"Do not fear death so much but rather the inadequate life."

Bertolt Brecht

Many thanks to my good friend Craig Judd for the bulb, and while I think I'll probably shoot this one again – it's not quite what I was aiming for – I am happy with how it turned out.

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.

It's rare that I post unflattering portraits, but I couldn't resist this one: taken on Blackpool's North Pier last weekend.

I took this back in February during our Venice Carnival Photo Tour, and I've been meaning to post it for ages. For one reason or another though I didn't get around to it, and I'm glad I didn't as it's a really fitting shot to post today.

A few months ago Libby and I were asked if we would like to create a course for Udemy, a fairly new company specialising in high quality online video training on a whole range of topics. Their aim is to recruit "the world's top experts, including New York Times best-selling authors, CEOs, celebrities, and Ivy League professors", so were pleased to be asked.

Anyway, one thing got in the way of another, but we committed to providing a new course by the end of last month: The Art of Black and White Photography. We finished a bit early - I think we had around 12 hours to spare - but only because I spent pretty much every waking minute of the last few weeks working on it.

There's over five and a half hours of video, split into 16 lectures that cover four broad topics: how to best convert your images to black and white, how to make selective and targeted adjustments to the tonal range and balance of an image, a specific chapter on black and white portraiture, and another on how to tone your black and white images: all of which, other than toning, were techniques I used to add to add more impact to this shot.

If you'd like find out more about this course, and grab yourself an early bird discount, just click the link below:

The Art of Black and White Photography

Before you go though, if you're a current subscriber to our online tutorials, please check your email for our latest newsletter as we've sent you a special sign up offer.

I've also added this image as our latest Mini-PSD, so if you're subscribed to our tutorials you'll be able to download it and take a look at the various steps I worked through: a black and white conversion, involving two blended channel mixer adjustments, and six Curves adjustments to make global and selective changes to different sections of the image.

This was snapped in Venice during our recent photo tour to the Venice Carnival.

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 my sixth and final shot from our balloon trip over the desert near Dubai, and one of my favourites of the set. As you'll see, if you take a look at the original, it's a combination of two separate images rather than a single frame. My reason for combining the two is because I simply couldn't get the shot I wanted: I was jammed up against the section of the basket next to the pilot, trying to grab shots with a 15mm fisheye without getting in his way - hoping that I'd get a close up of one of the gas bottles that included his hand. I didn't. Initially, I processed the main shot without his hand, but the more I looked at it the more I realised that it just wasn't the same without his hand: the scale and context were more difficult to determine, it lacked a human element, and so on. So, I borrowed his hand from the frame after next and pasted it in. Let me know if you think it works.

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7.25am on 11/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye f/4.0 1/25 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 800 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 1x1

This was taken during a visit to a small pottery workshop during our Faces and Places Photo Tour to Oman. It's also the image I've added as this week's Mini-PSD, not so much because it's a stunning image from the outset (it isn't), but because the change between the original and final image is dramatic.

During our recent Faces and Places Photo Tour to Oman Bobbi gave a great presentation on focal length and portraiture, the short version of which is that somewhere around 85mm on a full-frame camera is best for head and shoulder portraits and 135mm for tight head shots, as these produce the most flattering and natural results.

She also mentioned that you shouldn't shoot portraits with wide-angle lenses as they distort the perspective, making items nearer to the camera (e.g. noses) seem unnaturally large. A little later that day, while shooting with my 15mm fisheye, I shot a few images to demonstrate this point: this one, and another that I'll post tomorrow.

So, here's Bobbi (left) and Issa, demonstrating that fisheye portraits, while fun, are most certainly not flattering :)

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11.04am on 16/3/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye f/8.0 1/15 aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 Topaz Detail 1x1

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.

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.

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.

This was taken from the roof bar of the Four Points Sheraton hotel on Sheik Zayed Road in Dubai, the location from which I shot one of my favourite night shots in Dubai. Unlike that shot though, which was all about capturing as much detail as possible, this one was an attempt to create a slightly different impression: shallow depth of field, the reflections in the glass, and so on. I don't think it's anywhere near as successful as the previous image but, as an alternative way of capturing the location, I am pleased with how it turned out.

Let me know what you think.

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7.47pm on 15/11/11 Canon 5D Mark II EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM 24mm f/2.8 1s aperture priority +1/3 evaluative 100 no RAW Camera Raw Photoshop CS5 none 1x1

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 :)