I went to a food fair at the weekend, not something that immediately strikes one as a source of photographic wonder.   The fair was held in outdoors in brilliant sunshine complete with steel drum band and general entertainment.

It was one of those days when you shoot what you see, without much thought for content or theme.

However on reviewing the images I was struck by an idea.  There are lots of summer fetes, carnivals and concerts scheduled over the coming months.  Events at which normal everyday people make an effort, put on a performance or just simply get involved.

Rather than attempt to capture the essence of an event I've created a project called "Faces of Summer" - it’s all about people, there will be more to come over the months ahead.  (Click Here)

At the end of our garden runs a stream, along either side of which run a collection of trees.   These trees are home to a myriad of wildlife.  

There is nothing unusual about where we live in rural England, the most exotic visitor to the trees has been a woodpecker, the collared doves make a hell of a racket with their courting rituals and every time I see a Christmas card adorned with a Robin I am reminded of just how irritating their call can be in the evenings.

At the very top of an Elm tree is a crow's nest - no, not a nautical den made by adventurous children but a nest belonging to a real crow.  Each morning the local squirrel Taliban make attempts to raid the nest and each morning the crow fends them off.

The crows have now become over protective and now dive bomb perfectly innocent wood pigeons more interested in making little wood pigeons than eating crow's eggs.

This is proving fascinating to watch and a photographic challenge yet to be mastered.

The new pro lens arrived today, the same week that I got one of my favourite shots with Canon's trusty "nifty fifty" an extremely inexpensive 50mm f1.8 lens.  So, do you need the best equipment to get the best shots?   The answer is of course - maybe! 

The best equipment will not make you a good photographer.  Suitable equipment will help you achieve your aim of becoming a good photographer.  Understanding the tools of the trade and the technical processes involved will bring you closer still.  But there are three things that you need that you can't actually buy on the internet - no matter how hard you look. 

The first is patience - be it spending all day in a hide or pacing the sidelines on a wet Sunday.  The second is luck, all of the above can help mitigate against the obvious but nothing you do can stop the ref getting in the way or the sun being blocked by a passing bus.  And the third - the ability to see rather than just look.  To some that comes naturally, the rest of us merely aspire to be photographers.

I suspect it’s a bit like being a celebrity, everyone thinks they know you so everyone says hello.

But why, when the public think you are doing nothing, but you are in actual fact keeping a keen eye on what is happening, does someone always wander over and engage you in conversation as if they have known you for years and start off with... "Got any good shots?"

One day I'm tempted to say no, I only shoot bad ones! (Then again, sometimes that just happens!)

It’s all very well heading out to get that early morning shot.  You know the area, well, sort of and it’s an easy subject - sun rise, east coast. 

You get there before dawn, sit self consciously on a bench facing out to sea and wait... as the sun gently rises over your left shoulder. 

...don't assume that everywhere on the east coast faces east!