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UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) …President



I was commissioned to shoot a visit by the COP26 UN climate change president Alok Sharma who was visiting Whitelees Wind Farm just outside Glasgow for the forthcoming COP21 – Glasgow Climate Change Conference.

I’ve been to Whitelees before and as you would expect for a wind farm is a baron wind swept wilderness even in May!

So decided to get there early and reccie potential locations, as usual you don’t get much time with your subject, and he was doing a live broadcast for C4.

So I set up at the edge of the car park so El Presidente didn’t need to walk to far for his picture…

Very happy with the shot I got and Mr Sharma was very accommodating.

For all those who keep asking for the tech details of my images here you go-

Nikon 4s 24-70mm f2.8 lens – one godoxAD600 flash to the left

ISO: 100,aperture: 7.1, Shutter: 1/250 lens at 24mm shot on raw.

And a big thanks to Whitelees Wind Farm Visitors Centre cafe for keeping us going with coffee and cake.

International Color Award nominee winner


Always nice when you get recognised for your work…

color-awards-13th_medal-nominee

Nominated at the 13th Annual International Color Awards, from 73 countries and over 6000 photographers it’s a great honour to be a nominee for my image of Ludwik Jaszczur a WW2 Monte Cassino Polish veteran in the portrait category .

 

Crufts 2020


I have a great client in London who I shoot all their Scottish photography for, so when I got a call asking me to be part of the press team for these years Crufts…as a dog lover I jumped at the chance.

 

I’ve put together a few of my favourite images from Crufts 20.

As a freelance photographer day to day you work on your own, shooting the press photography for worldwide press as part of a team was amazing!

Twenty thousand dogs, four photographers and three journalists and a picture editor on-site at the NEC…very rewarding experience.

Fantastic bunch to work with, long days and early starts for four days and picture of the day in The Guardian.

Hopefully will be back again next year!

 

 

WW2 Polish war veteran Ludwik Jaszczur


Yesterday on a completely different job, I spotted Ludwik a ww2 Polish war veteran, as I have a great passion for ww2 history I started chatting to Ludwik, turned out he fought at the battle of Monte Cassino.

WW2 Polish war veteran

I had a great chat with him and he was more than happy to pose for a picture.
let us not forget the great sacrifice made by all these men who fought at a very young age during ww2.
Now 93 Ludwik still runs his own shop in Edinburgh, repairing zips and locks for leather handbags.

Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day…


get your Christmas jumpers looked out for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.

Sports personality Judy Murray and celebrity chef Tom Kitchin donned their Christmas jumpers for the cause.

The Impossible Row!


As a professional photographer you get to meet and photograph some amazing people, yesterday was one of those days when I met Jamie Douglas-Hamilton who plans to row from Cape Horn in South America to mainland Antarctica across Drake Passage, considered the most dangerous ocean crossing in the world.

Noel Cowards Mad Dogs and Englishmen comes to mind!

The Impossible Row,  no one has rowed this far South before and crossed the Drake Passage by human power alone. Not only can seas reach up to 80 foot in the Southern Ocean but the crew will be rowing against the current. Jamie is the only British member of a team of six who will row in 90-minute shifts around the clock, with little to no sleep for 24 hours a day for around three weeks in cold to freezing conditions.

And over Christmas so no roast potatoes for Jamie!

As Jamie said “should be fun” …All the best to him and the rest of the team.

The expedition is being recorded by the Discovery Channel, which is sending the aptly named Braveheart vessel to follow the journey, however the boat will offer no support or supplies to the athletes. The expedition can be followed online with updates on Twitter at @actiphwater and @discovery.

Ian Rankin in a phone box!


Quirky new tourist attraction in Edinburgh.

In my job you get to photograph lots of interesting things as well as some decently nice people, I’ve photographed Ian Rankin (him of Rebus fame) many time over the years and he’s one of the nicest chaps you could work with.

Great shoot for my client which made the front page of The Scotsman as well five other papers.

IMG_4335

So on to “Gilbert” a refurbished phone box by bespoke tailors, Stewart Christie & Co on behalf of Save the Children…

What you do is you go in to Stewart Christie & Co ask for the key make a donation and then take a selfie in the phone box, kitted out as an old Victorian box with some lovely vintage touches.

All the donations got to Save the Children…have fun and contribute to a great charity all in one.

3D Art…


I’ve never photographer 3D art before, so I was very intrigued by it, as any I’ve seen look amazing.

And this one by created by 3D Joe & Max for Auchentoshan was fantastic, just a matter of the right lens and the right angle to get the best possible 3D effect (which you don’t really get with the naked eye).

The artwork can be seen at Edinburgh Airport for the next two weeks…

 

 

Moulin Rouge dancers


Moulin Rouge dancers help raise money at the annual Lunch with an Old Bag.
Lunch with an Old Bag_Moulin Rouge dancers

All three Scottish dancers from London’s West End show Performed at the Prestonfield House Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh (an amazing venue).

I’ve been shooting this event now for 11 years now, over 300 well lubricated ladies get together to help raise funds for the The Prince’s Trust Scotland to transform the lives of thousands of young people.

 

Since the first Lunch with an Old Bag the event has raised more than £4.7m, which translates directly as help for over 4,700 young Scots.

Not my usual…Let Fanny Fly!


You get some weird jobs as a professional photographer!

Commissioned by a client for the ‘Let Fanny Fly’ campaign, early Sunday morning in the pouring rain…the irony was not lost on me!

A giant inflatable 19ft vagina-shaped blimp, banned from Edinburgh Fringe Festival started the “Let Fanny Fly” campaign.

All for a good cause the women’s wellness brand, Elvie.