Day 3

Ok so day 3 not that that's the 3rd day in a row.  I quite stupidly it never occurred to me I should be doing this like couch to 5k so about half way I rode for 1min then stopped for 30sec this made it much easier. I'm thinking I may use a C25k program build it up from there. So I did 15min and 3.56miles.

Day 2

10min and 2miles

Turbo Trainer the start

After a facebook plee a friend had lent me a Jet black fluid turbo trainer. This has the desired effect of being much quieter than previous attempts with a magnetic trainer. So my first go was tonight, I was only able to do 5min and complete 1.36miles. Poor show. But then remember there is no costing or freewheeling available with a turbo trainer so it's like solid hills. I really hope this works and allows me to me flying at the start of the next season.

Children Hunting

This is hard one and I think it is more an issue for the parents than the children.  It goes back to my previous post on Paradigms and your own belief structure.  I personally believe that children who are exposed to hunting have a much more healthy connection to animals and nature.

That being said I'm still not sure that every child should be exposed to the act of killing another creature until they are ready.   This is obviously different for every child and it is up to the parents to gauge this. However wrapping your child in cotton wool is not healthy also.

I personally wouldn't let my children pull the trigger on an animal yet.  This is nothing to do with their age and everything to do with their education.   My children are from the inner city and have yet to fully appreciate the complexity behind the decision to take a life and I do not want to trivialise it.  I would however allow them to witness others doing this as part of that education.

This is debate that could go on for ever and is quite high on the agenda in my house at the moment.

A Townies Paradigm Shift

Before we start I think it would be a good idea just to explain what a Paradigm shift is.

Being a photographer I like to explain this using a camera lens as an example.  The way you view the world seems correct until you change the lens you view it through.  Changing the lens allows you to see things you never saw before and opens you up to new options and possibilities.

If you are brought up viewing the world in one way it is very hard to naturally understand why people do things in a different way to you and therefore and you will consider that that way to be wrong.  This built in to your personality and is a result of your education and upbringing.

Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another.

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS
HAVING A SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS
HAVING A HUMAN EXPERIENCE

I live in the town and never grew up with a paradigm of a Countryman, however I am doing my best to understand the reasons and motive behind field sports.  I do not have any trouble accepting the things they do, however I have come up against others who refuse to shift their paradigm.

The Typical Townie Paradigm,

Hunting is cruel and unnecessary, human beings do not hunt for food any more therefore people who hunt just love to kill animals for sport.  They use gun because they like shooting things, this is probably the best way to kill lots of things.  I do not know why they don't just leave the animals alone and enjoy them.  Killing is wrong, hunters a murderers.  I understand that some animals need to controlled but this can be done humanly by professionals using traps and poisons.

A True Countryman's Perspective,

I have barely even scratched the surface exposing the depths of the Countryman's Paradigm.  However From what I have seen a true Countryman loves nature and all of Gods creatures.  They consider what they do to be responsibility to maintain a balanced eco system  and to assist rural eccomony by providing pest control.   I have never personally seen a true Countryman take a life in vien or disrespect a life after it is taken.

There is quite obviously a big difference in these two perspectives, and feelings on both side run deep with conflicting myths and half truths.

I'm looking forward to learning the truth and perhaps educating other as I continue to shift my paradigm.

Field Sports Newbie,

It was just only 6 weeks ago that I had my first taste of the world of field sports.  I attended a Pass It On day mainly for the kids but also because I wanted to have a play with the guns and this was the first time I ever used an Air Rifle or shot gun.

Whilst I was growing up in the intercity, having an air rifle just simply wasn't even a consideration, however that's not to say I didn't want one and in fact I can still remember drawing up a design for one using a Coke bottle and some valves.  This was a little beyond my 8year old engineering skills at the time but I did make a succession of catapults, bows and cross bows.  Being from the town wanting or using such things just meant trouble, I mean why else would you have a weapon.  

However to this day I still look at a Rifle, Pistol, Knife, Bow etc and dont see anything scary, I just see a tool much like a hammer or a screw driver.  Yes a Rifle, Pistol, Knife can kill but so can a hammer or a screw driver, it just depend on the user and what you get that tool to do.

Anyway jumping forward to today, I am just getting into field sports.  I was so impressed with the Pass It On Event that I offered my services as Secretary which they accepted. It is through that Role and my growing friendship with The Old Hedge Creeper (Rob Collins) that I have got more interested and it has opened up my eyes to some new passions I never knew I had.  I am also now a member or the Famous, Wood SpringsPigeon Shooting and Wildfowling group too and the proud owner  a very nice Air Arms, TX200 MkIII and a Crossman 357 Pistol.

I am really looking forward to where this takes me and the things I will learn along the way.

So where do I go from here,

I can't run, I'm finding it hard to find the time to cycle. What am I supposed to do?

Bowing out gracefully

I wrote this in January of this year and did not want to post it until now. Today was my last weeding.

Bowing out gracefully.

I wanted to write this to prove that the events of the next 12months were all in my control and that I’m not one of those jokers who say “well that’s what I planned” after the event has transpired. In the past 12months my love of photography has faded to a mere interest due to the fact that it’s turned into a slog.

The market within the lower end of photography is overcrowded by people who jump in with no sense of the task involved. As these newbies do not understand what is required in providing a quality service they quote very low prices and scratch there head as to why other Pros charge so much. Once the enormity of task dawns on them they soon find themselves unable to cope and get out of the business, hopefully before they have done any damage but normally after they have made a huge mistake. Whilst you can look at this and think that there is some Darwin rule of natural selection going on and that the best rise to the top and are rewarded, the truth is that it is wrecking the whole industry.

Those photographers who operate within the lower end of the market (me being one) and who have spent thousands on equipment, insurance, do our taxes and invest our time in training are always brought down by this. Some would say “well what you need to do is moved into the higher end of the market” this is great advise, but don’t you think that every legitimate photographer from the lower end is trying to do the same thing and the mid/high end are have the same problem with have photographers who are punching above their weight.

The truth of the matter is that I pushed my paid work because I needed the money and that tainted my love of my hobby. In addition to this my time with the family is now more valuable to me than the amount people are willing to pay for my work.

So over the next year I plan to wind up my business, not to close it, as I may wish to return to it and to be honest I am still very proud of what I have achieved. The work I have booked for 2013 will be completed in the same exceptional standard and then in 2014 I will take a break from it to concentrate on some personal projects. To achieve this I will not be taking any bookings for 2014.  I  will also not engaged in social media as much and limit my networking.

This decision has not been made to cover the fact that I have failed or even that I have got bored but, merely that I want to love photography again and I cannot work at it and love it in this current market.

I cannot make it a chore and then covet my time with it.

Please note I have a good day job so can afford to make this decision, to those who have to do this to pay the bills, I have the utmost respect.

Good luck to you all.

New Goals....

I have been spending too much time not concentrating on the most important thing recently which is the weight loss.  Not sure why this was but I moved from being really concerned to not that worried about it mainly because I was training a lot.  I have read a lot of information recently and training flat out all year round is just crazy.  You need to keep a base of fitness and train for events or towards a goal.  As I have no events on the horizon then there is no reason to get obsessed by training.  Therefore my concentration is back on the weight loss.  This will obviously have its benefits when I pick the training up again as I will be lighter.  So time to set some goals.

Current Weight; 321lb

By August 19^th (Florida Holiday); 309lb

Let’s see how I get on.

My DIY Triathlon Plan!

The Plan not sure when Im going to get to do it, but had the idea in my head and just wanted to get the numbers down.

So the outline plan would be.

1. Drive the swimming pool with the bike.
2. Lock the bike up outside the pool.
3. Swim 750meters
4. Get changed into the cycling gear at the pool (T1)
5. Put towel etc in the car (T1)
6. Take bike and ride home around the cycle path 6.35miles
7. At home drop off bike and change into running shorts (T2)
8. Run back to pool 2.5miles
9. Get car and drive home :-)

I would imaged the total time would be just under 2hrs.  The pool opens at 8am on a weekend so I may have to be very pleasant to the wife and see if i can so it on a Saturday Morning.

ByeBye Nike Plus Watch - What do I get?

I have just sold the Nike+ watch for £90 on fleabay meaning that I have a budget of £86 to either purchase a dedicated watch or Bluetooth accessories for my iPhone apps.

If I had all the money in the world I would get the Garmin 910xt but don't so may have to stick to keeping it simple.

Watch ever I get it needs to be multisport,
Defiantly Running and Cycling, if possible swimming but I know this is too much ask so will settle for Run and Bike.

This is where I'm in a quandary because I am basically describing the iPhone but it does have flaws namely battery, and weather proofing.

What to do?

Being Honest.

I've floated between the 316-320lb weight for a while now but always just kept my weight at 316 on my apps. Today I took whatever weight the scales told me and put that down as my starting weight for my new push... That was 320lb so I'm, 320lb (22st 12lb) and that's the new me. whilst 4lb off my lowest, its still 20lb less than when I started this journey so that's great stuff really.


This Week Exercise,
Monday Run AM/Swim PM
Tuesday Bike AM
Wednesday Run AM
Thursday Bike AM
Friday Run AM

I may need to mix it up a bit as Vicci has got back into wanting to go to the GYM and there is only so many hours in the day.

This week I'm going to have a good week and do all of my training whilst really watching what I eat and drink. Would love to dip bellow the 316lb.

TTFN

New Go Pro.

Got a Gopro today and this is my first attempt at using it. Very Shakey also I recorded in 60ffs which killed my computer.

Better to lose 10lb of me that spend £1000 getting a 10lb lighter bike :-)

My total weight loss since October has been 24lb, not to be sniffed at but I have lost nothing in the past 3months.  This is mainly due to a lack of routine and not concentrating on my diet.  The good news to take from this is that I have maintained my weight and not put any one.  Ok time to step up and make a conscious effort to shed a few more pounds.  Not going to get stressed about it all there is no point, the weight is not the goal the weight is one of the side effects but on the other had the weight is important to performing better so it is a worth while thing to attack.  Better to lose 10lb of me that spend £1000 getting a 10lb lighter bike :-)

Road Bikes!

It was my first ride on a Road Bike today granted it was too small for me but still this little ride made me realise that this is one step too far for me at my current weight and. Whilst it was fast and light it was quite wobbly under me due to the skinny tyres and narrow handle bars and I just wasn't confident on the road. I think there is defiantly a road bike in my future but not yet maybe when I'm 4 Stone lighter.

Road Bike vs. Tri Bike for Triathletes - A Comparison

A great Video from Fit Werx, more can be found at http://www.youtube.com/user/FitWerx

My Plans, Please tell me I cant do it, It will be much more fun to when I prove you wrong.

Ok so the more I think about it, the more training for Triathlon seems like the best around cross training you can do.  I have drawn my line in the sand with this and told a few people my plans so its time to make a training plan.  My initial thoughts are that I will train for a Sprint Triathlon and then compete in a Super sprint for my first outing which will give me more confidence and allow me some energy left in the tank to deal with the stress of transition.  This seem quite logical to me.

So the distances I need to train for are, 750 metres (0.47 mi) swim, 20 kilometres (12 mi) bike, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) run.

Swim

I can do this already but will train up to 800meters and then work on speed and form.

Bike

The furthest I have ridden is 11.7miles so just short, I will train up to 15miles and once again work on cadence and technique.  I have the perfect opportunity to use the fairly flat cycle path for this.  I will then introduce road miles including hills up to 12miles.

Run

I have trained for and can run 5k, however due to my broken toe I will have to build back up.  I will start with getting a consistent 2miles under my feet 2times a week and then build up to the 5k closer to any event.  Running is the hardest for me due to my weight but I have run 5k so I know I can do it.

The one thing I haven’t mentioned here is diet, Im going to stick to my current diet and just cut out a few things.  I don’t like going crazy with my diet as it is far too easy to fall off the wagon and go completely the other way.  I have done this lots of times before and I want this change to last, so say good bye to the YOYO.

Losing weight or getting fit is not the goal here, training for a Triathlon is.  However weight and fitness will come I’m just happy that it’s not the focus.

Ok great just a few things to work on then.

Me Taken Tonight 29.04.13

Photo of me and my current build, I think I'm looking much better than before still a big way to go.

Mark This Day.....

Ok so I’m going to make a commitment now, In 2014 I will do a triathlon. Not an Iron man or even an Olympic distance event but a super sprint. I will do one listed as “Fun” this way I will not embarrass myself on my first outing. The distances are; 200m swim - 12.5km cycle - 2.5km run all do-able even with my current broken foot. So why next year and not this year? That’s simple this year is just nuts! I have photography jobs and other commitments which I cannot break and if I do it I want to do it properly. Also the only event is 1hr and 45min away convincing my wife and kids to travel that far to support me may take a year.

The events are run by UKTriathlon and the nearest is Henley on Thames http://www.uktriathlon.co.uk/henley/index.htm http://www.uktriathlon.co.uk Ok let’s see how I get on. TTFN

Two Jobs combined.

My two jobs came together on friday when I was asked to do some project shots some boilers I actually designed.

The final Shot looked like this,

The original looked like this which was a bit flat.

I used as remote flash and put it in different locations to pick out different elements.

I then combined them in photo shop.  PS this was all done with a compact camera with a hot shoe.

Flues at back Highlighted.

Important information about services.

To all of my past and future portrait clients, from the 1^st of June I will no longer be offering studio style portrait photography.  Whilst this has been the mainstay of my work since I founded my company, my style and the market for this type of work has changed and therefore maintaining the equipment and props required to develop it further are no longer viable.  Instead I will concentrate on environmental portraiture, which I can now offer with confidence on the back of the thousands of wedding images I have captured.

Due to the wonderful English weather this decision may prove to be seasonal however I plan to spend the next few months looking for interesting locations. So if you have any ideas please let me know.

I thank you all for your support and look forward to talking to you about any upcoming projects.

Neil Jump

Fun at the post office.

Moan for the day!

The market within the lower end of photography is overcrowded by people who jump in with no sense of the task involved. As these newbies do not understand what is required in providing a quality service they quote very low prices and scratch there head as to why other Pros charge so much. Once the enormity of task dawns on them they soon find themselves unable to cope and get out of the business, hopefully before they have done any damage but normally after they have made a huge mistake. Whilst you can look at this and think that there is some Darwin rule of natural selection going on and that the best rise to the top and are rewarded, the truth is that it is wrecking the whole industry.

Those photographers who operate within the lower end of the market (me being one) and who have spent thousands on equipment, insurance, do our taxes and invest our time in training are always brought down by this. Some would say “well what you need to do is moved into the higher end of the market” this is great advise, but don’t you think that every legitimate photographer from the lower end is trying to do the same thing and the mid/high end are have the same problem with have photographers who are punching above their weight.

Moan over for today.

01.03.13 Michele & Sam at Arnos Manor Hotel Bristol

Congratulations to Michele & Sam who were Married on 1st of March at Arnos Manor Hotel Bristol.  This was my first wedding of the year and I was really happy to start the year with such a lovely couple.  Below are a sample of some of the 604 images which were all fully edited and presented to happy couple.

To see all 604 images and purchase prints please go to their online gallery CLICK HERE