Summer Holidays
I can’t remember the last time I had a summer holiday. After all, summer is the peak time for wedding photographers. However, some things are more important than work, and after meeting Charlotte and her two sons eight months ago, I quickly booked two weeks out of my schedule, at the beginning of the English school holidays.
They arrived two weeks ago in North Berwick and I was slightly apprehensive of what the boys would think. However, two borrowed bikes, beaches galore, a football and weather that was (except for a couple of days) perfect, seemed to provide enough entertainment for two teenagers. They even managed to meet a schoolfriend from Oxford on the beach! It was also Charles’ birthday, so that was an excuse for one of the two parties we had. (That’s Charles, grinning with his new laptop, in the second photo below.)
It was really great for them to see where I live and to meet my friends again (they’d last seen them in Marrakech.) I now see a flurry of Facebook activity going on between Seb, Charles, Neil and Callum!
Charlotte and I live 360 miles apart – a whole days travel whether driving or taking the train – and our conflicting work schedules mean that this was the first time she, Seb and Charles had visited North Berwick. In fact, it was the first time they’d been to Scotland.
I have plans for the next trip they make……
Paradise Found
Ten years ago this week I was about to return to the UK from a three month trip across the USA. I’d been visiting the ten places called ‘Paradise’ and photographing and writing about the people I met.
Unfortunately, my nascent publishing deal dissolved with the attacks of 9/11. My book took a back shelf as I turned away from Fleet Street newspaper and magazine photography and writing, and turned towards the much more enjoyable world of weddings instead.
However, new technology means it’s easier to be your own publisher, and easier to distribute your work. So I have decided to release ‘Paradise Found’ as an eBook in PDF format.
I’ve re-arranged the layout to make it look even better on an iPad, while those reading it on a computer won’t be disappointed either.It’s 123 pages long, with a chapter on each Paradise. The pages alternate between a page of text and a full page photo. And it’s only $5! That’s a measly £3.17 ish….. You can pay via PayPal on this page, and once completed your browser will redirect, and the download (in zip format) will start. The file is 25Mb, so be patient.
Please spread the word! Meanwhile here’s a photograph from each Paradise. You’ll have to read the book to work out where exactly in the USA each one (apart from one!) was taken.
The Angus Boys
I returned from Nairn the long way round, via Aberdeen. I was there to photograph four year old Callum and two year old Innes. Apparently I’d photographed Callum before, when he was a very young baby and his parents were guests at a wedding I photographed.
The only way the weather could have been worse was if it had been raining, but then to two young boys, a freezing gale force wind is something to be enjoyed (unlike us adults!)
As I left Aberdeen, the radio was announcing a road near Glenshee closed because of drifting snow, and that the Shetland ferry was stuck outside Aberdeen harbour in 70mph winds….
Meghan’s birthday portraits
My friend Ali’s daughter Meghan was about to turn 18 when Ali decided to mark the occassion with a portrait shoot of her. The prints would be for the grand-parents!
Unfortunately, the weather meant that we couldn’t use the beautiful East Lothian scenery as a location, so I hung up a quick plain black backdrop instead. All in keeping with my ‘keep it simple’ philosophy.
Beth on the beach portraits
A colleague commented on the lack of portraits on my blog, so I’ve decided to rectify the situation.
My style of portrait photography is very similar to my wedding photography – it’s unobtrusive, natural and full of empathy for the subject and their surroundings.
Here’s a few photos of toddler Beth (who was very confused by the ripples in the sand!), with her parents on Belhaven beach. A portrait session that was totally unplanned, and the result of a chance meeting!
