Gonna Win

Spent yesterday afternoon at the Beverley Rugby Union Club for the annual Primary Schools Tag Competition. There were a dozen or so schools represented with our little village school taking two teams of boys and girls thanks to the hardwork and enthusiasm of Miss Wardlow. Our youngest was playing in the Tickton red team and had a great time.

It was fantastic to see all the kids having a good time and demonstrating some great basic rugby skills. Congratulations to everyone from the club for the hard work and organisation that made the event a real success.

Training Dates Confirmed

Two new training dates confirmed for May 2009. First up is Camera to Wall on the 18th May 2009 at our training venue in Hull. This course is suitable for anyone who takes digital images and has access to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom. These are the leading industry tools available to the contemporary photographer and I'll show you how to get the best from them to make your images come alive. It's a full day and by the end of it you'll be seeing a different quality in your images.

On the 19th May 2009 we'll be hosting Finding the Light at a fabulous venue in Barton on Humber. Once again it's a full day of practical and theory sessions. I'll teach you the benefits and techniques required to create light in any situation, making use of any available light and working with off camera flash and constant light sources. There will be some theory, the opportunity to see me work with light and then your own time to work with a model and create your own stunning images. Places are restricted on each course so call the studio to reserve your place and avoid disappointment.

Putting some Glamour into life

I always like to try and push my photography into new directions. Recently that's meant pushing further into the realms of fashion/glamour photography. Now don't get me wrong here, you won't be logging in any time soon and seeing cheezy page 3 type glamour images shot by me, but there is a different style of lighting associated with those genre that is worth exploring.

So I did a shoot on Tuesday with Chantal, a model based here in the UK and the USA. We set ourselves the restriction of only using one flash head and working solely around my front room and garden. Amazing what you can do in a restricted environment when you need to!

Thanks Chantal, you were fab and look forward to fitting in another few shoots before you leave us for LA.

Devonshire Wedding Fair

Just a quick reminder that on Sunday (15th March) we will be at the Devonshire Fell, Burnsall in North Yorkshire for their wedding fair. We love working with Stephane and his team there so looking forward to seeing you all on the day. If you want to make an appointment please call and we'll make sure one of us is free, if you just want to drop by and say Hi, that will be good too!

Workshop Programme 2009/10

Training is such a major part of my life, I really love getting out and about and helping other photographers to get the best out of their hobby/profession.

That's why it's so exciting to be launching the 2009/10 workshop programme that builds significantly on the courses offered previously. We'll still be working with our friends at Annabel Williams and Society of Wedding and Portrait Photography, but these sessions are designed specifically for me to give you the skills and techniques I use to create my images.

We've got some fabulous venues and models lined up so if you're looking to give your photography a push this year click here to download our eBrochure (pdf requires Adobe Acrobat)

SWPP

Regular readers will remember a shoot recently with the lovely Natalie around Hull. Two of these pictures were entered into the recent Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographer competition and attained the coveted Gold standard.

This means they will now go forward to the end of year International Photographer of the Year awards. I will be at that event, not only as a potential prize winner but as a guest of the Society. I am delighted to be able to announce that I have been invited to address the convention and run a couple of master classes on my work. It's a huge honour and something I'm looking forward to immensely.

Of course anyone attending one of our spring/summer courses will get a sneak preview of what to expect at these events but be assured I shall be planning a unique presentation for the Convention that will justify the trust placed in me by the Society.

As mentioned previously look out for the next PhotoPro magazine, which will contain some of our images in preparation for a major article in the May edition.

Pre Wedding Shoot

It's very rare that I will shoot a wedding without previously having met the couple for a pre wedding lifestyle shoot. The reasons are many fold but it is the perfect way to prepare for the wedding day, get to know the couple better and capture some gorgeous pictures.

Such was the case at the weekend when I was joined in Hull by the wonderful Karen and Jon. Can you believe these guys were a little wary of being photographed and thought they wouldn't look good? There love for life and each other shone from every pore and I can't wait to shoot their wedding day in May up at the Red Lion in Burnsall.

Thanks for being so fab guys and see you again soon.

Lots going on at the moment and will have some good news in the near future so keep reading. We will shortly be releasing our 2009/20 training schedule so thank you to all the photographers out there who have been patient whilst we finalise the details. There will be something for everyone and hopefully some new stuff that will blow your minds!

Have a great weekend everyone and will be back next week.

Back to Basics

After the wild times at Flamingo Land it was a case of back to the day job over the weekend. First up was a fashion shoot with the gorgeous Tamara-marie. We were working to an 80's/urban grundge theme and found some excellent locations around Hull.

I've just finished a large article for PhotoPro magazine which will appear in the May issue. If you've ever wanted to know more about how I light my images that's the place for you.

After the shoot with Tammy I had the pleasure of meeting up with Karen and Jon to shoot their pre wedding pictures and plan their wedding day. They'll be marrying up at the Red Lion in Burnsall in May but more of their shoot tomorrow.

Take a Walk on the Wildside

My camera has taken me to some pretty amazing places.

That was never as true as last Thursday when I had the utter pleasure of visiting Flamingo Land to photograph the park, and also the animals.

I couldn't have been more thrilled as I've always been fascinated by animals of all types and spent much of my childhood years devouring the books of Gerald Durrell and any other animal based literature I could lay my hands on.

I was there though on the invitation of the park owners to photograph their animals in a more fashion/lifestyle styley. Quite a challenge when some of the animals included Tigers, Lions, Rhinoceros and Hippos!

I took my friend Mark with me who was an absolute rock and also curiously attractive to a range of creatures from Tapir to Parrots.

A particular thanks to Ross and Mark from Flamingo Land who accompanied us, guided us, entertained and advised us and without whom we wouldn't have got the pictures we did.

Here is a small slideshow to enjoy.