London Cityscape Photography

This is why I LOVE my job! My brief -  'Shoot some Iconic London Landmarks and Cityscapes along the London Soutbank'. NICE DAY AHEAD! Although i had to rise at 5am to get down to Tower Bridge to catch the sunrise, it was worth it! Every time I have to do a job which involves getting up and out in the dark, I am reminded that there is nothing better than being in London as the sun rises. it really is the best time of day to be in London! Still, calm and truly beautiful ... until the hoards arrive and the buzz takes over again. So, as i was going to be walking around all day long, i didn't want a trailer load of backbreaking gear with me, so opted for my ever m,ore popular choice of kit - my Fuji X-Pro 1... in a tiny bag with 3 lenses and a spare battery, a very small Manfrotto tripod and i'm done! discreet and light, i can crack on without feeling depressed each time i know i have to pack up and move on! I started by shooting east towards Butlers Wharf from St Katherine's Dock at sunrise and then spent the day strolling and exploring the Soutbank from Rotherhithe to Westmisnster Bridge...

I'd never been up the OXO Tower and had this in mind for the end of my day. It was thoroughly worth it. I was a bit worried about rocking up there in my jeans and North face photographer kit! ... but the staff were very lovely and guided me to their free public viewing balcony outside - where i was able to wait for the light to drop and the magic of the city lights to come to life!  I wasn't sure how the Fuji X-Pro 1 would cope with long exposures on its small sensor ... but i am very impressed with its clarity and low light noise levels. Not to mention again its sooooooo small! Chuffed!
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The Key to commercial portrait photography

I often do Commercial Portrait Photography of business owners and their staff ... and very often they want to be seen as serious, upstanding individuals... but this doesnt mean you can't use the surroundings to add some colour and a bit of a twist! Here are some recent profile shots I did for a business owner ... I tried to have a bit of fun with him in the environment we had... hope you like the images.

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Royal Ballet Photography

This week I am working at the 'World Travel Market 2012' at ExCel in London as 1 of 4 Photographers providing all the images for the world press. WTM2012 is the leading global event for the travel industry. As part of this amazing Global trade fair, the WTM team organize many cultural events for the various heads of States and Ministers in attendance. I was lucky enough to be selected to go along and photograph the Ministerial Dinner at the Mayors official London residency - Mansion House in the City. A truly amazing building and venue. I have to say, this is the sort of event photographers love! Fabulous interiors, great lighting and wonderful subjects. This was capped off by the Royal Ballet Company performing as a finale to the evening. I myself have never seen Ballet live, let alone ballet by the very best performers in the world. It was breathtakingly beautiful and elegant! The poise and grace, is truly mesmerizing. I hope you enjoy the photographs and hope to be able to do more of these if i can make further inroads now! Watch this space :)

This is why i love my job! Always different, always challenging and a lot of the time a privilege!

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Street Photography with 'street13'

yes yes yes .... its been months since i have blogged .... i need another set of arms and legs at the moment, not to mention brain!! I have been SOOOOOOOOOOO Busy for the last 5 months .... and still hectic, but thought its about time i got some stuff up on here to show you where i have been and what i have been doing! :) So ... as many of you know, i am a big Instagram fanatic!! But.... i mean Instagram in the true sense .... so my shots on Instagram are all 100% Iphone and nothing else!! ... I found this dude 'Sam' while on my way to a shoot... he got on the train as cool as a cucumber on his retro hotwheels and sat there in amongst the other travellers without a care in the world ... I quickly whipped out my trusty iphone 4 for some shots (on the quiet of course!) and got some great shots of Sam without him being aware ... ! But when Sam also got off at Willesden Green, my curiosity got the better of me, so i asked him if he'd mind me taking a few shots (i had my Nikon in my bag!! ;) ) and here they are. Sam was a very interesting guy with a story to tell that amazed me and truly makes you realize that we should never judge a book by its cover!! I hope you like!![gallery]

Bikes and Babes - British Superbikes at Snetterton

A few shots here for all you bike fans. As some of you will know, i am a BIG bike fanatic. I have been since i was 7 years old when Santa Claus delivered a sparkly new Red Montesa Trials bike! :-) Since then i have been hooked, so combining my other love of Photography is just a dream for me. This coupled with sunshine and the odd eye candy, what more can you ask for! ;)

This is the first round of the British Superbikes race series I have been able to get to this year, but i wasn't too worried as all the other races were in horrible cold wet weather ... Snetterton proved yet again to be a cooking pot!

Enjoy the images and share share share .... ;)[gallery columns="6"]

John Hopkins - from British Superbikes series 2011

This is still one of my favourite shots i have taken during the British Superbikes of 2011. Unlike a lot of the other photographers there, i try to get good behind the scenes shots of the riders.... this for me shows the clear focus and intensity of the riders. John was and is a very dedicated rider. Enjoy!

Its a Dogs Life!

Sometimes you just see bizarre scenes around London when you're out and about .... This bloke and his dog was one of those scenes! I would love to see some captions from people ... please do comment! ;) [caption id="attachment_2440" align="alignnone" width="680"] ... God knows what they've been doing together!?[/caption]

Nikon D3 V's D4

Ok, so like all other Nikon D3 and D3s Owners i too have been wetting my pants over the recent launch of the new flagship Nikon D4! A few obvious reasons ... Pixels are now 16 which is a great, sensible size for good workflow, good quality etc ...the Low light capabilities supposedly improved again over the already 'See in the dark' D3s and lastly but the most eagerly awaited - Genuine High Def Video recording abilities.

I've placed my order alongside every other man who has sold his wives/girlfriends Jimmy Choo collection to get his hands on one.... but the demand has outweighed the supply and delivery is now going to be mid June!! :-/ Nikon have also rather greedily put the price up on its original launch price only 2 months ago from £4800 to £5260.00!! an apparent 'mistake' by Nikon .... errr really, do we all seem that dumb!! They clearly realised that demand was bigger than ever so saw fit to cash in!?

So ... i have a 'filming job tomorrow and no camera, so i quickly rang the excellent team down at The Pro Centre, and hired me a beast for the day to see what this thing can do ...

After a quick fiddle i just thought i would do a quick test between my now old and ever faithful D3 against the Sparkly new kid on the block ...

 

I selected Iso 4000, F8 at 1/8th sec exposure,  and stuck them on the tripod one after the other...

I am quite surprised to be honest that the quality difference isn't more apparent when blown up in the shadow areas ...and its really made me question why i am spending almost £5,500.00! There is a difference, but really .... in the real world, is it big enough to warrant that sound!???????

Can you tell!?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!?[gallery]

 

Advertising Shoot for new MOVband Activity Monitor

Well, as you probably know... its been raining!! Raining, raining, and then a bit more rain!! This was not looking good for about outdoors advertising Photography shoot for Fit For Future Ltd. FFF are launching the new MOVband Activity Monitor here in the uk, and needed some outdoor activity shots to show it at work. Well, Monday came and the skies turned blue! (phew) So out we set to a local park to show the Movband being put to the test!

For this shoot i was armed with my faithful Nikon D3, my 105mm Macro F2.8 and my lens for all 24-70mm F2.8. Lighting was my new Rllinchrom Quadra kit, 2 packs and 2 heads, 1 open and 1 with a small soft box.

Hope you can see how the flash gives the images that extra 'kick' ... colours zing out.... all in all! pleased! Hope you like! :)

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