My littlest monkey is currently obsessed with krakens.  Well, krakens, octopuses (I thought the plural of octopus should be octopi, but apparently not), squid and all things cephalopod. 

So, to try and keep him entertained for a while, we went for a visit to The Deep in Hull.

If you don't know about The Deep, it's a massive aquarium with over 3000 creatures including sharks, sawfish, ray fish, sea turtles, jellyfish and much more.  They've even got penguins!  They've got pretty much everything except an octopus...

For more info on The Deep, click HERE. 

We hadn't visited since not long after it opened about 16 years ago, but to be honest it seemed pretty much the same - only in my mind it had been bigger the last time.  The place was still packed, the restaurant still crowded and noisy and the ticket prices were still an arm and a leg.  Although they do last for a year - handy if you're local, but not so much when you're over an hours drive away.

Reading that back all sounds super negative, but I'm a grumpy dad - we love to moan!  Apart from that, my little dude loved it.  Although I think he loved the gift shop most of all - he managed to fleece me in there too! 

After a couple of hours there, we went for a wander round town to see the sights and grab some food.  We also called into the Hull Maritime Museum and gazed at the exhibits - the most impressive being a massive whale skeleton and also a couple of polar bears.  There's lots of fishing heritage in there and a staggering amount of memorials of sailors lost at sea.  Quite heartbreaking to see - especially when a lot of them were younger than my eldest.

My other half used to live in Hull as a student, and we followed her idea to search for the smallest window in England.  We ended up having to Google it and found it about 2 minutes walk from where we were!  I was initially disappointed it didn't match the image I had in my head, but had to admit it was kinda cool.



That's enough waffling - here are some snaps.

Gear used: Fujifilm XPro2, Fuji 18mm.

A handful of weeks ago I had the awesome pleasure of nipping up to Harrogate to photograph the wedding of Kelly and Dale.

The day started with bridal prep at the Castle Inn - a lovely village inn on the hight street of Spofforth.  This was by far the most intimate bridal prep I've ever had, with less than a handful us of all together in the room.  After a couple of hours of laughs and trying-not-to-be-seriousness, I jumped back in the car and headed two minutes down the road to the couple's home to grab a few pics of the groom and the kids.  I say two minutes down the road - my satnav took me two miles down the road before suggesting I did a u-turn - their house was literally less than a minutes drive away from the inn!

After a few snaps at the house, it was into the car again and over to Harrogate to Bilton House for the ceremony. 

The happy couple rocked the vows like superstars!

After the kisses had been kissed and cheers finished cheering, we popped out onto The Stray for a few snaps, before heading on to the reception venue.

The rest of the day was held at The Bingley Arms in Bardsey - Britain's oldest pub.  It's not every day you walk into a pub and see a suit of armour standing in the corner! 

The rest of the day was spent in good company, with good food and a good old knees up, with lots of laughs. 


Cheers you two - you were both awesome! 


Here are a few images from their day. 

We fancied a little trip to the seaside last week, so we jumped into the Adventure Mobile™ and headed for the coast.

We started with a chilled out walk round Staithes before heading down to Whitby for fish and chips and then on to Saltwick Bay to visit the shipwreck of the Admiral Von Tromp.


A proper chill out in the fresh seaside air.


Here's some snaps.

For more info on the mystery of the Admiral, click HERE.

Gear used:  Fujifilm X100F.

A handful of weeks ago, I had the awesome pleasure of heading over the hills to Stockport once again to shoot the wedding of Rachel and Nick. 

The entire day was spent at the lovely Mottram Hall.

I'd photographed Rachel's sister's wedding a while back, so meeting up with everyone again was like a little re-union.  By that, I mean I got picked on by a room full of women once again!  ;-) 

The day started with bridal prep.  As usual, this consisted of too many people in too small a room all falling over each other!  Prep is always a good laugh though, and this one didn't disappoint. 

Apart from boiling to death. 

The morning drizzle had morphed into a blazing sunshine filled day - which is all good and well, unless you're in a bedroom with about 12 others! 

The day soon flew by and before we knew it the registrars were knocking on the door, and after doing the legal bits, we headed down for the main event.

Nick was waiting patiently, and soon enough his beautiful bride came down the aisle.

They vowed, they laughed, they married, they kissed, we cheered.

The happy couple had tied the knot like a boss.

The rest of the afternoon was spent drinking, eating, singing, laughing and loving.  With a couple of speeches thrown in the mix. 

I'm pretty sure the Viking drinking horns were the star of the show though!

The evening crept in and it was soon time for cutting the cake and hitting the dancefloor.  And I'll tell you one thing - the love between these two was brighter than the DJ lights.

Thanks for having me guys - you were both awesome!



Here are a few images from their day.

A few weeks ago I had the awesome privilege of photographing the wedding of Lucinda and Luke over in Huddersfield.

The entire day was held at the lovely Old Golf House Hotel.

The day started with bridal prep - which was the usual mix of fun and the awkwardness of a strange man taking pictures of people getting dressed!  After getting over the confusion of everyone calling the bride a different name, we had more fun than awkward though.
Pretty soon the couple's girls came in to keep us all on our toes too!

The time flew by, and before you knew it - it was time for the main event.
Luke was waiting patiently (and a little nervously) at the end of the aisle waiting for his bride.  As you can see from the photos - he had his hands full too!
His wait was worth it though - pretty soon Lucinda appeared and she looked absolutely stunning.
The registrars did their thing, and pretty soon the vows were spoken, rings were on fingers and the blessing was sealed with a kiss to the cheers of everyone there.
The happy couple left the room as man and wife. 

A very smiley, happy husband and wife!

The rest of the day blew by filled with love, happiness, smiles, laughs and hugs.  And a few more kisses.  And a few more drinks!  There were also some pretty emotional speeches thrown in to bring a few tears to the eye.  Not mine though - I just had something in my eye...


There was some pretty awesome dancefloor action squeezed in at the end of the night too!

Congrats to you both guys - your day was absolutely awesome.

Here are a few snaps from their day.

After seeing lots of articles the last few weeks regarding the 75th anniversary of the crash landing of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in Sheffield, we decided to head on down there for a little family walk and visit the spot dedicated to the 10 USAF Airmen that lost their lives that day.

The story has garnered lots of media attention recently, after a journalist spotted Tony tending the memorial and listened to his story.  Posting the info on social media, the attention received was staggering and a memorial flyby was held on the 22nd February - 75 years after the crash in 1944.
Unfortunately, we couldn't get to visit for the flyby, but about 10,00 others did - including relatives of the air crew.  The sight must have been awesome!

Tony had been playing in the park with friends that day, as the battle damaged B-17 bomber appeared low over the rooftops searching for a place to land.  Seeing the children on his hopeful landing spot, the pilot eventually crash landed in the trees, resulting in the loss of all on board.  The pilot, Lieutenant John Kriegshauser, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery in minimising the loss of life through his actions.
The 'Mi Amigo' was returning from it's mission to Aalborg, Denmark, where it had come under attack from German Focke-Wulf fighters - resulting in heavy damage and 3 mortally wounded crew members.  The pilot and copilot managed to navigate back to England through terrible weather conditions, but suffered engine failure over Sheffield, forcing them to land.

Tony has tended to the crash site since 1953, after learning the significance of the crash and how the pilot had spared the children's lives at the expense of their own.  In 1969, a memorial was built by the RAF to honour the airmen.  Tony has selflessly tended to the area almost daily ever since.

On our visit, we'd been at the memorial for only a few minutes before Tony himself approached us through the trees.  We weren't expecting to see him, but we were so glad we did.  It was an honour to shake the hand of this gentleman.
He also posed for a photo with my little Sea Cadet, who wants to join the Navy when he's older.  Such an awesome memory for him to treasure.

When asking about Tony's personal wreath laid at the back of the memorial, he told us that that's also the place reserved for his ashes to be laid when he passes.  That certainly brought a tear to the eye.  What an amazing man.

A few more snaps.

We left Tony to be interviewed once again and carried on our little walk.

Endcliffe Park is a lovely place to visit.  Even on a gloomy, rainy February day (typically it was red hot the day before we went!)

For more info on the place, click HERE.



Some more snaps from our walk.

Gear used: Fujifilm X100F

The little monkey had been nattering us to take him for a picnic, so earlier this week we headed over the hills to revisit Dovestone Reservoir.

Dovestone sits at the edge of Saddleworth, on the Manchester side of the Moors at the edge of the Peak District.  It's a lovely, chilled out walk round.  For some info, click HERE.

The weather was a bit dull, but a few glimpses of blue kept our hopes up, and we explored a few bits we'd not seen before.  A little picnic kept the monster happy and all was well until half way round.  The bit dull turned to very dull, and then to complete downpour for the rest of the walk.  We sheltered in the trees for a bit, but still got absolutely drenched by the time we got back to the car!

We still had fun though.  And Mr Little Legs walked the entire route without a single complaint.  That's deffo one for the books!

Here are some snaps. 

Gear used:  Fujifilm X100F

The weather's been miserable again, but we donned our jackets and went deer spotting for an hour to get out of the house.

I'd only recently learned that these were close by, so stuck the camera in the bag and went for some snaps. 

These were a bit rushed - as my 4 year old is not the most patient companion, so hoping to return soon for some more.

Gear used:  Fujifilm XPro2, 50-230.

Christmas is over, everything is back to normal and it's pretty safe to say that everyone has the rubbish-weather-post-Christmas-blues.  So, we decided to remedy this by nipping to Scarborough for some fish n chips!

It was a proper flying visit - we basically drove there, walked on the seafront, had some chips, walked down the harbour and marina, went in the arcade, walked back along the beach and drove home!

The weather was half decent for us - it wasn't too cold, but the wind made it colder.  It stayed dry all day though. 
It was also surprisingly busy - I guess plenty of others were clinging onto that holiday feeling! 


Here are some snaps.

Gear used:  Fujifilm XPro2, 35mm 1.4

Following on from last weeks duties, today saw my little Sea Cadet took part in the South Elmsall Armistice Day Parade.
The day started with a grey gloomy sky, which soon turned into a good ol' British drizzle.  All the representing cadets were outstanding regardless of the weather.  The mix of uniforms was a sight to behold as they marched down the main street. 
Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, Air Cadets, Yorkshire Rose First Aid Society, Town Council members, Royal British Legion and local schools all paraded proudly and brilliantly accompanied by the Carlton Main Frickley Colliery Band and escorted by a solo RBL Rider.  (Apologies if I missed anyone).

And here, in all their glory, are our outstanding Sea Cadets.  Proud parent time for all of us watching.

David Lee Evans
Father
Son
Husband
Brother
Marine

26/3/1972 - 11/4/2018