As many of you know, I'm heading back to the UK today for the winter, and will probably stay there until Spring. Libby and I and the kids have spent most of our time in Bulgaria over the last three years, but this year we decided to head back to Blackpool. I love the Bulgarian winters, but they're just too much hard work. Well, if you have other work to do at least. So it's back to Blackpool, and central heating, and our office, and the convenience of living in a town. It won't be the same, but it will make life a lot easier.

Libby and the kids flew back a fortnight ago tomorrow, but I'm driving back, along with a huge pile of suitcases, two small dogs, several camera bags and flight cases, and a whole pile of other stuff.

By the time your read this (it's set to auto-post) I should be somewhere near the Romanian border with Hungary. After that it's two more days back to the UK. I can't say I'm looking forward to the drive, but it will be good to get home: it's being very strange packing up the house on my own.

I'll be posting updates on Facebook as we travel along (sim card permitting), but if that doesn't work I'll post something when I get back.

In the meanwhile here's my last shot from Bulgaria: taken this summer during our week on the Black Sea Coast with Libby's parents.

This was taken earlier this year en route from Dubai to our Faces and Places Photo Tour in Oman, and I thought it was fitting to post today as I've been thinking about my upcoming trip back to the UK: an altogether different journey.

Libby and the kids are already there, and I'll be driving over on the 15th, and while I can't say I'm looking forward to the journey - it's going to be a long three days - I'll be glad to see them all.

It's been a while since I posted an iPhone shot so I thought I'd put this one up. It was shot with Hipstamatic, using my favourite lens/film combo: Chunky lens and Ina's 1935 film, and then processed in CS6 to produce a more muted effect.

I posted a version of this shot earlier today on Instagram (and Facebook and Twitter) but decided it was worth blogging too. It's a shot of Harmony, just before she headed off to her end of year graduation party at school. It was taken using Hipstamaticthen tweaked in CS6.

This is the last image I'll be posting before I head off to our Venice Carnival Photo Tour on Monday: a pentaptych of this set of promotional cigarette cards. The text reads "2012 delights for the new year" and each card offers you a chance to win an iPod, Zippo lighter, and so on.

What interested me about these is that they're very typical of Bulgarian advertising: i.e. using scantily-clad women to sell ... well, pretty much everything now I think about it. Later in the year, after Venice, GPP, and our Faces and Places Tour to Oman, I'm going to make a systematic attempt to document more of these advertisements.

In the meanwhile though, do let me know what you think of this one.

Here's the last of my diptychs from Istanbul, and while it's not my favourite of the eight I've posted, I do like it.

On that note, could you let me know if you a) found this series interesting, and b) which, if any, was your favourite of the set. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

This is the penultimate image in this short series of diptychs from Istanbul: two consecutive frames found on a wall quite close to our hotel.

Here's the sixth Istanbul diptych, which continues the musical theme from the previous one. And in case you're wondering, these items were glued to the outside wall of a cafe, along with quite a few other 45s, old cassettes and other bits of musical ephemera.

While yesterday's image was the most abstract in this short series of diptychs from Istanbul, this is probably the least, and I almost didn't include it as a result. In the end though, even though I'm not quite sure it fits with the rest of them, I decided to include it: there's just something about this one that I really like.

Here's the third diptych from Istanbul. Both shots are reflections in a shop window, and you may recognise the one on the right from this shot.

As always, let me know what you think.

In other news ...

I'm running a Creating Dramatic Images photography and post-production workshop in Blackpool (May 19th-20th). Even if you can't attend, take a look at the gallery from the last workshop (just scroll about half way down the page). There's some great images.

I was going to post another Istanbul diptych today, but as it was -23.8°C this morning – the coldest weather I've ever experienced – I thought I'd post this one instead: another Hipstamatic shot, taken yesterday morning from our lounge window.

As you can see from the original, this one was edited, mostly to change the colour balance – I wanted the scene to seem colder – but also to modify the border. And I know that these Hipstamatic shots aren't to everyone's taste, but I am pleased with how this one turned out.

This is the second of the eight diptychs I mentioned, shot in Istanbul in November. Both these images are almost consecutive (there was just one frame between them).

As with the previous one, let me know what you think.

I've posted quite a few Hipstamatic shots from my trip to Istanbul last November, but have a whole load more that I also like but didn't post as I didn't think they were sufficiently compelling to stand on their own. I did ponder posting a gallery of the whole lot (probably on google+) but looked through them again over the weekend and realised that there was sufficient similarities, either in terms of style or content or both, to pair them up.

As a result I now have eight diptychs, most of which are broadly similar to this one: small scale, partially abstract, and similar in both tone and contrast (they were all shot with the Chunky lens and Ina's 1935 film).

I should also add that while all of them have had some additional processing in Photoshop (to balance them to each other, in terms of both contrast and tone), none of them have been cropped or had any changes to their content.

Anyway, if nothing else, it's a change – I haven't produced all that many diptychs in the past, and have posted even fewer of them – so let me know what you think.

There's no cash prize, but heaps of kudos to the first person who can correctly identify both the scale and content of this shot.

This is the first of two iPhone shots I'll be posting this weekend: another Hipstamatic shot from Istanbul, taken using the Chunky lens and Ina's 1935 film. Unlike some of the other Hipstamatic shots I've posted this one was altered in Photoshop, but only slighty (using a single curve to add a bit more contrast and lighten the shadows). Other than that though it's pretty much a straight shot.

Here's another iPhone/HIpstamatic shot taken during my recent trip to Istanbul, taken with the Chunky lens and Ina's 1935 film.

And in case you're wondering, it's a canvas, leaning outwards onto the window of a shop.

This is my second iPhone shot of the weekend, and probably one of my favourite Hipstamatic shots from our recent Faces and Places Photo Tour to Istanbul. There are two main reasons I like it. First, because I like the end result, but secondly, because it typifies why I like shooting with Hipstamatic.

As I've mentioned before, when shooting with Hipstamatic you choose a lens and film combination, each of which has specific characteristics, before you take the shot, and in this case I used the oddly named Roboto Glitter lens and the Pistil film (which added the cross-processed look).

Personally, I find this great way of shooting as all the decisions regarding framing, appearance, mood, and so on need to be taken in advance, freeing you to concentrate on simply getting the shot. And I know I've said this before, but if you have an iPhone, get hold of a copy of Hipstamatic, it's a great little app.

On a different matter, I've just launched our new photography and post-production blog and would be really grateful for some feedback on my first entry. Head on over and take a look.

This is the first of two iPhone shots I'll be posting this weekend, both of which were taken with Hipstamatic.

Unlike tomorrow's image though, which is a straight shot, this one was fairly heavily edited, mostly because it was very flat, but also because I decided that the colour version didn't work that well. Both problems, if I think about it, were entirely my own fault as I used the Chunky lens (which adds 'light leaks', thereby lowering the contrast) and the Ina's 1935 film (which adds a range of rich, warm tones).

Anyway, while both choices seemed like a good idea at the time, during the editing I decided that I'd have been much better off choosing a lens/film combo that added contrast and either no colour, or colder colours, as both seemed to suit this image a lot better.

As for what it is: I suspect it's fairly obvious but, if not, feel free to guess :)

While yesterday's image was a straight shot (well, straight out of Hipstamatic at least), today's was edited to add a mild increase to the saturation and contrast.

What is also worth mentioning, and this goes back to what I was saying yesterday about the way in which the lens and film combo you choose in Hipstamatic affects the appearance of the final image, is that the original scene was pretty much black and white. In other words, the colours (red, green and yellow) and the apparent lens flare around the top left corner of the gibbet, are artefacts added by Hipstamatic.

On a related note: it's a while since I attempted to post an image a day (2006 or thereabouts), but I thought I'd give it another go this year. I'll be mostly posting stuff from 2011 for the rest of this month and new material thereafter. I also thought I'd reserve the weekend for iPhone images.

Anyway, all that aside, let me know what you think of this image and/or Hipstamatic. I'm a big fan of the app (and other lo-fi camera apps on the iPhone), but you may well have a different view.

Oh, and this one was shot using the Chunky lens and Ina's 1935 film.

This was taken using my current favourite camera app on the iPhone, Hipstamatic. If you're not familiar with Hipstamatic, it allows you to choose a lens and film, both of which have specific characteristics. For example, the 'Chunky' lens (one of my favourites) simulates the light leakage you might get with a 'toy' camera, while the different films all have their own peculiarities. Ina's 1935, for example, adds a range of red, yellow and green tones depending on the tonal range and balance of the original scene.

The thing I really like about Hipstamatic though, and this is what sets it apart from a lot of the other 'toy' camera apps, is that you need to decide which lens and film you're going to use BEFORE you take the shot. In other words, you need to have some understanding of the different lens and films in order to work out approximately how the shot will appear. For me this is a much better / more creative way of working than simply clicking a whole heap of filter or preset buttons once the shot has been taken.

If you're interested, this shot of a traffic cone was taken using the John S lens and the Pistil film.

As always, let me know what you think.