Author Archives: Andrew
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Onward to Bukhara
Our day starts with the long drive from Samarkand to Bukhara. As I now expect, it’s a modern, divided multi-lane highway. There are no craters (so a distinct notch up on Mongolia) although in places the surface has been repaired … Continue reading
More Mausoleums
We skip the dawn shoot because it’s raining again, albeit not as dramatically as the previous day. I got some stick over dinner from the non-Brits for my use of the BBC Weather App, but they then have to acknowledge … Continue reading
Train To Samarkand
We have an early start to catch the train to Samarkand. The name romantically conjures an elderly steam train, or maybe an elegant Pullman service along the lines of the Orient Express, but of course it’s actually a modern electric … Continue reading
Very Important, or Very Naughty!
Over breakfast I meet Mehmet, the tour leader, and then Ingrid, the final guest in this rather select tour. After breakfast I decide to go out and explore the park in the centre of Tashkent, which isn’t far from our … Continue reading
The Silk Road Saga
I’m off on my travels again, this time in the footsteps of Marco Polo, visiting Uzbekistan and four cities along the Silk Road. Uzbekistan is a former Soviet republic, independent since the 1990s, south of Russia and North of Iran … Continue reading
Seeing in the Dark
Adding a low-light specialist camera to an established micro-four-thirds kit Since 2014 my primary camera system has been Panasonic Micro-Four-Thirds (MFT). I’ve worked through several generations, from the 12MP GH2, through GX7, GH4, GX8, G9 to the 24MP G9ii, enjoying … Continue reading
Farewell, Ernie
I was very sad to hear the news this morning of the passing of Reggae great Ernie Smith. A great entertainer, he had, for a Jamaican reggae singer, an unusual rich baritone voice, with which he rendered both his own … Continue reading
Sunset Grove
I can’t recommend this highly enough. Best “dangerous old codgers” comedy since RED. Last of the Summer Wine via Harlan Coben. If you’re in a tight spot and your support is a choice between Jack Bauer and the daft old … Continue reading
Are We Becoming the Eloi?
Are we becoming the feckless race from The Time Machine? Can we resist the temptation? Background This article is the result of convergence of two separate prompts. About a week ago I was bemoaning our increasing dependency on automation and … Continue reading
Are We Becoming the Eloi? The Academic Version
Introduction This is an appendix to a more complete article, see https://www.andrewj.com/blog/2026/are-we-becoming-the-eloi-the-academic-version/ I was recently bemoaning our increasing dependency on automation and our general inability to take charge and either fix or work around broken things, and I thought of … Continue reading
Evolution of an Image
My photography mentor, Bob Kiss, recently posted an image of his, taken in Tuscany, of a Tuscan field scene shot through a window, with the light carefully balanced so that you can clearly see both the exterior, and the interior … Continue reading
The Unhelpful Amp-hour
I spent much of the last few years working on a large company’s Net Zero project, within which a significant element of my role was trying to educate people to understand electrical power and emissions calculations. It was hard enough … Continue reading
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