I had a warm glow inside last week when I attended a careers evening at my son’s school and discovered that most of the Uni and College brochures were festooned with my photos.
Christmas help from Tesco's
I had the pleasure of meeting Rosie Radford whilst on a Christmas shoot for Tesco’s magazine. The compassion she showed the people at the Cheltenham Open Door Project was an inspiration for us all. She treated everyone there with respect and kindness and I could see how much it was appreciated by the homeless folk she was feeding. Rosie’s doing more than just filling their bellies, she’s showing them that people do care, and that gives them hope.
Super cool dog
I was doing a corporate portrait today at a directors home. Once we got the work picture done we had a great laugh dressing up the family pooch and I got my favourite pic of the week.
Criminology shoot
I was photographing a Criminology student at a mock crime scene yesterday. Later the client sent me a photo of myself at work and I am shocked to see that I look like a geography teacher who has just fallen over. I think I need to wear less brown.
2018 Heist award for best Undergraduate Prospectus
“ University of Gloucestershire have combined vibrant, creative photography with a detailed focus on student stories and course content to produce a winning prospectus.”
I'm absolutely delighted to be part of the team that produced the 2018 prospectus that has recently received the Gold Award for Best Undergraduate Prospectus. I am particularly pleased to read that the photography was given a special mention.
How good pictures can help propel your business into the big time.
I was absolutely delighted to read about the incredible success of a business that I am proud to say I worked with at the start. James Mansfield and James Flower approached me via a mutual friend back in 2010 to take a selection of pictures to help launch their business. I had a feeling that they would do well as they were such nice fellas and switched on to. I'm so chuffed for them and I wish them every success in the future.
Harry Potter Shoot
Students at the University of Gloucestershire have their very own 'Dumbledore's Army' society and I was asked to photograph a meeting for social media. The university's Harry Potter fan club has over 200 members who meet every week for Potter-related activites, including movie nights, quizzes and fancy dress parties. The pictures proved to be a massive hit on line and the University received some record breaking hits for the posts the Marketing department produced.
This is a great example of making the most of my pictures, you needn't just use them for your website or brochure, they can go on working for you in all sorts of ways.
70th Anniversary for Cheltenham law firm.
I was delighted to help Willans solicitors celebrate their 70th anniversary last week. The Cheltenham law firm was started back in 1947 when the first job of the day was to light the coal fires in the office. The photos found there way in to prestigious Gloucestershire publications Cotswold Life, South West Business and the Gloucestershire Echo. Once again demonstrating that quality relevant photographs are essential for effective marketing.
People with proper jobs.
Last week I was pleased to be asked to work with the NHS. I spent half a day with the staff at a new hospital in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. As always I tried hard not disturb the work flow, just sat back in a corner and photographed people at work. I was struck by how cheerful and positive everyone was, it's easy to get a dim view of life in a hospital if like me you read a lot of newspaper articles. I reckon I met the whole staff when I took a group pic for the NHS magazine and everyone of them were a pleasure to meet and a joy to work with.
I left feeling that I should have a proper job rather than just watching other people work, but after 30 years of snapping people at work I probably wouldn't be of much use to them.
A proof of the NHS magazine featuring the mass group shot. I took along a portable studio that I set up outside and photographed them in groups of 3 or 4 and a clever photoshop wizard stitched them together.
Specialist bike transporters WMB
I recently had the pleasure to work with two former truckers/bikers Paul and Tony from WMB Logistics in Gloucester. Ten years ago they created a special cradling system to transport bikes safely and they've now become the most trusted company that work with the worlds biggest brands.
Paul and Tony founders of WMB Logistics
One of the many beautiful bikes that caught my eye was this special made for the super bike legend Carl Fogarty.
I couldn't resist a chance to sit on this supercharged beauty made especially for Carl Fogarty.
Dream job for a petrol head
I like nothing more than messing about in an old classic motor or riding an old Brit bike. I'm fortunate enough to have a couple of these toys myself. So I was super chuffed to get a call from vintage and classic car expert, he used to be the Director of Classic Cars at Sotheby's, so there's not much he doesn't know about old cars.
Martin and his business partners Richard and Angus look after a treasure trove of beautiful cars and bikes on the site of an old airfield deep in the Cotswolds. I was booked for a couple of hours to photograph the collection, but stayed a lot longer soaking up the atmosphere of the place and wishing I had chosen a different career. I'd love to be paid to look after such exquisite motors and get to exercise them now and then.
Lighting is always a bit tricky with cars if you need to use flash because of the reflections on the many curved surfaces. Over the years I've found that if I can't get it right I just blast a load of light from several flashes into the ceiling and see what happens, usually this is fine, but it chows through your batteries, especially if it's cold.
Vintage and classic car expert Martin Chisholm
I couldn't resist a quick selfie - Clint Randall
Performing Arts students, University of Gloucestershire.
Time is often tight when shooting for a prospectus, it's important not to interrupt lessons, luckily I've been doing this long enough to be able to deal with tricky lighting conditions quickly. This session for the University of Gloucestershire took only 20 mins. I used 2 Nikon speed light flashes connected to remote controlled triggers and shoot through umbrellas.
Westonbirt Arboretum Skywalk
I recently had a lovely commission from TATA Steel to photograph the dramatic tree-top walkway has opened at Westonbirt Arboretum, giving visitors a unique bird's-eye view of its woodlands.
It snakes through the trees for nearly 1,000 feet, taking people into and above the leafy canopy.
Institute of Directors Awards
College Prospectus
After almost 30 years of working on newspapers it still gives me a great deal of satisfaction to see my pictures used well. Hartpury College have done a fantastic job designing the latest prospectus.
Vodafone UK
I recently had the chance to work at Vodafone HQ in Newbury. The site is absolutely enormous, I had no idea that it is the worlds second largest telephone company, not bad considering their first office was above a curry house in Newbury.
“The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words.”
Great prospectus feedback
Personal Best
I was so pleased to be sent a copy of Personal Best's new brochure, I'm delighted to see how well it has turned out. Carl and Kristine were very well organised and had a timetable of events for me to photograph and we managed to get the whole brochure photo shoot done in 2 hours. They are a great example of how good quality photography can promote their brand and not cost a fortune.
