We have had such a crazy week trying to finish things off before the Easter break! I'm sharing a snippet of my new paving that was completed last week in my backyard. As you can see, I still have a lot of work to do...maybe adding some big pots with flowers to bring some colour into the garden. I also need some new outdoor furniture but good things come to those who wait! I'm so pleased with the job our pavers did laying the random sandstone. It has made such a huge difference to the yard as our old paving was a dark reddish brown clay paver so it's now so much lighter now. Well enough about me, hope everyone has a wonderful Easter break...Hayley is off overseas again, sourcing some wonderful things for Porchlight clients and I will be holding down the forte here! Happy Easter, Tracey xxMy Backyard!
We have had such a crazy week trying to finish things off before the Easter break! I'm sharing a snippet of my new paving that was completed last week in my backyard. As you can see, I still have a lot of work to do...maybe adding some big pots with flowers to bring some colour into the garden. I also need some new outdoor furniture but good things come to those who wait! I'm so pleased with the job our pavers did laying the random sandstone. It has made such a huge difference to the yard as our old paving was a dark reddish brown clay paver so it's now so much lighter now. Well enough about me, hope everyone has a wonderful Easter break...Hayley is off overseas again, sourcing some wonderful things for Porchlight clients and I will be holding down the forte here! Happy Easter, Tracey xx
Something very odd happened on Friday and I'm still coming to terms with it - I had a day off and Melanie even arranged for me to have a back massage at home in total peace and quiet!.
Yesterday was pretty calm too as I did a quick portrait shoot in the studio of my friend Jeremy for his new website then spent the rest of the day working on a short film clip for one of my regular clients.
Video is becoming really popular at the moment and this is being driven by a demand for video content on websites. Google pushes any site it finds with video content on further up the raking so web optimisation companies are recommending that website owners have as much video content as possible. I'm getting asked to produce these clips more and more so it's an interesting additional service for me to provide and it's fun to work on too.
I've been doing some video editing this morning and this afternoon I've got a meeting with Pete at Goldmoor TV to discuss some more advanced work that he's going to do for me. Video editing software looks really complicated and makes Photoshop look like a walk in the park so I'm sticking to the basics and letting Pete sort out the tricky stuff.
My new Sony Vaio laptop has worked out really well. Windows 7 is great and the new i3 processor blasts through Lightroom like there's no tomorrow. The laptop itself looks very much like a Macbook and the Windows 7 OS looks pretty Mac like too.
Tonight I'm going to go through all my CD's again and make sure they're all ripped to MP3 and into Windows Media Player. There's football on tonight (Championhs League albeit Man Utd) but Melanie hogs the TV and watches all the soaps so it'll give me an excuse to put my headphones on and ignore Emmerdale and all that crap for a while.
I've got an interesting commision thats just come in for next week from an architect - it's a new library in London and the main emphasis on the shoot is the external facades. I'm going to shoot some of this on the 5x4 view camera as this gives such top quality results and I've got full movements on the camera to control perspective and focus depth. It's always great to dust down the 5x4 but I really only use it for externals because colour balancing artifical light indoors (except Tungsten) is pretty tricky and it's far easier with the digital kit.
I've posted the shot I took yesterday of Jeremy using basic "Hollywood" style lighting where the light is overhead and you get the classic butterfly shadow under the nose.
Yesterday was pretty calm too as I did a quick portrait shoot in the studio of my friend Jeremy for his new website then spent the rest of the day working on a short film clip for one of my regular clients.
Video is becoming really popular at the moment and this is being driven by a demand for video content on websites. Google pushes any site it finds with video content on further up the raking so web optimisation companies are recommending that website owners have as much video content as possible. I'm getting asked to produce these clips more and more so it's an interesting additional service for me to provide and it's fun to work on too.
I've been doing some video editing this morning and this afternoon I've got a meeting with Pete at Goldmoor TV to discuss some more advanced work that he's going to do for me. Video editing software looks really complicated and makes Photoshop look like a walk in the park so I'm sticking to the basics and letting Pete sort out the tricky stuff.
My new Sony Vaio laptop has worked out really well. Windows 7 is great and the new i3 processor blasts through Lightroom like there's no tomorrow. The laptop itself looks very much like a Macbook and the Windows 7 OS looks pretty Mac like too.
Tonight I'm going to go through all my CD's again and make sure they're all ripped to MP3 and into Windows Media Player. There's football on tonight (Championhs League albeit Man Utd) but Melanie hogs the TV and watches all the soaps so it'll give me an excuse to put my headphones on and ignore Emmerdale and all that crap for a while.
I've got an interesting commision thats just come in for next week from an architect - it's a new library in London and the main emphasis on the shoot is the external facades. I'm going to shoot some of this on the 5x4 view camera as this gives such top quality results and I've got full movements on the camera to control perspective and focus depth. It's always great to dust down the 5x4 but I really only use it for externals because colour balancing artifical light indoors (except Tungsten) is pretty tricky and it's far easier with the digital kit.
I've posted the shot I took yesterday of Jeremy using basic "Hollywood" style lighting where the light is overhead and you get the classic butterfly shadow under the nose.
Gorgeous Friday!
All of these outdoor areas make me feel relaxed and ready for the weekend! It helps that our backyard landscaping was finished this afternoon after months of planning and waiting! I finally have grass instead of dirt! I will post pictures once I have my outdoor furniture and I have prettied it up a bit! Hope you all have a gorgeous weekend! Tracey xx
It's been good to have a couple of days to catch up with all my post processing work and I'm now up to date except for the Marks and Spencer Clonmel job which I working on right now and will have completed by tomorrow morning.
I took the plunge and bought a new laptop today and after posting my thoughts a couple of weeks ago about whether or not to switch to the Mac platform I've decided to stay with a PC laptop. I would need to buy a grand or so worth of new software if I switched to Mac and the actual machine itself is more expensive too. I picked up a Sony Vaio laptop with the new i3-330M processor and 4GB of RAM for £630 from Comet in Milton Keynes which will run Photoshop, DXO and Lightroom easily which means I can get more done when I'm working away from home. I also get to watch DVD's when I'm on the train which is a nice bonus.
I've attached a picture from the Oxfam fashion shop (yes that's right they only sell fashion items with a decent label) in Bath.
Had a quiet day working both in the studio and with Pete at Goldmoor TV in Milton Keynes where we spent some time editing some recent video footage I've taken on the EOS 5D MK2.
I had a couple of new jobs in London come in too for a lighting manufacturer so that's great news and that takes care of a couple of days in mid April.
After that I headed home and processed the shoot from last week at the Hepworth Gallery in Wakefield. As I mentioned in the blog entry for that day the gallery is still being built and therefore the rooms are empty and plain white but the pictures came out well and I focused on the beautiful design of the galleries and the amazing shape of the ceilings. The design is minimal but the angles of the ceiling, the subtle but well designed track lighting and the great use of daylight make the spaces work very well. I'm really hoping to get a chance to photograph the gallery when it opens to the public next year.
I've attached one of the pictures from the gallery in today's blog entry.
Beautiful Spaces!
Loving all of these spaces, created by designer James Michael Howard!
This balustrading is perfection and love the mismatched chairs!
What a gorgeous way to add something special to a blank wall or small space!
Looks like the perfect spot to put on your shoes before walking out the door! Gorgeous!
I'm currently sitting in the departure lounge at Cork airport waiting for the 6.10pm flight back to Birmingham. Due to my lifelong pledge to never fly Ryanair unless there's absolutely no alternative I've had to go a bit out of my way to get here (I could have flown from Luton to Waterford which would have saved a lot of driving) but it's worth it to know that hopefully I've put a tiny nail into Ryanair's huge coffin and that the Chaos effect - which essentially means that tiny differences make a huge impact over time - will mean that one day they go bust because I flew with Aer Lingus to Cork instead of flying from Luton to Waterford with them. I don't wish anyone any harm in this life but in the past I've had to fly Ryanair and they are without doubt the most arrogant and unhelpful collection of people I've ever met and they seem to go out of their way to antagonise customers. Easyjet by comparison are super friendly and accommodating especially when travelling with heavy camera gear and so far Aer Lingus have been great too. They even have allocated seating - remember that from the old days!.
The actual job I did today was a new Marks and Spencer store in Clonmel which turned out to be a very tidy store and the photography went very well. They were changing a lot of the displays over to spring clothing but I still got the shots I needed for my client.
The drive from Clonmel to Cork was very pretty and the scenery here is top notch. The people have been really friendly too and I've had a good trip all round (although I shouldn't speak to soon as I'm a long way from home still at the moment).
Work is still coming in and we've had a record month - the best we've had in seven years since we started the company. April is starting to get booked up too which is great so lets hope we're on the up. I'm still a bit worried about the election as I think we're being kept in the dark over the state of the economy but for now I'm just riding the wave of recovery!.
The view from the airport departure lounge is stunning as the entire wall facing the runway is glass and about 50ft high and 300ft long. Being a big kid it's great to sit and watch aeroplanes coming in and out so even though I've got a bit of time to kill it's miles better than 95% of departure lounges I've had to hover about in whilst waiting for a flight.
I can't post any pictures yet so will post one when I get back tonight.
The actual job I did today was a new Marks and Spencer store in Clonmel which turned out to be a very tidy store and the photography went very well. They were changing a lot of the displays over to spring clothing but I still got the shots I needed for my client.
The drive from Clonmel to Cork was very pretty and the scenery here is top notch. The people have been really friendly too and I've had a good trip all round (although I shouldn't speak to soon as I'm a long way from home still at the moment).
Work is still coming in and we've had a record month - the best we've had in seven years since we started the company. April is starting to get booked up too which is great so lets hope we're on the up. I'm still a bit worried about the election as I think we're being kept in the dark over the state of the economy but for now I'm just riding the wave of recovery!.
The view from the airport departure lounge is stunning as the entire wall facing the runway is glass and about 50ft high and 300ft long. Being a big kid it's great to sit and watch aeroplanes coming in and out so even though I've got a bit of time to kill it's miles better than 95% of departure lounges I've had to hover about in whilst waiting for a flight.
I can't post any pictures yet so will post one when I get back tonight.
I spent an enjoyable day in the studio today photographing a new street light product for one of my best customers. My only regret was that I was too busy to make it to the bookies as I wanted to put £10 on Imperial Commander for the Cheltenham Gold Cup which then went on to win at 7 to 1. I'm not a big betting person but sometimes I'll have a flutter on the big races such as the Gold Cup and The National. I sometimes get a real feeling for a winner and today I had that feeling for Imperial Commander - never mind!.
Tomorrow I'm having a proper day off and we've got Melanie's cousin and family coming to visit and I'm really looking forward to it!.
On Sunday I'm off to Ireland to photograph another Marks and Spencer store - this time one near Wickford so I'm flying over from Birmingham and coming back on Monday night.
I've attached a picture from the Marks and Spencer Liverpool shoot last week.
Yesterday's shoot at the cider press in Totnes went very really well. The complex consisted of some really smart shops and a restaurant as well as the press itself and it was the shops I was commissioned to photograph. After the cider press job I drove back to Taunton where I stayed over in the Premier Travel Inn at Ruishton ahead of a shoot today at an Oxfam shop in Bath.
I stay in Premier Travel Inns a lot because you know exactly what you're going to get - a clean room with a double bed, a TV, a kettle and a bathroom with a bath (not just a shower). What more could anyone ask for!. This particular one was really superb with very friendly staff and a very nice restaurant next door called The Blackbrook Tavern. I had a really smart meal and a couple of small glasses of good wine for around £20.
Anyway enough of the Michael Winner impression !
The Oxfam shop in Bath has just been refurbished and is aimed at fashion clothing rather that the usual mixture of stuff you get. Most of the gear was designer labels going for £50 and upwards. I can see the concept they've got and the customers understood that they were going to pay top prices for the clothing so it all worked very well.
I'm in the studio tomorrow shooting a new product for one of my best clients and I'm looking forward to working locally having done a lot of driving recently. It's always good to spend time in my studio because it's my little haven of peace and quiet.
I've attached a picture from All Star Lanes in Bayswater. I've photographed all of the All Star Lanes venues over the past few years.
The French Window
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How gorgeous is this restaurant in Hong Kong called "The French Window" by architects AB Concept? So classic, yet so modern at the same time.InDesign.jpg2.jpg)
I think beautiful surroundings always make the food taste better!InDesign.jpg3.jpg)
Look at the fabulous Hong Kong skyline!For more information on this gorgeous restaurant and the architects behind it go here.
The furniture store photography went OK today but as usual for these kind of jobs the actual store was packed with loads of furniture and looked very busy. The journey to Cheltenham was very pleasant though as the sun was shining and the countryside is fabulous once you get out to the other side of Oxford. I did get stuck in heavy traffic in Cheltenham though due to the horse racing which started today.
Tomorrow I'm off to Totnes in Devon to photograph a cider press which I am looking forward to. I won't be trying any cider though as I can remember the last time I had too much scrumpy (around 10 years ago!) and I don't intend to have a hangover like that again.
When I was in London last week I popped into Aperture Photographic - my favourite camera shop - and fell in love with a Contax N1 film camera they had for sale. I texted Melanie in the hope she's let me buy it but she didn't. I did ask her if I could have it for my 40th birthday present (my birthday is in June) but she ignored my text!!. Well I've just checked their website and the camera has sold so I'm really hoping it's headed my way in June!. The Contax N1 was a superb camera that came out in around 2002 and is now discontinued but I would love to get hold of one.
I've attached a picture from the Marks and Spencer job in Liverpool that I did last week.
Chateau de Buno
Chateau de Buno is nestled in the lush green of the Gâtinais Nature Park, only 12 miles from Fontainebleau. It's a green oasis of tranquility, close to nature and with a wealth of rivers, marshes and forests. The castle has a rough-stone, medieval finish, plentiful shutters and a neo-Renaissance tower, but the inside could hardly present a more extreme contrast to the husk. The furnishings were daringly re-dressed in the 1950s, featuring now a skilfull mix of contemporary and antique touches. The stylish rooms and suites, as well as the welcoming reading and music salons, are luminous and exude class: a sweep of parquet topped by a vibrant Art Deco rug, a majestic Third Empire bed and a boudoir in the tower… The secret of De Buno’s spell is its «human scale», and its many centuries history wrapped in a romantic aura.
Design : Karin Mersika
Photography : E&H Couffin
Yesterday (Sunday) was spent working in the office and I managed to post process all the Marks and Spencer and Cornwall CC pictures which has really taken the pressure off.
Today I drove up to Wakefield to photograph the new Hepworth Gallery which is a beautiful new modern building designed by David Chipperfield Architects which sits next to some old derelict industrial buildings by the canal. The building is still a work in progress and none of the interior is finished and there's no artwork there so far. My client supplied the spot and track lighting and needed some urgent installation photography even though the building isn't ready as the product is a brand new design.
Tomorrow I'm off to Cheltenham (which is going to be busy as it's Gold Cup week) to photograph a furniture store. Then I'm photographing a cider press in Devon on Wednesday and an Oxfam store in Bath on Thursday. Friday is going to be spent in the studio where I have some product photography to do and also a portrait of one of my best customers.
We're still getting some good new enquiries coming in so at the moment life is really busy!.
I'm on the verge of buying a Mac (a computer not a coat!) as I'm being asked more and more to shoot video clips as well as stills and my 5D MK2 video output needs to be edited in a program called Final Cut Pro which is only available on the Mac. It's going to be a big investment for me and I'm still unsure whether to go for a desktop or laptop version. I need a new laptop anyway so I guess a Macbook would solve both problems in one.
I've attached a shot from the Cornwall CC shoot - I really loved the 1960's architecture of this building.
The Sign of Civilisation!
A hot shower! This is what I missed most while camping this weeked! So good to be home but still enjoyed spending time with my family in the great outdoors (despite the cyclonic wind and rain)! Tracey xx
The Lighting Design Awards were great fun as usual and I had a really good time. I met loads of clients and friends and made a few good contacts too so it was well worth attending.
I stayed at my favourite hotel in Gower Street near Euston and this morning I spent an hour or so walking around the West End looking at camera shops.
I've really had a lazy couple of days but I think I needed that as I've been so busy lately and I've done a lot of travelling which is pretty tiring.
In fact I'm about to crash out on the sofa with a cup of tea and watch the Michael Winner programme where he goes to someones house for dinner and basically slags them off on camera whilst shouting at his female assistant who appears to run his life for him. Nice work if you can get it!.
I've attached a picture of Trinity College Oxford from the shoot last week.
I stayed at my favourite hotel in Gower Street near Euston and this morning I spent an hour or so walking around the West End looking at camera shops.
I've really had a lazy couple of days but I think I needed that as I've been so busy lately and I've done a lot of travelling which is pretty tiring.
In fact I'm about to crash out on the sofa with a cup of tea and watch the Michael Winner programme where he goes to someones house for dinner and basically slags them off on camera whilst shouting at his female assistant who appears to run his life for him. Nice work if you can get it!.
I've attached a picture of Trinity College Oxford from the shoot last week.
Great Outdoors!
This is about as outdoors as I would like to be this weekend but instead, I will be camping in the rain...wish me luck! Happy weekend all!Image via House Beautiful
I've been in London since 2pm after arriving an hour late due to signal failure on the railway line between Bletchley and Leighton Buzzard. I had a quick meeting with Maureen my PR lady then had a wonder around the West End with my little Panasonic G1 camera taking a few street shots. Panasonic make whats called a pancake lens for this camera which is very thin and makes the camera easy to put into a pocket and also looks very low key so doesn't draw attention to anyone using it as people tend to notice camera's with big lenses. I've just tried one out in a shop in Oxford Street but it's nearly £300 so I'm going to wait until the price comes down a bit before I get one. If I bought that now Melanie would definately give me a right telling off!.
I'm now sitting in my favourite shop in the entire world which is a second hand camera shop on Museum Street called Aperture Photographic (see links on the blog page). They specialise in top quality used gear - in particular Leica cameras - and I always come in for a browse and a coffee (they have a cafe here too - what more could anyone ask for!).
Tonight I'm off to the annual Lighting Design Awards at the Hilton Park Lane where many of my customers and friends will be in attendance (I worked in the commercial lighting industry for years). It's always a great bash and I get to wear the old black tie outfit.
Tomorrow I need to catch up with some post processing as I'm fully booked next week and don't want to fall too far behind. I'm always working in arrears but it gets on top of me if I get more than three or four jobs behind. It's a major part of photography now and needs to be done carefully to get the best out of digital cameras.
I've posted a snap I took half an hour ago of a window ledge on a building just off Tottenham Court Road. Talk about stimulants - here's a collection of dog ends, coffee cups and a Red Bull can. I got wired up just looking at it!.I've also posted a picture of Aperture Photographic which is cool because I'm inside the shop right now.
What's not to love!
Discovered two great new blogs tonight (well new to me anyway)! The first one is Secrets of Domestic Bliss which is very stylish and fun and which led me to the second discovery - Table Tonic which is linked to an online shop, selling the gorgeous cushions that are pictured! The most exciting part of this discovery is that she is Sydney based! Don't you just love the green zig-zag cushions!Tea on the verandah
A beautiful Clayfield now on the market in North Brisbane.
I love the bamboo chairs and the wide expanse verandahs wrapping around the freshly painted white timber home. Certainly looks inviting to me!
Yesterday I drove up to Liverpool to photograph the Marks and Spencer store on Church Street which has been recently re-fitted with a new lighting system. The store looked good and the photography went pretty well. It's a big store and the shoot took me over four hours to complete and my brief was very comprehensive so I had to make sure I didn't miss anything.
After the Liverpool shoot I drove to Holmfirth where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed. I love Summer Wine and still watch the old ones with Compo, Clegg and Foggy in whenever they come on UK Gold. Holmfirth is a great place to visit and I always stay there in the Old Bridge Inn hotel when I'm working in the area. This morning I had a walk around the town and had a mug of tea in Sid's cafe (the one featured in the programme) and went to see Nora Batty and Compo's house.
After an hour of walking around Holmfirth I drove to Leeds to photograph the Marks and Spencer store at Pudsey. This went well too and didn't take quite as long as Liverpool.
I'm really behind with my post shoot processing again now and I'll need to make an early start tomorrow morning to try to catch up a bit.
It's the annual Lighting Design Awards tomorrow night in London at the Hilton Park Lane and I'll be there as usual to do some networking and catch up with some clients as well as having a good night out.
I've got a small rant for today - I've noticed that those Dyson Airblade hand dryers are appearing everywhere. I know they look cool and dry your hands quickly but they also blow manky water from every other bastards hands back up into your face and onto your clothes. The water seems to lie in the bottom of the machine and then as soon as your hands go in the air sprays it up!. Give me a hand towel any day.
I've attached a couple of pictures of Sid's cafe that I snapped this morning.
