21/02/2026
- Injury Update: Hello all. It has now been over 6 months since I broke my back bodyboarding (see previous posts on last updates). Unfortunately my new year has not gone according to plan as now my shoulder has been causing me a lot of pain for the last 7 weeks. I'm still on regular painkillers and yes I have still not been able to return back to work, as frustratingly I can`t move my arm at all. As a result I have not even had the chance to begin my physio as all physio has been put on hold.
I have again gone for various new scans and I have discussed the results with specialists and unfortunately, after all this time, surgery is now required (I know, you just couldn't script this). It`s the right decision I think, or else I could be stuck in this painful situation for the next 1-3 years if I don't do anything about this actual "Frozen Shoulder" condition. This new injury started while doing physio at the physio, but the doctor suggests it could of happened due to not been active for the last 6 months or as a result to the trauma from my back/neck injury. I expect the surgery will go ahead within the next couple of weeks. It`s hard to say at this stage what the recovery time will be considering that I have been immobile for 23 hours a day for 195 days 🤞
- The photos: I captured this Aurora last month on the 20th January. Due to my pain, and only the use of one arm, I have not been able to edit and post this sooner. I had planned for some time to photograph this location at night, and when I saw the alerts popping up, I called up my good friend Simon for this adventure. Yes after seeing everyone's Aurora pics from the day before, FOMO kicked in. After been stuck in bed for an eternity, I just swallowed some painkillers and as I was in a good state, I just went for it. Don't worry, all was under control under the night skies, we had our torches and I crawled down to the location slower than a snails pace. I didn't pack my usual heavy backpack and Simon helped carry my gear when I needed him to (thanks mate).
Now to say that this was my hardest photoshoot, I would have to say yes. It was bloody freezing!!! All my sensors were on overload due the darkness and the super loud stormy ocean. It was windy, it rained, the clouds were annoying and trying to get focus was really impossible. Due to the thorny Heather shrub that I was trying to stabilise my tripod on, I tried over 10 different locations to get the tripod stable. Now with only one injury free arm and 3 tripod legs to push into tough sponge, yeah you can just imagine how hard that would be trying to achieve stability on an uneven earth. Even standing on this pictured uneven downhill angle, due to previous knee ops and been unfit, my knees even gave in after a short time and I had to just rest on the thorns for some time capturing these images.
I didn't care about the thorns though, I was witnessing a spectacle. I felt alive. I was out of my comfort zone and enjoying nature under the stars. I got this lens for astrophotography long before my injury, so I hadn't had the opportunity to use it yet, so to capture this aurora on a new location was pretty awesome. I learnt a lot from this shoot and lucky for me that it was also one of the strongest recorded aurora`s this millennium. This tin mine at Wheal Coates that I photographed, opened in 1802 (that's a lot of Atlantic storms to hit this coast since then). Let that date sink in, which makes this photo extra special considering that its so rare to witness the aurora in Cornwall. Was the pain worth it, hell yeah :)
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