I'm back in the office today and I must admit that although I love Christmas I will be glad to get back to normal next week!.

My Brother in Law and family came over for Christmas which was great and we all had a top time. To celebrate the fact that we were all together again we did a shoot in the studio the day after Boxing Day and the pictures have come out really well. I've just finished processing them and I'll add some of them over the next few days.

David (my brother in law) is now the chief exec of a rock radio station over in Dublin so we took a few PR shots whilst he was over. I've posted my favourite picture in today's blog entry.

I was chuffed to have been given a Roger Hicks photography book for Christmas on advanced product photography techniques. Anyone wanting to buy photographic books on lighting etc should look no further than Roger's books. He's written loads of them over the years and I've now got four of them and they are all really useful.

Anyway I hope you all had a great Christmas and have a great time tonight!.

I spent this morning retouching the family shots from the studio session last Saturday and I'm pleased with the results. I supplied the guys that came to the studio with 40 pictures of them and their little boy and I hope they like the finished pictures.

Then I processed a couple of quick product shots I did for a mate that has a small lighting company and that is me up to date and ready for Christmas!.

Tomorrow is a day off and then I'm off until 4th Jan unless an urgent job comes in.

I'm going to be doing some family pictures in the studio over the holiday as well as some still life work for the studio web site and that should keep me out of trouble and from getting bored.

I'd like to wish everyone reading this a Happy Christmas and thanks for following my blog throughout 2009!.

Here's another picture of the very pretty Amy.

I had most of today off to look after my little boy Harry but I've just managed to retouch all the pictures I selected from yesterday's shoot with Amy.

Melanie sent out all our Christmas email cards to our customers today so that's it now until after Christmas. Tomorrow I'm going to process the shots from the studio session on Saturday then it's a case of tidying up the office and giving the studio a good clean.

I love Christmas so much but it is a bad time of year in terms of commercial work as December brings Christmas decorations everywhere so I can't shoot many interiors and January means loads of sale signs everywhere so retail jobs are out right through until the end of January.

Thankfully we've got 8 or 9 jobs already in the diary for January which is a good start and all the signs are that next year will be a good one all round. Can anyone believe next year is 2010!.

I've attached another of the pictures of Amy from yesterday and I'm about to update the studio website with some of them too.

I'm sitting in my studio typing this entry with every modelling light, Tungsten light and electric fan I own turned on as it's bloody freezing!. I have a new model coming in later today (hence the global warming enhancing power consumption) for her first portfolio shoot and I'm looking forward to it as usual. Her name is Amy and she's blonde and very pretty so I've got high hopes for the pictures.




I ventured up to the City Centre this morning (Central Milton Keynes) and it was packed..I guessed it would be but had vague hopes that a Monday would be quieter. It wasn't. I'm very glad to be back at work and would rather be here in my studio than anywhere near shops and Christmas shoppers bless them.




Tomorrow's job at Aston University has been postponed until 7th Jan because the furniture hasn't been delivered on time which is a shame but I'd rather find out now then when I arrive on site. That means I can do some admin in the morning and make some Christmas calls to my customers in the afternoon.




The product photography I did of the new LED street light went down very well with my client which is great news. Their lorry has just collected the sample from my studio which has saved me from trying to squeeze into my car!. Street lights never look very big when you see them on top of a pole somewhere but trust me when you meet one face to face at ground level they're huge!.

I'm now back home in the office and the shoot with Amy went very well. We tried lots of lighting effects and Amy had three outfit changes which was great. I thought she was pretty and would look good on camera and now I know she does!. I've attached one of tonight's pictures to this blog entry.

I didn't get the chance to write an entry for Friday because we had our staff Christmas party at Le Manoir - Raymond Blanc's restaurant nr Thame. We only go once a year (luckily as it isn't cheap!) but we don't take much time off during the year so it's our treat (for anyone reading this that doesn't know me I work with my wife Melanie). The food and service was fab as always and although the portions are small you do feel really full at the end. Melanie had a few too many glasses of port after lunch and was a bit worse for wear but being married there obviously wasn't any snogging and no one photocopied their arse!.
I did a shoot at the studio on Saturday with our friends Paula and Jason and their little boy Harrison which was great fun. We did lots of shots on the lit white backdrop and I think we will get 15-20 good shots from the 2 hour session.
The studio roof leaked again right onto a flash head. I hope it works when it dries out but if it doesn't I'll have to bill the business centre as it's the third time I've reported this leak.
The topless shot I took of SJ on Thursday appeared in today's Sunday Sport and I popped into the news agent to check it out. The picture printed really well and looked great but they didn't credit me which is annoying and I didn't have the nerve to actually buy the paper. It's such a crap publication and I can't believe anyone actually bothers to read it.
I've got a studio shoot with a new model tomorrow in the studio. Then on Tuesday I've got a shoot at Aston University for a building contractor. I think the rest of the week will be quiet as we build up to Christmas.
I've attached another of my favourite pictures from the shoot with Zoe from last week.

What an interesting day it turned out to be today. Firstly I had a meeting with Tesco TV about creating a video advert to be played on the big TV screens in Tesco Kingston promoting the studio. I'm not sure it's worth the money they're asking but I'll think it over tonight and make a decision in the morning.
Then I had a customer pop by the studio with some products for me to photograph which I did while he waited and whilst I was doing the product photography I had a call from another client confirming the Orchard Theatre shoot in London for Monday next week. That's great news as I love working in London and have missed being there the past couple of weeks.
Then the interesting bit. In the business park where my studio is based there is an adult TV channel (they also have some Pyschic channles too!) and the owner asked me if I'd do him an urgent favour and photograph one of their ladies for this week's edition of the Sunday Sport. I agreed and the lovely lady arrived in my studio at 6pm for her shoot with nothing but some very skimpy swim suits. My trusty assistant Kirsty (a top girl and all round super star) was on hand to help me and we duly took the required pictures for the paper. Sometimes being a photographer is a really tough job and shooting a pretty lady in a swim suit (minus the top half!!!!) is a tough ask but we got through it.
It's our staff Christmas lunch tomorrow (that's me and Melanie basically) and we're off to Le Manior to sample Raymond Blanc's cuisine.
I've posted another picture of the lovely Zoe from last week's shoot.

I've just looked at the clock and it's nearly 1am. I made the usual mistake of popping in the office on the way to bed at 11.00pm and now I've ended up retouching the final few pictures of Zoe from our shoot last week.

I spent the day today in the studio photographing some more products with the help of Kirsty my No 1 assistant, right hand lady and general all round good egg!.

We did have a slow start to the day as we had to pop out and buy another heather for the studio as global warming hasn't penetrated the confines of my studio and it was bloody freezing. Then we had some late breakfast in Dad's cafe at MK TWO Business Centre where my studio is located. When we did get going we got loads done and took some really cool product shots on white and black backgrounds.

Tomorrow (well today now I guess!) I'm post processing all the product shots which will take a good few hours.

It was a good day for new work today with a new commission to photograph the Apollo Theatre in London and also I took a studio booking for a couple who are coming in after Christmas for some portraits.

I've attached another shot of Zoe from last week - one that I've just post processed.

I did my monthly photography phone in show on BBC Three Counties Radio today as part of Lorna Milton's afternoon show and I must admit that I really enjoyed it - even more than usual. We had some good questions from the listeners to answer and I had a good chat with some of the other presenters before I went on air. The show is available to listen to on BBC iPlayer and there's a link to it on my studio web site (just in case you can't sleep!!).

I'm back in the studio tomorrow photographing some products for one of my regular customers and I've also got a meeting with a TV production company based in the same business park as my studio regarding some ideas I've got for a viral marketing campaign that I'd like to try. More on this tomorrow!.

As usual December is a quieter month on the architectural and interiors side of the business as no one wants pictures with Christmas decorations in them. I have already got some bookings in the diary for January though which is great news. Every year I remind myself to relax in December as it's the only chance I get to take some time off. It's also a good time for me to think about marketing the business and to come up with a new business plan for the year ahead.

The studio is getting busier though so it looks like our advertising is paying off. I've got a lot of product work pencilled in for January and I've got some bookings next week for family portraits.

I'm also doing quite a bit of personal project work in the studio with models like Zoe and hopefully we'll be doing another studio shoot together next week.

I've posted a picture of Zoe from last week's shoot taken on location near Little Horwood utilising available light late in the afternoon.

I spent the day post processing yesterdays two projects - Alders Farm office development and Smallbones of Devizes, and I'm very pleased with the finished pictures. The post processing took me most of the day as I needed to carefully colour balance each picture as my client supplied the interior lighting to both projects and therefore we didn't want any colour casts etc.

Then at 4pm I photographed a brand new street light for one of my best clients which they've installed in their car park. That was tricky as I had to use the portable flash system to help reduce the apparent brightness of the light against the dusk sky.

I then had to take a different light complete with lamp post back to my studio ready for Monday morning. This sounds easy enough but it took three of us to squeeze the fitting plus it's 6 ft pole carefully into my Volvo V50. Volvo's are great but it's a real pain in the bum getting the seats flat in the back (unfortunately these days the back seats don't get used for much!!) but after removing a baby seat, dog guard (bugger I just realised how middle class that makes me sound - which I'm really not!!) and the retractable boot cover we did it.

I then drove through Bletchley with a large street light resting on my hand above the gear stick trying to keep in second gear whenever possible.

The light is now safely in my studio and I'm looking forward to photographing it on Monday.

I'm on BBC 3 Counties Radio on Monday afternoon at 2.30pm doing my monthly photography phone in so give me a call if you get a minute.

I've attached a picture from the Smallbones of Devizes shoot that I took yesterday.

After a fun week working in the studio it was good to get back out on the road again and I was lucky to photograph two really smart projects today. The first shoot was at 9.00am in Beaconsfield at the very smart Smallbones of Devizes kitchen showroom. This was a lovely showroom to photograph and the whole place just oozed quality. Ramond Blanc is doing a cookery demo there tonight so that gives you an idea as to how smart the place is!.
Then I photographed an office housed in a refurbished barn in Wheatley near Oxford. This was very smart too and made for some good interior photography.
With the old Canon EOS 5D I used to spend a lot of time with the custom white balance feature making sure I got an accurate colour profile for each shoot. This is done by either using an Expodisc which gives a gray image when fitted in front of the lens to enable the camera to produce a clean neutral white balance or by taking a picture of a white or grey surface in the space and using this to create a custom white balance. The new 5D MK2 though has such a good auto white balance that I often leave the camera to sort out the colour cast. If the interior is purely lit with Fluorescent or is a mix of light sources I still use the custom feature and use the Expodisc but if there's a fair amount of daylight with some Fluorescent or Tungsten lighting auto works pretty well.
With any digital camera you should always shoot in RAW mode anyway as this means the white balance can be altered post shoot.
A new job came in to day from one of our best clients to shoot a product in the studio so hopefully they can deliver it tomorrow and I can crack on and get that done.
Next week I've got my radio show on BBC Three Counties on Monday and hopefully I'll have the go ahead to shoot the Orchard Theatre in London on Tuesday. Then were waiting to schedule in the leisure centre project in Warrington so if that happens that will make for a good week.
I've attached a picture of Zoe from Tuesdays shoot - she'd just so much fun to photograph!.

I had another busy day in the studio today which was great fun and productive too!.

Luckily Zoe agreed to come back in again today for another few hours and we ran through quite a varied routine of flash lighting set ups and outfit changes. We started with some close up's of Zoe's legs in some fashion tights and leggings for a test I'm doing for a hosiery label based in London. It's tough work but someone has to do it!. I'm sure Zoe won't mind me saying that she's got the most beautiful legs so she's perfect for the job of showing off legwear!.

Then we did some black and white portraits with very hard direct lighting followed by some lovely shots of Zoe in a flowery dress using a large octagonal softbox. We then tried some shots with a graduated grey backdrop and finished off with some "rock chick" style shots against the white breeze block walls using ring flash. We also popped out into the corridor and did some shots against the steel shutter doors and also against some orange packing crates!.

If I was running a modelling agency I'd sign Zoe up right away as she's so versatile and looks fab in a whole range of clothes from rock chick to formal evening wear.

Then I took a portrait of a lady who is setting up a skin care company and needed a picture for her new website. This was pretty straightforward and I used the large Octobox on a boom to give some gentle butterfly lighting with a silver reflector on a stand to give some fill.

I'm off to Beaconsfield tomorrow for a 9am shoot at a new office development then I've got a kitchen design showroom to photograph in the afternoon near Oxford.

I was hoping to photograph the Orchard Theatre in London on Friday but I haven't had the go ahead yet as the glazing company fitting the new windows is running behind schedule.

I've attached a picture of Zoe from yesterday - I love this shot!.

Today was great fun. Zoe came to the studio for her second shoot and we started off in good old English fashion by having a cup of Tea and talking though some ideas. We then headed out onto location with the Bowens Travel Pak and a single Bowens 500 W/s head. We started off at the disused railway station at Swanbourne, then moved on to Winslow where we climbed down a very muddy slope to shoot some pictures under the old railway bridge against the graffitied walls. After that we went to College Wood near Nash for some shots in the trees then finished up at a derelict barn near Mursley!. The time flew past and even though it was wet and cold Zoe didn't complain once - what a star!.

We then headed back into the studio for some fashion shots with a 5 head Tungsten set up then some more simple shots with two flash heads.

I picked up a small commission to photograph someone for their web site today which I'm going to shoot tomorrow in the studio - it all adds up!.

I've attached a picture of Zoe from today's shoot.

Our email server went down today which was a real pain and it only came back on again at around 7pm. This seems to happen every few weeks and causes us a lot of pain as all our work tends to come in via email. I spent the morning continually checking the bloody email to see if had come on again and also finished off a few loose ends of processing work.

This afternoon the cafe at the business centre where my studio is based put on a communal Christmas party and we all had a chance to show the other companies in the centre what we do. I took along a couple of portfolio's and some cards and took a few pictures of the event. I was pleased that quite a few people where keen to book some studio sessions so it turned out to be a couple of hours well spent.

Then I went in to the studio to set up the lighting for tomorrow's shoot with Zoe. I'm really looking forward to photographing her tomorrow and we're planning to do a few different styles of shot in the studio (different lighting and backdrops) and also some location work too weather permitting. I'm hoping to get at least one more day with Zoe before Christmas as I think January is going to be very busy. I've already got a few days pencilled in for January so I need to make the most of the time before Christmas for personal work.

I never used to appreciate how important it is to do personal projects and always thought that photographers that banged on about it where daft but since I've had the studio I've changed my mind. It's just so refreshing to go into a shoot and be able to try anything you like in terms of lighting and poses etc without the pressure of pleasing a client. I feel this frees up my creativity no end and I actually learn so much by trying out some quite wacky ideas.

Speaking of wacky pictures I'm being seriously inspired at the moment by a book by Storm Thorgerson who designed and photographed almost all of Pink Floyd's album covers. His vision and creativity are truly inspiring and the text that describes each album cover is really informative and well written. The book is called Mind Over Matter - The Images of Pink Floyd. I'd recommend it to anyone into Floyd or photography! (or in my case both!).

I'm off to charge my batteries now (and the camera's) so it just leaves me to post a picture of the lovely Zoe from our previous shoot.

Well that's another week gone and it seems like yesterday that I was putting up the Sasco year planner back in January. I've got three jobs in the diary for next week with another one pencilled in then I think it's going to be a quiet run in to Christmas. I love this time of year and really love Christmas so I'm going to make the most of the break - especially as I've only taken 6 days off all year!.

I didn't get to the studio in the end as I spent today finishing off the Central Beds job from Wednesday and then did some backing up of other projects I finished this week. I'm now finally bang up to date and looking forward to the weekend.

Next week's jobs are a designer kitchen store in Oxfordshire, an office in Beaconsfield and The Orchard Theatre in London. I'm also doing another shoot with Zoe on Tuesday in the studio and out on location and I'm really looking forward to that - she's such a lovely model to work with.

I want to re-visit the railway line location and I'm hoping to find a couple of other industrial locations too.

The Flickr photo stream in the blog has stopped working and looking on the Internet it seems to be happening to all Blogger.com blogs which is a shame. I hope the guys at Blogger can come up with a solution as that is a really important feature for a photographers blog!.

I've attached another picture of our friend Colette from Melanie's girlie night in the studio as I was looking through the RAW files again and thought this shot looked good in the faded colour profile from Lightroom. I've boosted the contrast a little in Photoshop and really like the result.

Thanks to a productive day in the office I'm almost up to date and have issued the pictures for the solar panel product and the Tower 42 project - great news!.

Tonight I'm off to London for a party in Covent Garden at the Orchid bar. I've been invited by one of my customers which is really kind of them. Hopefully there will be lots of architects there so plenty of potential new customers.

Tomorrow I'm finishing off the Central Beds job from yesterday then I'm off to the studio to shoot some more still life work for Arcangel (the image library).

Next week we've got a couple of interior jobs to shoot - one designer kitchen store in Oxfordshire and an office in Beaconsfield. I'm also waiting for the go ahead to photograph the Orchard Theatre in London which should be a nice job.

I've attached a picture from the interior shoot at Tower 42 featuring my top assistant Kirsty.

This morning's job at Leighton Buzzard went very well and luckily it didn't rain and it wasn't freezing cold!. The brief was to capture a race from a bus stop on the far side of Leighton Buzzard with 6 competitors. One was walking, one in a taxi, one on the bus and three on bicycles. This is all part of the "Get On Track" campaign being run by Central Beds Council to encourage commuters to the railway station to use alternative ways of getting to the station other than their cars.

I also photographed the guys from Central Beds handing out leaflets and promotional coffee thermos mugs to commuters coming through the station and the whole event went really well thanks to Emma the Press Officer for Central Beds.

The upshot was that the cyclists won followed by the taxi, then the bus and finally the walker.

I've attached a picture of the winning team of cyclists who look pretty pleased with themselves as they arrived at the station.

After the morning's work I went back to the studio and did some top level poncing about for about an hour (always good to do!) then back to the office to process some of the pictures from this morning as Emma needed some urgently for a press release.

Tomorrow I'm in London for a party in the evening. One of my best clients has invited me along and I'm looking forward to a night out.

I've left Friday open at the moment to catch up on the post shoot processing from this week so hopefully come the weekend I'll be relaxed, calm and up to date.

Well the solar panel photography went well this morning despite the fact that my studio roof had leaked and there was a pool of water right in the middle of the floor!. After a quick clean up and some precise bucket placement we went ahead with the shoot and once I'd set up all the black paper rolls to kill the reflections in the glass panel the pictures didn't take long to take.

I then headed back to the office and had another problem to resolve in the form of the video clips I shot at the Natural History Museum. The client wants to play the clips before I get them all edited and in order to do this the raw video footage needs to be rendered. I don't know much about editing video and Kirsten my video expert is snowed under this week so I did some research and found a free program called MPEG Streamclip that basically takes the raw footage and converts it to either Mpeg 4 or AVI. Result!!. And it's free and easy to use. So if anyone reading this shoots video clips on their Canon EOS 5D MK2 like mine and need to render the clips into a more usable format then MPEG Streamclip is your baby!.

After converting the video clips I felt really pleased with myself (smug bastard!) and headed out to walk the dogs to celebrate.

The job tomorrow at Leighton Buzzard for Beds CC has been brought forward to a 7.00am start so I need an early night tonight as I felt pretty tired today. I love reportage photography and I'm looking forward to tomorrow - it should be good fun.

I've attached another picture of Zoe to today's blog as I think she's a real star!.