I captured this image way back in the summer of 1992. I was enjoying the last few days of my summer touring the USA and ended it at Venice Beach in California.I spotted this lifeguard called Trec patrolling on his tower on the beach and politely asked if I may take his portrait. During the shoot and the usual exchange of polite conversation Trec with some pride told me he was 36 years old which as you can see from the image was a big surprise.
Not sure about you but it scares me slightly to where time seems to go, does it speed up as you enter your thirties? I reckon so.
As I look through the thousands of images I’ve captured over the years many feel like they were completed in the months previous when in fact some were captured well over 25 years ago.
This particular image comes from a lifestyle photography production completed a few years ago. It blends the rustic beauty of Exmoor with two gorgeous female models with the concept being about friendship and survival.
Having spent nearly 3 decades now capturing images, I myself often feel a little like a survivor!… it’s not easy but then the best jobs never are.
Today sees the sale of our home in Turkey finalised which to be honest leaves me slightly sad.We bought the property close to Bodrum around 8 years ago as an investment and, as a result, made many friends in the area and my many trips created many happy memories (and images) but it’s simply run its course and it’s time to move on.
Happy New Year…We often say that as a matter of politeness..but it does not always feel that way does it? It’s no secret or maybe surprise that those in the creative freelancing field can often be plagued by self-doubt especially when times are slow at this time of year.
I captured this image on a very memorable sunny but cold weekend in Venice in 2004. It was a few days before Christmas and the majority of Venice was dressed ready for the festivities with lights & decorations. As dusk approached the whole place transformed into an adults Christmas grotto which was an incredible sight. This was my first time on a trip with my digital camera gear and so I was eager to explore and test its capabilities, especially handheld in very low light. This off the cuff image shows a Gondolier waiting at end of the day on one of the many small rustic bridges that Venice is abundant with. Technically this isn’t perfect, but I do love the ambience that it captures at that magical time of day which is actually neither truely day or night but as I like to call it the edge of darkness.
I love to travel,explore new places,meet new people and of course capture them. This image came from a recent family break in Majorca Spain a few weeks ago. I’m no stranger to Majorca having visited several times in recent years but like anywhere there is always something new to find and experience if you are prepared to look.
Inspiration to create images comes in many forms at least for me. While retouching some work the other week I decided to randomly listen to something completely different from my normal playlists on Spotify and put on some Bluegrass music. One track, in particular, hit a chord (pardon the pun) which as you may expect from the Bluegrass genre contained the Banjo.
It was only in September that I found myself on location shooting at the beautiful Hartham Park house near Bath.
This week I was at another beautiful historic house called Dillington which happens to be only a few minutes from the studio.
Dillington House
I had received a call from an online events company called Choose Your Event who needed some corporate Portraits for a magazine feature they where appearing in.
As CYE are based on the grounds of Dillington House (and a client of the company) it was arranged for us to use the house for both interior and exterior images we had planned.
Behind The Scenes
For the interior we chose one of the many rooms and it’s impressive fireplace to position the directors Ben & Simon Gray and to reflect some of the room back into frame and help set the scene.
When it came to the exterior we where once again spoilt for choice but I decided on a couple of simple set up’s one of which was to show the famous golden local Hamstone and windows of the property.
As with all photography the best images are often those that are kept clean & simple even if sometimes they are far from simple to produce.
Behind The Scenes
You can view the CYE Group website and their services Here
I’ve been regularly visiting the Bodrum area of Turkey since my wife and I purchased a property there nearly 10 years ago. Photographically this means I’ve shot there many times especially around Gumbet Bay.
I’m generally not known as an interior photographer or for doing kitchen photography but like most photographic genres I’ve probably at some point done it but just don’t advertise or claim to specialise in it.
In the case of Interior Design company Papilo they contacted me as they required some tricky interiors photographing and knew with my image retouching services and knowledge I could possibly help capture what they required.
Steve & Matt Papilo’s directors also explained they needed some corporate portraits that also would showcase their interior design style at the same time.
The idea for the portraits was pretty much dictated by the location so we finalised everything on the day of the shoot.
I decided once I had seen the interior that the approach should be a composite image to allow for maximum flexibility.
The shoot went without any issues and so with time to spare decided on another alternative both shown below.
For the interiors, we planned to capture the rooms when the exterior ambient light was at the correct angle and intensity.
This was to allow enough daylight to illuminate albeit very dimly through any visible windows.
Capturing all of the lighting intensities and dark surfaces required some care shooting and time to produce in post-production but I’m pleased to say Papilio were very happy with the results.
