A view across the highlands from just around half way up the Ben Nevis mountain, taken using Samsung S9 in July 2019.

Close-up of a magnificent globe thistle, Echinops bannaticus at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens taken earlier this month. I used an old Canon FD 50mm f/1.8 manual prime on my Lumix GX7 to take this shot. So this is a manual-focus shot, and was taken handheld.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Mountsfield Park has been vital to us where we go for our daily run or a walk, and occasionally to take pictures of colourful flowers - in this case some blooming chives.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, Mountsfield Park has been vital to us where we go for our daily run or a walk, and occasionally to take pictures of colourful flowers.

Among many attractions that I had heard/read about in Madagascar before coming here was the Avenue of the Baobabs, often accompanying with its image at sunset. That is what we wanted to see and capture when we made our trip there this week. And this is one of the photographs that I captured, from possibly hundreds (more will surely follow) - but I wanted to upload this first because I took this from my mobile phone and I am pretty pleased with the outcome.

One of the most common but also a favourite bird you’ll see in the British Isles. This one literally posed for photographs for over 15 mins early in March 2021 when I was out for my daily walk during the covid lockdown - and luckily I had carried my camera that day!

Another from my lockdown daily walks - this was taken in mid-March 2021 in Lewisham park in London.

Taken at the onset of autumn in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Park - some beautifully coloured leaves on a sunny day. Taken from below with sunlight falling on the leaves from the top makes them even more vibrant.

Ruins attract me, regardless of what they are of. When we went to Arrochar, a small village on the shores of Loch Long last weekend, this remains of what looked like that of a pier caught my eye straight on. This view from just outside of the “three villages community centre” particularly so, looking towards what are known as the “Arrochar Alps”. I processed a bit to try to give this an old photo look.

We spent this (2017) year’s Christmas break in the Lake District, and managed to go out a bit on days that were relatively less wet. On the way back to our base just outside Greystoke village from a day trip to Windermere, we stopped briefly at Swirls car park and were greeted with this amazing view of Thirlmere and beyond. The sun was about to set, hence the golden lighting on top of the hills (or mountains if you will). I'’m determined to travel back in the summer for nice walks around here - it was too cold and wet this time around.

One of my favourite views in the Isle of Skye - looking towards the Staffin bay (far end on the right) from Quiraing. This was taken in May 2016.

I had never expected Scottish highlands to be beautiful. I knew it was mostly empty (of people) but I was expecting much more sheep and cattle than I did. For the most part, it appeared pristine, and reminded me in parts of my travels in northern Sweden and in parts my travels in interior British Columbia in Canada. Overall it was a great three-day trip with lots of great pictures.

When I first arrived in Umeå in September 2011, this is the first proper landmark that I saw, and what a bridge this is - I never got tired of taking its photographs throughout my two-year-stay in the city. I took this photo in April when the Ume River was just beginning to melt after the annual winter freeze.

For people who rely primarily on rain-fed paddy here in Madagascar, a good rainy season is vital for their survival. However, it could be a nightmare especially when it rains too much within a short period of time. Good drainage system is virtually non-existent even in urban area, so all the rain that falls flows through the tarred roads and concrete, flooding not just low-lying areas of the city but the flatlands all around. This picture was taken in March 2015 from Ambohimanga hill on my rare day-out here in Antananarivo.

Small island of Mauritius is stunningly beautiful, and has some very interestingly shaped hills in among its mountain ranges. This is part of the Moka Range as seen from the top of Le Pouce a popular climb in the same range.

I am not entirely sure but I think this is the Round Island skink, also known as Telfair’s skink. I also saw this in Ile aux Aigrettes.

A close-up shot of a tall fern(?) stalk inside one of the glass houses at the Glasgow Botanic Garden.

Small fishing boats in Kochin on a hot sunny morning, taken using S9 in December 2019.

This photo was my favourite desktop background for quite a few months after I captured it during a summer hike on the Kungsleden in northern Sweden.

Macro shot of a flower taken using S9 at the Glasgow Botanic Garden.

One of the rarest birds in the world, the Pink Pigeon endemic to Mauritius was once on the brink of extinction. The population now stands above 400 through conservation efforts. I saw this one on the trip to Ile aux Aigrettes.

I wonder how many people outside of Madagascar know that it is a hilly country. There are flat lands too, but during my fieldwork most of the landscape I see are the hills, often picturesque rolling hills like these.

The last of our field research sites is also one of the remotest. It took us five days just to get to the site from the capital Tana (Antananarivo for those not familiar). The hilly region is full of fast flowing streams and rivers, and the landscape beautiful. But life of the people there is extremely hard, with few options than hill-rice farming. Extreme poverty was clear to see everywhere. As you arrive at a village outskirts, you know the village is nearby from the strong stench you experience from the open defecation. People have few good clothes to wear, the dwellings are very basic - built from bamboo and twigs, and banana leaves or palm fronds for the roof. Despite the hardship and extreme poverty, people were welcoming and treated us well, even letting us stay in one of the better huts.

This is a macro shot of anther and stigma of a yellow lily flower, with the former full of pollens. The shot was taken indoor with the natural light from the sun coming in through the windows. I used my old Canon EOS 400D with an EF-S 60mm (f/2.8) macro lens for this shot.

On my last field visit to a village called Sahakana, the village headman, whose compound we were staying in, offered me some oil palm fruit. It was the day before our departure date and he asked one of his sons to cut one large bunch of the palm fruit and asked me to photograph it - for he seemed fascinated by digital images that you could see instantly after capture. Once the bunch was lowered down to the ground, he started removing some fruits, which I thought was just to show me, only to realise later that he was preparing to offer me some. He said I could easily extract oil from them. I asked if it was possible to just eat the fruit. He said he would get them roasted, that'’s how they eat the fruit. In all the hurriedness to leave, I never got to taste the roasted oil palm fruit unfortunately.

This was taken on the New Year’s Day - 1 January 2013 - in southern Italy, just off Sorrento.

Saffron Square, tallest building in Croydon.

A view from the Waterloo Bridge in London, taken using S9.

Photographing wildlife is never easy, especially the ones that move a lot. Even though these lemurs, brown lemurs, are relatively common in and around Mitsinjo in Andasibe, and would appear in the afternoon just outside the hall where we had our meeting, I hardly managed to get a good shot. From what I had this is the best, not really happy with the result but this will do for now.

A street in Lancaster city centre, captured in monochrome.

Fresh new portrait from my last field site. While we were waiting for our interviewee, this young man started talking to me, in English. His first word was Hello, and then he said in a perfectly good English “Sorry I do not know how to talk in English”. First, I was surprised to find someone in the village speaking to me in English, but when he said in perfect English that he doesn'’t speak the language, I just couldn’t stop myself blurting “I’m so glad I just understood your French perfectly” - my colleague starting laughing out loud but this poor young man didn’t get my silly joke so looked even more confused. Just then I asked him if I could take a picture of him, and here is the result.

I took this photo one early morning in northern Uganda in May 2008. I was there on a field visit and we were staying in a village with few facilities. The place was hot and I couldn'’t sleep much. As soon as the dawn broke, I got out to see this beautifully-coloured sky. The building where I was staying appears as silhouette.

A close-up of a baby caterpillar on descent after eating all the leaves. Taken in Lalitpur, Nepal in July 2011.

A honey hunter is all smiles after selling his day'’s harvest to one of my field team members in a village near Moramanga in Madagascar - early in 2014. As is the custom in the area he sipped a little honey directly from the bottle that he was selling to show that it was his honey and not stolen from others - but my friend buying was horrified to see him do that. She probably expected him to pour a bit on his hand or on the lid. This was his laugh in the aftermath of that ‘‘incident’’ that I wanted to capture.

For those who have been to Mauritius as tourists or planning to go there, this probably comes high up in to see list.

The ornate gate right across the bridge is not in use but the entry to the Necropolis in Glasgow via this bridge, apparently called the ‘‘Bridge of Sighs’’, is nevertheless dramatic. Most of the larger tombs are on the top of the hill, making it really look like a settlement on the top, a city for the dead who could pay for a luxurious afterlife. Its a fascinating place to visit if you are visiting Glasgow.

A section of the Florence Cathedral (Il Duomo di Firenze), taken in December 2012.

This is one of the very first giant chameleon that I saw in Madagascar during my first trip here in November 2013. It was living on a big mango tree in the village that I was staying in for my fieldwork. I tried to take at least a few photographs every day to get the shot I wanted, and this is one of my favourite.

This old gentleman was one of the respondents in my field study of agroforestry system in Northern Ghana during 2007-2008. After my field assistant finished interviewing him, he went inside his hut and came out with this hat. He wanted me to take his picture with the hat on. He told me (via my local assistant) that he once worked in the goldmine in the south of the country, as well as in local artisanal mines in the north. This hat was the only remaining item from his time as a miner. I took this photo in October 2007.

This is one of my favourite shots of the baobabs in the Avenue of the Baobabs. Here, I tried to contrast the dark silhouettes of the baobabs with the colourful horizon immediately after the sunset.

I took this picture in July 2007 during one of my field stays in Ghana. I was on a trip to north-western part of Ghana to assess a potential study site, and had to stay at a small settlement called Tuna along the Bole-Wa road. We stayed at a guest house that had no electricity, but with all the necessary wirings, ready to be connected to the grid, and had been waiting for electricity supply for the past 12 years at that time (hopefully they are connected to the grid now)! The main feature of this guest house as far as I was concerned was this watchman. He had this incredible wise-old-man look in his face, and was always very serious (just what a watchman should be), and I did not see him smile the two days I was there. At least he let me take a few shots, for which I am forever grateful as this is one of my all time favourites among the portraits that I have taken in Ghana.

A shot of the Bildmuseet building by the Ume River bank in Umeå, taken in July 2013.

Most colourful sunset I have witnessed in Glasgow during my time here, which came at the end of a very hot and sunny day.