Browse the +seymours collective

Look Mum No Computer

Having just discovered Sam Battle's amazing Modular Synth live performances on youtube, we were very excited to be able to get 2 of the last tickets to see him perform at The Jericho Tavern in Oxford.

Lancaster for Bunkfest

Tremendous sights and sounds of the Lancaster passing over our house while doing laps for Wallingford’s Bunkfest. 

Black Mountain Timelapse 

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Sunday MTB’ing

With the new eMTB providing a newfound sense of freedom I enjoyed 30 miles of some local bridleway loops (the latter one with Jack joining me).

Brightwell, up One Tree Hill, down to Shillingford, then over to Wittenham and Day’s Lock, before heading out to Dorchester, under the road to Warborough, out to Benson before looping back over the Shillingford bridge up the back way and back round to Brightwell.

Reflecting on Iceland

Selecting 9 moments from this remarkable 2 week trip was not easy!

Snowmobiling on Langjökull Glacier

Video from the GoPro mounted on my shoulder as we sped along the glacier during a snowstorm!

Coldplay lightshow

As well as a superb performance from Coldplay the visual lightshow was also remarkable - each of the 80,000 LED wristbands meant it became a really immersive experience.

15km SUP

What a perfect afternoon, SUP’ing the 15km, from Clifton Hampden back to Wallingford with Jack.

Pano above Woodcote Woods 

Drone pano from 100m above our favourite picnic spot

David Gray at Blenheim 

Last night’s David Gray concert at Blenheim Palace was sublime. We saw the original White Ladder tour 20 years ago.Best of all was David playing ‘Be Mine’, which was our first dance song at our wedding ❤️

Stonor park

Supercars and Classics day - but the Spitfire stole the show

How… 

How it started.
How it’s going.

Blewburton drone-arama

Blewburton Hill is an Iron Age hillfort dating back to around 4th century BC. It’s about 5 miles away from where we live and is a firm favourite for a short stroll - but it’s the perspective offered by the drone that really helps one to comprehend the geography, and how it fits into the surrounding area.

Single-seater Thruxton onboard 

Thruxton has started using insta360 cameras for the on-board footage, here is Bens from the single-seater, including someone in front having a spin

What have you been up to since we last met - reflecting on the last...

Planning to catch up with friends I've not seen in 3.5 years, I was trying to think about the answer to: 'what have you been up to since we last met'.
Eurotrip, IL visits, Coldplay, Snow Patrol, Michael Macintyre, Six Nations, Supercars, Astrophotography - it's all about the experiences.
Plus building Storyus, new conference talks, and Em launching Haktive.
Oh my, and how the kids have grown!

Flying over the treetops

With the increased confidence that the DJI mavic mini 2 brings in terms of connection stability, I was much happier sending the drone further away and for longer periods of time on this trip.

Looking straight down on to the treetops and slowly moving across the valley gives a wonderful new perspective to the area

Enjoying our garden in the rain

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Solar Eclipse 

The UK had a partial solar eclipse today - maybe about 15% - so I had to dash out between calls to see it.
It was rather cloudy - meaning, it was much easier to photograph.

Garden Mutjac

Finally caught sight of our garden intruder.
After hearing odd noises out the back in the early hours recently, it’s turned out to be a sweet little muntjac at 4.30am

Garden Flowers

Enjoying the garden - and trying some photos to take advantage of the fantastic light, with great contrast. 

Culham Canoeing

Glorious weekend weather, and with Jack at rowing, Zoe, Em and I went for a paddle on the Thames. Putting in at Culham, we headed up to the marina, explored some off-channels, then down to the weir and back. 

Drone hyperlapse of The Thames

While we enjoyed sitting at the bank after our canoe - I left the drone at 110m taking video of the scenes below of the bend in the river

4am dawn chorus

I’d rather be asleep, but at least nature is at least providing a glorious soundtrack to this time of the morning. #DawnChorus [volume up]

Soaring above the treetops

Cracking drone video from the lovely bike ride that Em and I went on

Regatta division 2 finish

More drone footage from the Wallingford mini regatta (Jack was in the octo for this race)

Wallingford panorama

Panorama of Wallingford from right above the Thames nice and close to town

Ipsden Pano

Glorious panosphere from 80m above our favourite picnic spot (thanks to the DJI magic mini 2, which neatly fits into my bike panniers)

Blewburton hill drone flyby

We’ve found a new lovely walking path - a loop that takes us all the way around Blewburton hill, through the Astons, and then back up near the horse paddocks.

Enjoying the garden

Spring has arrived, and along with it, a growing abundance of stunning wildlife, flora and fauna.

Everyday we enjoy sitting in garden, and the more we look the more we see.

The White Horse at Uffington 

Drone Video - Mackney Farm woods

Up close the buds are forming on the branches of the trees - but from above, they still look bare and skeletal. I love the different perspective that the drone offers, especially of trees.

Down and Up

Glorious sunset on the way home, and so we were experimenting with some drone shots, just south of Blewburton Hill

Countryside panorama 

During lockdown (3) we have continued to explore more of our local area, finding lovely nearby country walks which are new to us, despite having lived in the area for such a long time.

Swyncombe Stroll

With some fine weather on the penultimate day of 2020 (and with continued covid restrictions) we explored more of our local area. This time exploring Swyncombe woods, giving a little bit of elevation and some lovely open views. (Plenty of great climbing trees too)

Reflecting on the night sky

With the covid precautions greatly restricting where we could go - we decided to invest instead in something that would bring more of the universe to us - and so got a Celestron Edge 8HD.
We got to enjoy so many amazing things that I think otherwise we might not have spent the time looking for, or at: Comet NEOWISE, the Whirlpool Galaxy, (numerous nebulae), the Milky Way, the planets, including the amazing Jupiter/Saturn conjunction, and a heck of a lot of midnight moon-gazing... what an amazing universe we live in :)

The Clouds parting for the Conjunction

Writing this on the 21st (the closest approach day) we have complete rain and cloud and no visibility, and so I am really grateful that we were able to see the jupiter / saturn conjunction yesterday - but for a while yesterday it looked like we would be unlucky. 
This hyperlapse shows just how fortunate we were to get to see it at all!

Conjunction -2d 

The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter was amazing to observe live tonight. So glad Zoe reminded me about it, and so glad the family managed to see it for about 10 mins of observation before the cloud bank obscured it.
On the 21st the two planets will be visually the closest since 1623... and another 400 years until the next time this close!
Only managed to grab one not-so-pic, so let’s hope for clear skies on 20/21

Lap Land Postcard

What a spectacular treat, to be able to cruise (slowly) around the international circuit at Silverstone enjoying the festive laser light show.

Lap Land Hyperlapse

With so many covid restrictions impacting our usual festive celebrations and trip, we were thrilled when we were able to come and enjoy Silverstone's 'Lap Land' - enabling us to drive around the whole of the international circuit, which had huge numbers of breathtaking laser light shows. Such a glorious evening, then followed by a drive-in movie showing of The Snowman.

Lap Land

ASIair first live stack ‘ish

Not much to look at, but I finally got my first images of any sort from the ASIair tonight.The tedious firmware update for the mount seems to have helped... and while progress is slow, it is hopefully something to build upon.

Drone ascent near Blewburton

After a lovely stroll around Blewbury, we stopped on the way back, to enjoy some drone shots of Blewburton Hill with the golden sun rays at the end of the day.

Winter later afternoon sun

Thankful for some weekend sun, when I can get out to enjoy it. After a lovely stroll around Blewbury we stopped on the way home to get some drone shots as the sun sank ever lower.

Swincombe drone video

Following an unplanned trip to Ewelme, I ended up heading up to Swincombe (partially to get outside of the RAF base restriction zone) - to try some new drone techniques - and also to see if I have managed to improve the connection reliability after yesterday's issues.

Lockdown Surprise Fireworks 

No fireworks display this year due to covid precautions (and national lockdown)..... however, from an undisclosed location, our lovely local pyrotechnics company put on an amazing show - which appeared to be just out the back of our street!

Streatley Hill stroll

With another break in the weather, we headed out to explore another new walk nearby. Parking up Streatley Hill we headed over the road and enjoyed a glorious walk around the autumnal trees, and carpets of fallen leaves. Culminating in a brilliant view across to Goring and the `Thames.

Combining

Impromptu camping trip.Em remains ‘optimistic’ about the weather ap...

Stunning Welsh lakes

Dramatic skies at night

Glorious end to the day

Forest Ascent

We loved exploring the river down at the foot of the valley, and the drone gives some amazing perspectives as it climbs up to the tree tops 

Hafon Owen

Skirrid See Mores

Skirrid Clouds  Dancing

The four of us sat for quite a while, soaking up the outlook afforded by the elevation, and just watching the cloud’s shadows dance over the black mountains 

Sunflower Sunset

Silbury Hill2400BC, half a million tonnes of chalk, at standing at ...

Blenheim Palace Drive-In movie

One of the creative responses to the COVID restrictions was for Blenheim Palace to host a Drive-In movie.
So, for a treat it of a night out we loaded up the car with loads of blankets and pillows and a big packed evening treats and headed off to enjoy watching Back to the Future - and behind us someone even arrived in a DeLorean!

The Milky Way

Friday night comets and stars

Such a glorious evening for stargazing and the perfect start to the weekend.Comet Neowise attempts through 8" telescope and then 300mm zoom (I like the context given by the house silhouette).Then the Milky Way with wide angle + star tracker from the back garden while sitting out chatting with Em until the early hours.

Comet Neowise

Reflecting on 2019

Full Moon and close planets 

The full moon had two close companions tonight : Jupiter and Saturn.

still struggling to get results from the ASIair, I borrowed Jack’s laptop and ran the ZWO from that to get a great new image of Jupiter 

Race for Life

Well done Em ❤️Every year since 2002 she has run the #raceforlife in memory of family & friends who have been lost to cancer.Due to Covid restrictions her 19th run was a solo event, with just the 3 of us to see her off and to cheer her home.Jack found his 2019 medal which Zoe presented her with x

Waxing Gibbous Moon

Windy Ridgeway walk

A blustery walk up on the ridgeway was the perfect way to blast out some cobwebs during this prolonged period of lockdown.

Wet Sunflower...

‪Our Sunflower appears to have stuck one petal out, concluded it is far too wet, and will leave fully flowering for another day...‬

Dumbell Nebula

The Summer Day, by Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-the one who has flung herself out of the grass,the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down
-who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. 
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Red Kites delight.

The perfect picnic spot.

The Milky Way (1st attempt).

Jupiter & Saturn

3am and I just woke up Em and the kids so we could see Jupiter and Saturn through the telescope for the first time together- just incredible, I’m still buzzing from watching it

Whirlpool Galaxy - my second attempt at stacking.

Whirlpool Galaxy - my first attempt at stacking

Sombrero Galaxy, M12 & M14

‪Trying out some longer exposures tonight (60-90s on 3600ISO)‬

We found the perfect picnic spot

Vega, Moon and ISS

Glorious moon, Vega sparkle, and slightly blurry ISS.
Enjoying a lovely fresh evening of nightsky gazing.

Welcome back old friend (first new DSLR pic).

Spica and Double Double

Spica and Double Double (I think)
First time trying the DSLR with the telescope tonight, and I lost track of what I took photos of!

My goodness, it’s made of stars!

Venus! (and the moon)

Experimenting with the stacking app (windows only!) to process the photos I took last night using a ZWO telescope camera.

It’s designed for long bursts of short exposure shots, for distant object, trying to compensate for atmospheric disturbance.

Insect Hotel slo-mo

Zoe and I got some exercise and cycled out to Ewelme, where we came across this insect hotel by the watercress beds - which was a hive of activity. 

Plossl 40mm, 17mm, 13mm

‪Just enough gaps in the clouds to try to get higher magnification of the moon with the plossl 17mm and 13mm (along with the standard 40mm)‬
‪Shot on #iPhone attached to the eyepiece.‬
‪Also very glad I got a moonfilter I lost all night vision after the first look.‬

Moon-gazing (between the clouds)

Rainy dawn chorus under canopy

Rain under canopy at 5am with dawn chorus.(I’d rather be asleep, but this was pretty glorious to behold this morning).

Amazing Starlink pass tonight!!We saw 40+ in a big long drawn out t...

Tents & Telescopes

‪More time enjoying the new moon tonight and clearer conditions and a little more practice, and we’re getting much closer shots of the moon.‬

New Moon

Clear skies, few airplanes and lots of Starlink satellites 

Morning Birdsong

The absence of most regular air traffic, including almost no helicopters for RAF Benson, along with greatly reduced road traffic, means that nature is able to flourish, and we can enjoy the sights and sounds unhindered.
The Sunday morning birdsong in the nook is amazing - turn up the volume on this video and enjoy :) (the image is a still)

Garden Breakfast birds 

One of the upsides of the current lockdown is the abundance of time and space we have to enjoy our own garden - we get way more birds visiting our garden than I can previously recall.

Zoe’s making some new friends ;)

La Dolce Vita - Aceto Balsamico

There are things in life that we end of ‘saving for a special occasion’... maybe a really nice bottle of wine, or that incredible balsamic that we bought in Modena during the 2018 europtrip.

Well, it seems to me that the current times remind us that we are already living in the best of times... these times being any that we get to enjoy in good health, and in the company of our loved ones, whatever the other circumstances may be....

So instead of waiting for a special occasion, we made the time we already have more special now, by savouring this balsamic, and reminiscing of our family adventures.

Fresh cress 

Making the most of what we have:
Home grown cress for a lovely egg and cress open sandwich 

Clear Skies Stunning Moon

Starry starry night

Perfect timing to have some really crisp clear nights, with almost no planes, and some really bright ISS flybys. Despite being really chilly Zoe and I sat out in the garden for about 1.5 hours enjoying the space around us and the space above us. 

Crystal clear ISS flyby

Venus, and no plane trails because of the coronavirus lockdown

Toilet roll caricatures

‪For those with an abundance of toilet rolls.... and an abundance of time stuck in the house with the kids:‬
‪Zoe suggests making toilet roll caricatures ‬
‪My likeness is quite uncanny!‬
‪#coronacreative ‬

Breathtaking architecture of Madrid airport .

Six Nations Rugby at Twickenham

Six Nations

Thanks to some good fortune with the Wallingford RFC ballot, Jack and I got to go and watch England v Ireland at Twickenham today.
Transport was remarkably good too, with all trains appearing just as we needed them, and we even had seats on every journey!.
The atmosphere from the moment we left the train station was amazing... from being with thousands of people walking down closed roads,... to the 82,000 attendance singing the anthems.... to the roar when the 2 england tries were in the corner right in front of us.... and the sound of thousand of voices singing Sweet Chariot.

England’s try against Ireland 

England’s second try, against Ireland in the 2020 Six Nations

Haikus 

Coffee by Ben:
Begin each day as
if it was on purpose but
don’t forget coffee.

Dogs by Zoe:
They are lovable,
unbelievably cute and
are adorable 

Ewelme watercress beds

New Adventures 2020

Back in 2013, NAConf was one of the first web design conferences I attended, and it blew me away with some amazing talks, but also have an opportunity to get to know some of the interesting and lovely people in the industry.
2020 was my 3rd time attending, and once again lots of thought provoking, eye opening talks, and from a social aspects it was like a reunion of old friends too.

Saturday in San Francisco 

My hotel room had one of the most absorbing views I have ever have - facing West, with the GG bridge in the distance - two amazing sunsets and sunrises and I spent many hours just watching the city and the ever changing colours and tones.
Uber electric bikes and scooters have a new degree of freedom, and being able to explore greater distances, further of the beaten track which still very much within the environment rather than passing through it.
Alcatraz, Coit Tower, Cable Car museum, Salesforce Park weee all new firsts, while also enjoying old favourites like the Samovar tea room in Yeurba Buena gardens.

San Francisco Photostream

Photos from San Francisco

Bikes, Boats, Scooters and Cable cars (nearly)

With this area of the world leading the way in many innovations and new business approaches I got to try some new and old approaches to travel.
I used Uber Rides (in conjunction with Jump bikes) to find one of the electric bikes randomly parked around the city. This was great fun as I went from bridge to bridge getting a little of the beaten track and covering way more ground that my usual walking.
Then I took the ferry over to Alcatraz, did the tour and decided to head up to Coit tower, for this I decided to try a short term rental of an Uber electric scooter, which was fun, nut couldn’t cope with going up or down the steep hills. That trip ended up at the Cable Car Museum, which was interesting and also had a sense of irony. I had planned to take the Cable car back to Union Square, but as I could clearly see in the museum (which houses the actual running mechanisms), the Powell cable wasn’t running... so in the end I strolled back to Union sq and my hotel.

SF sunset

Golden Gate Sunset

San Francisco sunset

This time, the hotel in SF gave me a way way nicer room than I’ve had before, and I arrived and checked in just in time for sunset.

Storyus in 2020

Reflecting on my own 2019

Lots of new experiences:  kite-landboarding, SUPing, printing at the Bodleian, new road bike, trackdays with AMGs, Porsche, Jaguar and a tank! Work travels to Boston, SF, Napa, Holland, and Israel. Em and I even managed a night out

Wood type workshop at the Bodleian Library 

Wood Type Workshop

An evening in the Bodleian Library's Print Room

NEC for Motorcycle Live 2019

Motorcycle Live was a huge event, across 3 of the massive halls at the NEC, and its last day happened to coincide with my birthday, so Jack and I headed over. The Moto Cirque was the stand out item, with us watching the whole show twice - seeing the FMX riders do some incredible tricks within such a relatively small space was awesome- they were getting so close to the ceiling, with such precision 

Snow Patrol (Video)

By some considerable good fortune, earlier this week we discovered that one of my favourite bands Snow Patrol were playing in Oxford and that there were still seats left. This was part of their Reworked Tour, and it was exquisite - the first half, slow, quiet and sultry - the second half much more lively and with everyone standing and dancing in the New Theatre in Oxford.

Slo-Mo Fireworks 

Despite the rain the Wallingford Fireworks were brilliant again this year. Set to music and with a prevailing wind were right overhead

Reflecting On the First Weekend of September ‘19

Thruxton track day and the start of the Hockey and Rugby seasons.

Reflecting on Summer 2019

I love how trips enable us to leave our routine: Zoe choosing us a different ‘cake for breakfast’ each morning; no tv or media but loads of books and playing. 
Immersing ourselves in the glory of nature, from amazing sunsets, lightning storms, swimming in, and paddling on, the seas and lakes.
Absorbing some of our incredible heritage: Hadrians Wall, Beatrix Potters, the Victorian Industrial Age, plus our own family history.

The only walkable section of Hadrian’s Wall (circa 120AD)

The extremes of The Roman Empire 

Between Homestead Fort on the Scottish border, and Masada in Israel, in the last 9 months I have visited these two ancient Roman sites. With both sites dating from almost 2000 years ago, and nearly 3000 miles apart it’s quite incredible to contemplate the breadth of the Roman Empire.

Sunday in Boston

Working in Boston for the week, I had Sunday to myself to explore a little, and I really really like this city.
Vintage Baseball on Boston Commons, the Cheers bar, waterfront, MIT, the Linotype and Waltham Watches at the Charles River Museum, before Fenway Park, micro breweries  and Chinatown! 
6 miles walked, a couple of Uber’s and loads of lovely people.

Charles River Museum

In 1813 the first 'modern factory' designed by Lowell and Moody kick-started the American Industrial Revolution.
Located beside the Charles River, it's power was harnessed through dams and water-wheels to start the evolution of high-tech engineering and production processes. 
Latterly the Waltham Watch Co. was also based on this site (1854-1950) - the first high precision manufacturing on a grand scale.
The museum now on this site also has a Linotype machine - see : https://storyus.life/+seymours/linotype

The Linotype 

Described by Edison as the 8th wonder of the world, I was fortunate enough to see 2 of these pivotal machines at The Charles River Museum while visiting Boston for work.

It was a hot metal typesetting system that literally used molten metal into lines on type for the printing process.  Linotype became one of the mainstay methods to set type, especially small-size body text, for newspapers, magazines, and posters from the late 19th century to the 1970s and 1980s

More details on the factory site : https://storyus.life/+seymours/charles-river-museum

Dawn Chorus

One of the few benefits of happening to awake at 4am is being able to listen to the local wildlife start their day.

At 4.20am in June the cacophony of sound from the birdlife out the back of our house was quite wonderful - crank up the volume and enjoy. 

Flying Scotsman

at short notice we learned that the flying Scotsman was passing through Didcot, and so we popped over, just in time to see it arrive!

Stereophonics

Em & I spent the evening at Westonbirt Arboretum - watching Stereophonics! We met up with the sisters and brothers-in-law and had an amazing time hanging out, and thanks to where we pitched up, we had an incredible view just a handful of people away from the band. Listening to them play in the surroundings of a beautiful arboretum was pretty surreal.

Reflecting On our Woolacombe trip

Nearly 15 years after we first stayed at a B&B on this same location in Woolacombe, the four of us stayed at a lovely flat called Gull Rock, up on the steep side of the edge of Mortehoe with an amazing elevated and tranquil view over the hills and the sea.
With the car holding a boot load of fun (body boards, the new inflatable SUP and wetsuits) we also booked ourselves into a surf school and for kite buggy and land boarding lessons.

Reflecting on the weekend of March 23rd 2019

Sunny days, Jack’s expedition including 23 mile hike, long overdue date night, 1st motorbike ride if the year, and strolls by the river.

Reflecting on the weekend of March 15

Science fairs, sketching, hovercrafts and browsing some silly cars.

Sunborn Hotel

Reflecting On Feb Half Term

Laser questing, Oxford trips, popping in the the British Museum, foggy hikes, lambing, cycling and the sunniest and warmest weekend with first dip in the brook of the year :)

British Museum 

On my way to meetings nearby, I was able to take a 15 minute detour through the British Museum.
stunning architecture, and with time for just one exhibit, I luckily changed upon The Rosetta Stone - one of my favourite historic artefacts, which I haven’t seen for perhaps 15-20 years.

Reflecting on weekend of Feb 9th

Amazing time at iFLY with Em and the kids all flying unaided now, then Bletchley Park. Sunday hockey tournament was brilliant, with Zoe’s team winning the whole thing! (And England beating France in the 6 nations)

Reflecting On 2018 by Ben

The EuroTrip was a phenomenal experience for the family - 34 days, 7 countries, 5200km, and imeasurable memories . 
Additional highlights being Zoe karting, Jack on the Young Driver programme, and a proper snowfall.

Grossglockner: incredible Austrian mountain roads

From our roadtrip in summer of 2018 - this mountain pass took around 2 hours, with the Grossglockner section being phenomenal.

Sunsets have always meant a lot to us as a family, but this one was...

Rapfen Alm - a slice of heaven.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand 
And a Heaven in a Wild Flow...

Cycling the Silverstone Circuit

During the 2017 MotoGP season, on free practice friday, Jack and I sweet-talked our way into getting permission to cycle a lap of the full Silverstone international race circuit.
Utterly amazing, and one of the stand-out moments of all time.

Head full of dreams

Coldplay toured the world in 2017, and Em & I were fortunate enough to get tickets for the Cardiff performance. Playing to 70,000 it was one of the most spectacular performances I have ever seen

The One Show - with Dad

Dad (Paul Johnson) had his ‘5 minutes of fame’ when he appeared on The One Show in December 2017. With around 5 million viewer it was an amazing opportunity for people to learn about ‘Paper Engineering’ and for his ‘pop-up books’ to be showcased to a national audience.