Small World Big Planet

29 June 2013

I've been down in London this week for an event at ExCel. This is the first time I've taken my camera there and I was determined to get out one evening shooting. My colleagues and I were all staying in the Greenwich area and so as they headed into a restaurant for an evening of food and drink I forced myself onwards lugging my DSLR and tripod. I grabbed a quick subway for some sustenance knowing I was not going to eat otherwise and walked to the Cutty Sark.

I had in mind several places I wanted to shoot for blue hour but I found myself unable to move from the Cutty Sark, being captivated by the relaxed atmosphere and beautiful sunset taking place. There were lots of people sitting out watching the sun going down over the London skyline and the atmosphere was helped by a extremely talented busker playing some chilled out music on an electric guitar.

However as it was fast approaching 9pm and with sunset due at 9:30pm it was now or never! I could quite happily have spent the next couple of hours just sat there but instead I forced myself away and jumped on the DLR to Tower Gateway.

I made it to the Tower Bridge area for blue hour and the following are some of the shots I took that evening.

The next evening after the show I was out for a meal in Canary Wharf. I took the DLR back on my own so I could stop off again at the Cutty Sark to photograph Canary Wharf over the river.

As a proud northerner I've never been fond of London but after this visit I have to admit that the photographic options there are amazing. It is a cool city but one I don't think I could live in! I'm now looking forward to my next visit whenever that may be.

Locations

London

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I'm delighted to say that for a second time I have won the 'Your Heritage' photographic competition (first time was in 2010). This is an annual competition which takes place in my home town of Middlewich in Mid Cheshire. It has been running since 2009 and is now attracting more entrants and a better calibre of images each year. All images are submitted as prints which are showcased at the FAB Festival (formerly Folk and Boat). All images have to have been taken in Cheshire (which is difficult for me as most of my best photography is done while travelling). I won 3 out of the 5 categories (General, Landscape and Mobile) as well as best overall shot (below).

I'm now the proud holder of a trophy, some gift vouchers, and a newspaper clipping of me in the local paper (Middlewich Guardian).

Achievements

Middlewich Photo Comp win

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30 May 2013

I first visited Tenby on the Pembrokeshire coast almost 20 years ago (when I was just 15) on a camping holiday with my friend and his family. Regretably I've not been back since. Until now!

I'm a big fan of European city breaks but I also like to have short breaks in the UK (normally Northumberland or the Lake District). This year we decided on Tenby. Admitedly we were aprehensive at the thought of a 6 hour drive with three year old twins in the back of the car, but it was well worth it. I think I have just found the next place I want to live (sorry Northumberland coast you are just too cold!!).

Nb. All images are taken from my Flickr site where they are available to view much bigger.

North Beach looking towards the harbour at low tide

Tenby harbour long exposure (4 image stitch)

Lobster/crab pots in Tenby harbour

While Tenby is a stunning little town, the surrounding beaches and coves are equally worth a visit,

Locations

Tenby

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22 May 2013

Like buses, magazine requests all come at once (almost)! This is now my third image in three different magazines in the last three months. I think that is probably it for a few more years!

This magazine is Wanderlust, an excellent UK travel magazine. I've been a subscriber for over 8 years so nice to be included in the magazine. For anyone with a passion for travel they also have a great community over at www.wanderlust.co.uk/mywanderlust/.

The original image below was taken on a short trip to Switzerland last summer.

Achievements

Wanderlust June 2013

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07 May 2013

I received a Flickr mail tonight saying that the Getty Images team has noticed my work on Flickr, and is pleased to offer me an invitation to enroll with them. They selected 7 of my photos for inclusion in the programme which is a partnership they have with Flickr for an invitation-only service for Flickr members to license their photos for commercial use.

My images for sale can be found here.

The 7 they requested are a random collection of images from Whitby, the Galapagos Islands, Menorca, Sri Lanka, Marrakech and Zurich. A couple of them are below.

Whitby - North Yorkshire, UK

Jemaa El Fna - Marrakech, Morocco

Achievements

Getty Images

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27 April 2013

In the UK we have a lot of choice when it comes to photography magazines and to be honest they are all pretty decent. I've bought several of them over the years depending on what they were featuring however the one I turn to the most is PhotoPlus. It is a Canon only magazine by Future Plc who also publish Digital Camera, N-Photo (the Nikon equivalent to PhotoPlus) and Photography Week (an iPad magazine).

I received an email out of the blue about 6 weeks ago from the team at PhotoPlus asking to use one of my images in their 'Inspirations' section of the magazine. Needless to say I was very pleased. You can see it in the May 2013 edition which is out now.