Dark nights with cold places. The only escape is the street. Freedom away from teachers and parents. Escape the norm. Meet with friends and hang. The norm is boring! Hell, everything is boring! Dark car parks with bright lights. Lets escape for a few hours. Whilst you sleep we will play.

Is it Christmas already? What happened to the last year? Where did it go? Is that Father Christmas with a Gorilla? Don't panic Mr Mannering!  All will become clear soon enough. A few years ago whilst I was working for a press agency in Kent I was sent on a very important Christmas photo assignment to photograph Father Christmas delivering presents to some Gorillas at a local wild animal park. As Santa handed out the presents and I took my photographs I wondered to myself what does a Gorilla really want for Christmas…….?

It might have been raining and a bit dark last weekend however nothing could stop residents in my village turn on the Christmas Lights. I love Christmas time and photographing local communities and traditional events so I grabbed my camera to photograph the event.

I Love Photography! It's official, there you go. I've said it. I love a photo that tells a story, a photo that makes you think or enables you to experience something new. I'm always taking photos, I guess I'm a little obsessive. Even if I don't have my camera with me I'm using my iPhone. But it's not just about taking the photo that I enjoy. It's about meeting new people, talking, learning and discovering new things. I watch and listen. I talk and ask questions trying to find the story!

However much it rains and the wind blows, I don't think I would like to live without the different seasons of the year. Even though the days are so much shorter in autumn, the light can be great to work with.

As I walk through the grounds of Kew Gardens in Richmond, I look for the carpet of blue. Maybe it will be around this corner or over that hill? As I walk, I'm joined by others also looking for the first sign of Spring. The enchanting colour that will melt the heart of the hardest soul. And then we arrive, a corner is turned and a path followed, we are finally greeted with an amazing carpet of bluebells…..

Inspiration for a photographer or any artist can be tricky. Some days the ideas never stop another time its difficult to even get started. I hate days like this and in the past have always tried to push through the imaginary barrier but more often than not its been a futile fight. Until that is earlier this year……

Sundays can be abit boring especially this time of year when the days are short and the weather is bad. However don't dispear I have some exciting news. Drum roll please…….

I have photographed Brighton Pier many times before, just as many photographers have done before me. I think that I have probably photographed every angle possible of this famous Brighton seaside attraction. At day, night, during the summer time, winter and spring. Over the years I have indeed photographed it a lot! Maybe I'm obsessed with it?

A winters day on the seafront in Brighton, I lifted my coat collar up high hoping it would keep me warmer against the cold wind. As I wondered with my camera looking......

I like tree's. I'm not sure why but there's just something about them that catches my photographers eye. Over the years I most have photographed hundreds. Sometimes a close up, a silhouette or incorporated them into a portrait photograph. I just seem to be drawn towards them.

As shoppers rushed around looking for a bargain in the Boxing Day sales I joined them camera in hand through the streets of Chichester in West Sussex to create my photographs.