This journal records my actual 10,000 hours of deliberate practice leading to mastery in art photography
Hours 10,247 to 10,322
30th November 2025
Hour 10,322
(1h) shooting on the beach first thing in the morning, including “Abandoned Beach” above which has a sense of isolation caused by the single discarded tin can on the bottom left third, and the hint of beach brollies in the top left corner
29th November 2025
Hours 10,320 to 10,321
(1h) early morning shooting on the beach, including a series of semi-abstract mudscapes such as “Agadir Mudflat Abstract I”, below
(1h) editing and processing images including creating the “Fishing Triptych”, left
28th November 2025
Hours 10,318 to 10,319
(1h) shooting on the beach, including “Agadir ICM Seascape I”, above
(1h) editing and processing images from the last few days
27th November 2025
Hours 10,315 to 10,317
(1h) shooting on the beach first thing in the morning, including “Agadir Fishermen VI”, above, then later in the evening, including “Agadir Camels at Dusk I”, right
(1h) editing and processing images from the last few days
(1h) working on the “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation
26th November 2025
Hours 10,313 to 10,314
(½h) shooting, early morning, including the “Agadir Fishermen I” above, which shows the fishermen running towards their boat as it is launched into the sea by the tractor
(1h) at the Agadir Museum of Art including Ghany Belmaachi – Sans Titre, right
(½h) editing and processing the day’s images
25th November 2025
Hours 10,310 to 10,312
(1h) shooting on the beach, including “Agadir Seascape I”, right
(½h) editing and processing the morning’s images
(½h) updating this journal
(1h) working on the “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation
24th November 2025
Hour 10,309
(1h) adding images and researching Salvador Dali and his relationship with Gala with reference to his “The Persistence of Memory” painting for my “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation
23rd November 2025
Hours 10,307 to 10,308
(2h) working on the “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation
22nd November 2025
Hour 10,306
(1h) researching the symbolism in Dorothea Tanning 1963 “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and adding this to the “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation
21st November 2025
Hours 10,304 to 10,305
(2h) working on the “100 Years of Surrealism, 10,000 Hours and an F Panel” presentation for the APS
20th November 2025
Hours 10,302 to 10,303
(½h) updating the APS Surrealism Presentation
(1½h) Rosebowl round 3 – zoom – Stoke Poges placed second (out of three)
19th November 2025
Hours 10,300 to 10,301
(1h) updating this journal and Flickr site
(1h) Amersham Coffee meeting
18th November 2025
Hours 10,294 to 10,299
(1h) writing up this journal including adding Martin Addison, discovered yesterday, as a new artist to my quarterly review
(2h) experimenting with, and making presets for zig-zag curves adjustments, inspired by Martin’s talk yesterday
Central image is the slate image unadjusted; top left, clockwise: adjustments with zig-zags including 3, 4, 5 & 6 points, with their inverse image on the opposite side of the panel
(1h) revisiting my images from Tuscany 2023; general tidying up and some unsuccessful creative experiments
(2h) Stoke Poges Photographic Club – talk by Andy Sands: “British Wildlife”
17th November 2025
Hours 10,291 to 10,293
(1h) creating “Woman on Tuscan Terrace”, right
(2h) Amersham Photographic Club, excellent talk by Martin Addison FRPS, “Looking Outside the Frame”, creating photography with particular use of:
- macro shots of rust
- Lightroom manipulation using Zig-zagging curves adjustment layer
- multiple exposure
- intentional camera movement
- panels
Very much like the work I’m doing at the moment
“Cosmic Rust” by Martin Addison – click on the image for his website
16th November 2025
Hours 10,288 to 10,290
(1h) updating this journal
(1h) constructing and mounting the Guilded Blavatnik Staircase image, above
(1h) shooting and creating the “Atmospheric Landscape I”, right, which is a combination of an inverted egg (shot today) and a Tuscan tree shot 21st March 2023
15th November 2025
Hours 10,286 to 10,287
(2h) disassembling and guilding the sections of the Blavatnik Staircase image that are to be gold and silver plated. “Gold” and “Silver” plated sections then varnished to stop them from tarnishing!
14th November 2025
Hours 10,283 to 10,285
(1h) updating this journal
(1½h) Tate Britain including half an hour at the very crowded Lee Miller exhibition
Right, Lee’s 1944 photo “Rene Magritte with LouLou” [his dog]
(½h) Mary Lynn Buchanan YouTube “Inside Frieze London 2025“
13th November 2025
Hours 10,279 to 10,282
(1h) Picasso exhibition at the Tate Modern
(2h) Amersham Mono group – my images below:
 |  | |
| Grand Central Terminus – NYC | Madison Square Park Flat Iron |
The main comment from the group was that I should have printed them larger; an A4 sheet, they felt, didn’t do them justice
(1h) discovering new artists and Galleries though Mary Lynn Buchanan’s YouTube channel, “Exploring London’s Best Contemporary Art Galleries”
- Part 1
- Christopher Wool – Gagosian
- Eva Helene Pade – Thaddaeus Ropac
- Part 2
12th November 2025
Hours 10,277 to 10,278
(1h) Amersham Coffee Club of my images shot in New York last week about 5 were considered interesting enough to continue working with
(½h) processing 3 of the above images including “Contra Jour on 23rd Street”, right
(½h) updating this journal
11th November 2025
Hours 10,272 to 10,276
(3h) preparing and rehearsing my presentation
(2h) presenting my “Zero to FRPD in 10,000 Hours” talk to the Stoke Poges Photographic Club
10th November 2025
Hours 10,267 to 10,271
(3h) finishing slides for tomorrow’s “Zero to FRPS in 10,000 Hours” talk to the Stoke Poges Photographic Club
(2h) Amersham Photographic Society Print competition – the advanced section (allocated half the evening) was massively over subscribed with 45 prints making life very difficult for the judge my entries:
9th November 2025
Hours 10,265 to 10,266
(1h) adding images to this post
(1h) recreating the Stoke Poges 2026 calendar
8th November 2025
Hours 10,262 to 10,264
(1h) updating this journal
(2h) processing images shot over the last week including “Madison Square Park” right, and preparing prints for this week
7th November 2025
Hours 10,260 to 10,261
(1h) editing and processing images shot in New York over the last couple of days, including “Scaffolding NYC”, left
(1h) updating this journal
6th November 2025
Hours 10,257 to 10,259
(1h) New York street photography, including “Contra Jour on 23rd Street NYC”, right
(1h) Forum 500 meeting including a discussion about the importance of patronage in the arts:
- Kelly Heaton – her relationship with Ronald Feldman who was her dealer, patron and sponsor
- Sonya Bekkerman – Peggy Guigenheim
- Jim Greenberg – Heinz Berggruen who was Picasso’s patron and dealer – the Berggruen Museum in Berlin is a must visit venue
(1h) the Metropolitan Museum of Art including the following exhibitions:
- Man Ray “When Objects Dream” exhibition
- Lorna Simpson “Source Notes” – a photographer who is new to me who uses a lot of picture in picture devices and self-portraiture
Man Ray’s, 1924, “Le Violon D’Ingres”, right, portrait of Kiki de Montparnasse, his muse and regular model
Described Man Ray as “a combination of a photograph and rayograph” since the violin f-holes were created as the result of a second exposure where most of the images was masked apart from these areas that he had hand-cut out of the mask
Lots of very interesting ideas for multiple exposure semi-abstracts including self-portraiture. Definitely an artist to follow
5th November 2025
Hours 10,254 to 10,256
(1h) “Monet in Venice” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum
(½h) shooting New York streets and Grand Central Station Terminus
(1½h) private tour of MoMA – the tour lasted an hour but the discussion, all night
Magritte’s 1935, “The Portrait”, right is a candidate for reinterpretation that I have yet to attempt
4th November 2025
Hours 10,252 to 10,253
(½h) Presentation to the New York chapter of the Forum 500
(1½h) the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum including the Robert Rauschenberg exhibition
Above, 1963, “Barge”, 32 feet long, is the largest silk screen painting he produced
Left, 1968 “Autobiography”, showing:
- X-ray and astrological chart
- photo as a child over a whorl of text highlighting key moments in his life
- Rauschenberg rollerskating and pictures of where he lived at the time
The empty box outline is not explained but unites the three panels
First print competition at the Stoke Poges Photographic Club – Set subject: “Natural Beauty”, I did not attend (on account of being the other side of the Atlantic), but my entries we assessed below:
3rd November 2025
Hour 10,251
(1h) preparing my presentation to the Forum 500 group tomorrow and reading the “Lives of the Surrealists” by Desmond Morris on the flight
2nd November 2025
Hours 10,249 to 10,250
(2h) experimenting with a Magritte style shadows through the door such that the hole through the door tells a story
Needs quite a lot of refinement, but I think it’s worth pursuing in principle
1st November 2025
Hours 10,247 to 10,248
(1h) updating this journal including all the new month admin
(1h) working on my presentation to the Stoke Poges Photographic Club, on the 10th of the month
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