Happy New Year beautiful people!
I’m kicking off the new year with a series of talks on my recent exploratory expedition to the Pamirs Mountains in Tajikistan. More details below. If you’re in the area come say howdy ho 👋.
When I received a phone call from Tom earlier this year asking if I wanted to return to Central Asia and climb a new objective this summer I couldn’t say no. With only two days climbing out of a planned 12 during last year’s trip it felt like we had unfinished business in Central Asia.
As I write this newsletter the rain is drumming relentlessly against the climbing hut window here on the west coast of Scotland and I am feeling resigned that maybe, just maybe, the Scottish winter climbing scene is finally over.
This month I’m sharing the perfect film to get excited about Scottish winter skiing, a book to think differently about wealth and thoughts on how finding a mentor can appear in places least expected.
Winter is finally here and in full swing. I’ve been making the most of every opportunity to get out on the hill and practice my skills.
This month I’m sharing the perfect film to get excited about winter climbing, a book to get the most out of your ski touring and thoughts on why achieving your goals can take longer than you think.
So, I finally moved to Scotland and now happily ensconced on the East coast. I can’t believe I didn’t move sooner. I’m six miles from the sea and 20 miles from the Cairngorm Mountains. The outdoor fun potential here is limitless. I’ve come up here for a few months to shoot winter projects for Montane and Olympus and prepare for a guiding qualification.
Captured at Ciarngorms National Park on 02 Feb, 2019 by Alex Metcalfe Photography.
Trip report from the team’s exploratory climbing expedition in the Kuiluu Valley in the Tian-Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan.
The time in Kyrgyzstan was a real breath of fresh air and welcome relief to the ongoing drama of COVID for the team. As you can imagine the attitude towards the pandemic was relaxed over there, and it was in ways, a return to normality. Unfortunately, the trip did not go to plan with the team climbing only two days out of a planned twelve due to our basecamp being attacked.
I just got back from a mega training weekend in the Ogwen Valley and it was a very, very welcome break. Just being able to get out of the country, talk to new people and do a great deal of walking and climbing was a spiritual boost for me.
I think every photographer aspires for a magazine front cover shot and I finally landed my first on The Outdoor Writer Photographer Guild’s 2021 summer journal.
The British left many legacies following their withdrawal from South-East Asia after World War Two, for better or for worse. One of their more digestible memories was tea.
Well it’s been a busy month and May like the rest of this year seems to be slipping away at a terrifying pace.
I finally managed to get my hands on a version of my latest article for The Alpine Club in their March 2021 newsletter on how to take great images whilst climbing with your phone. Check it out!
I reached out recently to several friends and the good folks in the UKClimbing forums and asked them if they had any advice for someone going on their first expedition, in my case the Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan. Here’s what they suggested.
Building on my first article in this new series of photo essays I’ve begun to think more about what makes a makes a compelling photo essay and how like any good book or film, a photo essay requires a variety of angles and compositions to help draw the viewer in, maintain visual interest and deliver an engaging story.
With lockdown restrictions in the UK finally starting to ease from 13th April I was finally able to escape Buckinghamshire and make for the Peak District and some gritstone climbing.
Kyrgyzstan was always one of those countries on the periphery of my imagination. A land inhabited by fierce horsemen and towering snowy peaks. When several friends recently returned from climbing there telling tales of a land ripe for exploration I knew I had to go. My interest was piqued.
Finally, FINALLY! My online print store is up and running.
There's no social distancing required in the online store so feel free to fight over all the artwork you want.
To get you started, heres a code for 10% off your first order: SWEET10%OFF
There’s pretty much one thing on the menu at the station kitchen, meat. You can have it anyway you like, blue, raw or medium-rare. Just not well done.
On a cattle station in the Australian outback, where the nearest shop is a 110 mile drive, you have to make do with what you’ve got. Which just so happened to be 10,000 cattle on 50,000 acres of Australian bush.
One evening, when the sun low and our stomachs empty, we piled into the station ute and rattled out in search of dinner.
Pretty chuffed to hear I've been announced as the ‘Exposure’ category winner for Mountain Equipment's 2021 Winter Photo Competition with the above image of two rookie mountaineers caught in a storm on the Cairngorm Plateau in Scotland. I gave it the working title ‘Welcome to Scotland’.
Well, January flew by. Another year, and we’re still under lockdown here in the UK. I think everyone’s beginning to feel the strain now.
“I glanced around the sides of the pass hoping to spot Dinas Cromlech and the infamous Cenotaph corner. The site of our climb that day. A flash of movement caught my eye and I saw a cartwheeling figure tumble down the lower face to disappear from sight.”
You usually don’t have a lot of time to figure out what happened when you’re falling, but luckily this was a short one.
Well then, I am extremely stoked to hear I’ve just won the Austrian Alpine Club Best Portrait/ People Image of 2019 and also come runner-up in their First Time Entrant category for my image of Tom and Bobby ascending the South West ridge of the Weissmies in Switzerland at dawn.
In alpine climbing, the emphasis is to move, move, move.⠀
Time is against you, you've got to beat the midday sun and get down that glacier before everything starts to melt.⠀
Your mind and focus narrow down to singular actions; sling that flake, keep the rope tight, don't drop your ice axe!⠀
There aren't many chances to stop, sit down and drink in the incredible surroundings you're climbing in.⠀
When nighttime comes, she tells a different story. The pace slackens and the noise fades.⠀
That's probably why, on my final climb in Switzerland this Summer, sat above the Stockhorn biwak hut under a clear night sky and smoking a cigarette with my friend Kyle, I didn't really feel like going to bed.⠀
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Valais Alps. Switzerland 🇨🇭
Pretty sweet to find out that my first architectural shoot with OAO Architects has been published in New Zealand architecture magazine Renovate.
Piggybacking on my recent trip to Costa Rica, I’ve just landed my first national publication with a five-page spread in this month’s Wanderlust Travel Magazine.
Well, turns out my photos aren’t so bad. If you hadn’t heard, I’m pretty excited to say last month I won the Active Category in the Wanderlust Travel Photo of the Year 2017 awards at the Destinations Holiday and Travel Show with my shot of two mountaineers caught in a blizzard in the Cairngorms, Scotland.
Stoked to hear that I've won the Austrian Alpine Club (UK)'s best People/Portrait and General Image categories in their 2023 photography competition.
Read more about the results here.