This week my friend photographer Eddie Hyde and I finally did what we promised each other and what we had been planning for years. We held a photography workshop The Art of Seeing in our local area of Polesden Lacey. The weather wasn't very kind to us, however that didn't deter us. Our aim was to inspire others to make the most out of what we have. If the weather is too drab, there is no point in trying to capture open views. Instead, it usually pays off to look at details and abstracts, which nature is abundant with.

I have to take my hat off to our participants, who never complained about the cold and the lack of beautiful light. Instead they really tried to find inspiration around them.

It was a very pleasant day and I truly hope that everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did. I hope that they realised that bringing back home images that you can put up on your wall or sell in a gallery or submit to a competition shouldn't be the main motivation for photography. That it is the simple joy of being outside and perhaps spotting unusual details that most of other people walk by without noticing, which brings more sense of reward than any other prizes in the world.

Here are a few pictures that I took on the day just to show what I see and look for in condition like these.

Sometimes pictures work in black and white, and I thought that this one was worth converting.