there was a break in the weather. The spring flowers began to show themselves and many stood tall and proud, if not a bit splattered from the recent rain we had.

As much as I enjoy the winter months with the snow, ice and cold weather, there is something incredibly joyous and hopeful about new spring flowers.

Over the next little few months, I really look forward to getting out in the sunnier, brighter days, especially those days when the birds are singing loudly and the flowers are out.