My name is Hamish Fenton, I come from Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
I completed an Archaeology degree (BSc) at Bournemouth University in 2002, prior to uni I did GCSE and A-level archaeology along with a certificate in Practical archaeology (EMFEC) at Chippenham College. Since I was I child I've had interest and exposure to archaeology and history.
Following my degree I have had steady employment the construction industry and currently work in manufacturing. I continue to be involved in archaeology in the UK although not working professionally in it.
I occasionally do a bit of overseas travel, previously I was in a job that was fairly flexible in allowing extended amounts of time off work. In 2003 I went travelling for six months, starting in Istanbul, Turkey and travelling through the Middle East to Egypt by bus, then flying to Ethiopia, and continuing by truck all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa. In 2008 I journeyed from Turkey along the Silk Road towards China, visa issues surrounding the Olympics in Beijing curtailed any further progress beyond Kyrgyzstan. For a few years I went to Spain for a bit of winter mountaineering. A few kite aerial photography group meetups in Europe.
I'm pretty content with exploring the highly varied geology and landscapes of Britain and Ireland. I'm getting close to having visited all of the historic counties of the United Kingdom, only Rutland to go (but don't currently have plans to visit). There is always more to see, some of the gems close to home never get visited, 60 days in the Shetland Isles and I have ticked just about everything I could dream of doing!
Kite aerial photography - low level aerial photography before drones became a thing. The first person to successfully fly a camera from a kite and get some pictures (that we know of, with surviving evidence) was a Frenchman called Arthur Batut back in 1888, things have moved on a little since then, I started kite aerial photography in 2008.
For me Kite Aerial Photography is a low-cost method taking aerial photographs and the legislative position surrounding kite flying is relatively stable unlike UAVs. I did dabble with UAV/drone for a while, I appreciate the benefits and drawbacks of both methods, but my disposable income pockets are of kite depth rather than drone. I mostly look at archaeological or historical subjects from single photos to using hundreds to reconstruct landscapes with structure from motion photogrammetry.
Photogrammetry, I started out back in the mist of time (c.2008/9) using Microsoft Photosynth in conjunction with another tool/hack to extract point clouds. I really got going with photogrammetry when I purchased a Agisoft Metashape (originally called PhotoScan) in 2012, I have published models on Sketchfab.com since 2015 where I currently have around 400 models, although right now (2025) it is unclear how much longer sketchfab will remain operating.
I'm interested in too much, but currently there is a bias toward rock art/carved stones, industrial archaeology, aerial photography. I don't have a fixation upon any particular period.
Elsewhere on the internet:
A selection of 3D models / photogrammetry arranged into collections/albums www.sketchfab.com/hfenton/collections
Flickr.com (nothing uploaded since 2021)
www.flickr.com/hamishfenton/
Megalithic Portal (not currently as active here as I once was) www.megalithic.co.uk...
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