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.