Posts

Redesigning MontyPix: A Reflection on Purpose and Presence

Image
Websites, even the smallest of them, have a way of telling a story. For us, MontyPix began as something purely functional—a digital signpost pointing people towards our photography and studios. Useful, yes, but it always felt like it was missing something. Over time, I realised that a link site is often the first encounter people have with our work. It is the doorway. And like any doorway, it should give you a sense of what lies beyond. Ours wasn’t doing that—it was practical, but it didn’t speak. The redesign was born out of a desire to make MontyPix more than just a collection of links. It became about creating an experience. When shaping the new design, three principles guided me: Clarity — Visitors shouldn’t have to think twice about where to click. Simplicity is powerful, and reducing friction makes the journey effortless. Visual presence — As photographers, we live and breathe aesthetics. The site needed to echo that, with visuals that engage without overwhelming. ...
Read more

Beneath the Trees Beside the Water Lake Paprocany in Fragments

Image
A 6.5-kilometre circular walk around Lake Paprocany unfolds as a journey of quiet discovery, where every step reveals subtle moments often overlooked. Shadows stretch across wooden walkways, sunlight glimmers on rippling water, and the gentle rustle of leaves provides a soft soundtrack for contemplation. Monty, nestled comfortably in his little Monty truck, pauses between short explorations, enjoying treats and water, while we, too, take frequent breaks to savour the shade, breathe in the scent of the forest, and notice the distant calls of birds echoing across the lake. The day was documented through multiple perspectives. The Nikon D7200 captured intricate textures and fleeting details of the path, the DJI Pocket 2 recorded intimate close-ups that reveal hidden corners, and the DJI Mini 3 Pro drone offered sweeping aerial views of the lake, the surrounding forest, and the winding paths, presenting familiar landscapes in a new light. Each photograph becomes a meditation on the interpl...
Read more

Zbiornik Retencyjny Gańczorka – Reflections Beneath a Summer Sky

Image
Beneath the kind of summer sky that seems impossibly blue and heavy with light, we set out for Zbiornik retencyjny „Gańczorka”. The road wound steadily upward through stretches of pine and birch, the air shifting from the heat of the valleys to the cooler whispers of the hills. Even before we caught sight of the water, there was a sense that the day would leave its mark. When we arrived, the reservoir lay before us like a sheet of liquid glass, its stillness disturbed only by the faintest ripple. Here, engineering and nature share an uneasy alliance — the concrete walls and channels holding back a body of water that seems too wild to be contained. The sun poured gold over the surface, and every shift of the breeze sent waves of light dancing into the trees that guard its edges. Dorota and I wandered the winding paths, sometimes close to the water’s edge, other times climbing to look down upon it from above. The forest was alive with soft rustlings — the sound of leaves stirred by the...
Read more

The Whispering Roads of Pszczyna

Image
The asphalt is not inert. It dreams. It remembers. It drinks in every vibration from passing tyres, cataloguing each story in a memory far older than the riders who touch it. Some call it pavement. Others know better. This afternoon, I rode 31.86 kilometres—or so the app insists. The clock insists it took 1 hour, 48 minutes, and 37 seconds. But the road and I know those numbers are polite fictions. In truth, time twisted and folded, and I may have been riding for minutes… or for centuries. They speak of “personal records” as though we only contend with our younger selves. But today, I realised the records belong not to me, but to the road. And the road plays favourites. On the sprint into Pszczyna, the trees melted into a liquid smear of green. It felt faster, but perhaps it was only the road pulling me forward through a pocket of compressed time. On Rurociagi’s concrete veins, where I ranked third, I wondered about the two riders above me. Their names glow on the leaderboard, yet I...
Read more

When the World Falls Silent

Image
Every morning, at around eight o’clock, I take Monty – our small, spirited Shih Tzu – for his walk. It’s a routine so ordinary on the surface, yet quietly extraordinary to me. Most people start their day to the soundtrack of the world: cars rumbling by, birds calling overhead, neighbours exchanging words across the street. For me, those sounds are a choice. I wear two hearing aids most of the time, a lifeline to the conversations, laughter, and general noise of everyday life. But on these walks, I leave them on the bedside table. Without them, the world is stripped of its usual soundtrack. What’s left is a kind of soft, enveloping quiet – a quiet that most people will never experience in quite the same way. It isn’t silence exactly. There’s still the crunch of gravel beneath my boots, the faint rustle of leaves stirred by a breeze, the rhythmic padding of Monty’s paws. But it’s a muted, distant version of reality. In that stillness, there’s space to think… or not to think at all. This ...
Read more

Behind the Lens: Unveiling the Quiet Secrets of Light and Shadow

Image
In an age where images flood our screens by the million, there remains an elusive realm where photographs transcend mere visuals — where they become portals to places, moments, and memories seldom seen or understood. This is the world I invite you to explore through my curated online galleries and stories, each offering a unique vantage point on the art of seeing. View From My Lens is more than a photo gallery. It is a silent voyage across landscapes and cities, from the cobbled streets of Poland and the misty moors of the UK, to the timeless canals of Italy and the majestic peaks of Austria. Armed with my Nikon D7200 and the nimble DJI Pocket 2 and Mini 3 Pro drone, I seek not just to capture what the eye perceives, but to reveal what lies just beyond—those fleeting moments when light and shadow whisper secrets. Each photograph is a frame of the unseen, inviting you to look deeper, to question what lies beneath the surface of the familiar. Yet, images alone can only tell so much. E...
Read more

Pedals and Perspectives: A Ride Through Pszczyna’s Veins

Image
There’s something timeless about tracing old paths on two wheels—no engine hum, no rush, just the steady rhythm of pedal strokes echoing through the quiet corridors of the Polish countryside. This afternoon’s 27.92 km ride through Pszczyna, Łąka, and down to the still waters of Goczałkowice-Zdrój wasn’t simply a workout. It was a moving meditation. With a modest elevation gain of 97 metres over 1 hour and 42 minutes, it wasn’t about speed—it was about presence. As I passed Kolonia Grzybowa and skirted the edges of tranquil lakes and wooded shadows, I realised: the landscape isn’t just scenery—it’s memory. Every bump in the road, every bend in the trail, whispers stories of those who walked, worked, and wandered here long before me. We ride not only to move forward—but to connect with the past, breathe in the present, and find stillness somewhere in between.
Read more