Hi, I'm Mike Baker, and this  is my website.
	is my trading name as a Digital photographer, but also as a Freelance TV Lighting Director and trainer.
...not the old radio cabinet material, which is incidentally, spelt Bakelite, although I remember it well!
My web site is largely a photographic record of where I live and some of the places that I have been. It has got rather large, now exceeding 500 pages! Yes, photographs, many of them, thousands in fact. I live in Aberthin near Cowbridge in the Vale of Glamorgan which is near Cardiff in South Wales, in the U.K.  Wales is subdivided into four areas: West, Mid , South and North.
Below, underlined in red, are the main areas on my Web site:

TV Lighting and Training	Here you will find my C.V. career history, details of my  involvement in TV lighting training as well as illustrated articles of assignments abroad that I have written for the  Society of Television Lighting Directors quarterly journal. You can also see some Helium Balloons in action.
Digital Photography	takes you to a page giving more details of my client base.
Photo Gallery	This is the backbone of the site, in that there are a growing number of galleries (and countries) that cover some aspects of my life long interest in photography.  England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Chile, Turkey, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Barcelona, Boston, North America, New England, New York, Italy, Canada, Rumania, Poland, China and Syria feature with many sub categories below them. (Most images are 'clickable' to get a larger image. Then use 'back' on your browser to return to the page.) There's also my recollections of the Swinging 60's and my work at BBC Bush House Panoramic pictures and photos are also a particular interest of mine. I can print your own panoramas to order.   Club Stuff shows some of my pictures that have done quite well in the Vale Photographic Club.  Concorde at Cardiff and her last flight into Filton are also here.
Family and Home	...is self explanatory. Within this area, you can check out 'Through the Barbed Wire', Caroline's Graduation Ceremony, The big bike ride, cycle Wales 2004, home and garden and the Baker 'dynasty'. My place of birth and youth: Colne, Cottontree, Trawden and Wycoller feature here.
Links	...are also self explanatory. There are also feedback pages where comments, good and bad are there for all to see.
Site Map	in case you get lost. (not always up to date!)
Contact Me	Takes you to my contact page

For occasional visitors to my site, below is a list of recently added pages. Older pages have been filed elsewhere to keep the size of this page reasonable. This should help you know what's new without having to trawl through everything.  I will try to keep this area updated. They are short cuts to the pages listed in the 'Banner.' Newest pages at the top.
	Now 2010 and I have uploaded some winter pics to reflect the white stuff that descended on us in the last week or to. This was Jean on her way to work in mid January. Like Ski-ing but with none of the fun...
	Mid December, 2009 and we get a touch of winter. A few shots taken in Wales around the shortest day.
	A day trip to London in November was well timed for a dramatic sunset and the newly switched on Xmas lights.
	Friday November 13th saw me on the way to Bahrain via Abu Dhabi to deliver a training course for Bahrain TV on behalf of twofour54, an organisation based in Abu Dhabi for the purpose of Media training throughout the Middle East.
	In late September, we 'popped' over to see our friends who live in the Aveyron in France for a few days. We caught the last days of their long, hot summer.
	A short trip to see Jeans cousin in Barnsley, Yorkshire in autumn produced some images which can be seen here. Anyone who likes Grand Designs with Kevin McCloud can see some of the images of that wonderful bridge in Castleford. Well worth the trip!
	This summer, Jean and I took ourselves to California where we spent three weeks touring that part of the west coast of the USA. It exceeded our expectations in just about every way. Just a small matter of sorting through some 1700 images... I have finally got them down to a manageable number. I think.
	It's 15 years since Jean and I visited Cyprus so the kind offer of accommodation near Paphos this spring was taken with some alacrity. I have been to the island many times, but each time we manage to see new parts of the island, as well as re-discovering some of our favourites.
	towards the end of March, 2009, I took a quick walk up Pen y Fan, my first for about three months. Quite a few people had walked up with their dogs, too.
	Beware the Ides of March, or so they say. The Ides of March 2009 were very enjoyable for Jean and I who managed to visit the RHS gardens at Rosemoor in North Devon. Click along and see what we saw...
	early March 2009 and we escape  to Northern Italy for a few days with some very good friends. They live in Cima just a few miles south of the Swiss border.
	Early February 2009 brought some of the white stuff to our South Wales streets. Needless to say, Scoop Baker was there to get a few snaps.
	December 4th 2008. Credit Crunch, VAT down to 15%, sun shining, cold. Good day to climb Pen y Fan.
	The end of November 2008 and Santa Claus comes to Cowbridge, complete with reindeer.
	Early autumn 2008 finds Jean and I in North Wales for a few days walking. Newborough Woods and Dunes on Anglesey are high on our wish list.
	North Wales is world famous for its slate quarries which have produced slate roofs for millions of houses in their years of production. Sadly, it is now cheaper to import Spanish slate at half the price of a locally sourced one. Why?
	Covehithe is a tiny village to the north of Southwold which is on the coast of Suffolk. The geographical location does nothing to entice you there but, believe me, the county of Suffolk has a great deal to offer. First, we visited Beth Chatto's garden. A splendid and famous garden.
	Cwm Idwal in North Wales is Wales' first nature reserve and is a favourite spot for walkers and climbers in Snowdonia. I can now also add photographers to that list. With a spectacular backdrop of the mountain range including 'Devil's kitchen' it's a must at any time of year.
	Rhyader is pretty close to what I would call the centre of Wales. It's also a pretty place in its own right with a strong character and some excellent scenery all around. It is also known as the home of the Welsh Red Kite feeding centre that was just a short distance from our chosen accommodation. And, then there's the Elan Valley...
	Bletchley Park near Milton Keynes is, or was, one of Britain's best kept secrets. 9000 people worked around the clock throughout most of World War 2 breaking codes used by the Germans.
	Coton Manor is a beautiful 17th Century Manor house set in 10 acres of gardens. It is built of mellow Northamptonshire stone and set on a hillside. It's gorgeous!
	Mid July and Jean and I took a short break in deepest Pembrokeshire. The National Trust's splendid Llanerchareon was on our hit list.
	Mid June and I am off to Istanbul on a short, working trip. I did manage to get a few more non work pics of this amazing city though. Surprise, surprise.
	June 9th, and it's a day trip to the superb beaches of Gower.
	The first day of June saw us in the Kenfig national nature reserve. 'It is one of the finest Wildlife habitats in Wales and one of the last remnants of a huge dune system that once stretched along the coast of Southern Wales from the River Ogmore to the Gower peninsula. The reserve is home to unique wild orchids, as well as insects and wildlife.'
	Only two weeks after returning from China, I'm off to Las Vegas, once again on a work related trip. 'Work?' my friends exclaimed. Well, yes, it was. To attend N.A.B. a giant Television exhibition. That's the exhibition that's giant you understand. But there was also time to take a few 'snaps.'
	A short but intensively pictorial look at my farthest travels yet: China. I had a few days visiting Yuyao a large provincial town in the province of Zhejiang in south east China. Fascinating and very interesting, especially for a photographer.
	A tale of two cities, Krakow and Warsaw. We took a short trip to Poland in which we see a great deal of that country's history and its people. We also visited Auschwitz, Birkenau and the 700 year old salt mines.

 

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