Mollie Makes Magazine
Nice coverage for Mollie Makes of Shevie Moyles work down in Cornwall...
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17 04 13
Wow, its all gone mad now! off to Cornwall for a hotel shoot tomorrow, back to Bath for a hotel shoot on tuesday, then to East Sussex for two days shoots for magazines, then back to Bristol to prepare for four days in Italy... see you on the other side...20 03 13
Ongoing work with Chateau Impney in Worcestershire see here... and many other jobs too.. Homes and Gardens shoot last week in Devon, and some rather smart new architectural clients based in London this coming week... watch this space!17 01 13
Well, the year's turned and I'm mooching around in the office trying to reorganise/springclean and generally do nothing! It was a good year (2012) and you can read a review here... At the moment its snowing here in Bristol, so any excuse to discuss 'not snowing' weather would be gratefully received!15 7 12
Well its 'here we go again' time!... off to Cornwall again shooting for 25BH magazine, then straight back and up the M4 to shoot for a day with Esti Barnes of 'Top Floor Rugs' in London on wednesday. Then another shoot for Route One in the next couple of weeks, and a final shoot for the wonderful National Trust at Powis Castle Gardens ... Blimey...Twitter Feed
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Tag Archives: garden
Westonbirt spring sunshine
Beautiful light yesterday morning for flower photography at Westonbirt Arboretum… a great way to start the weekend, fresh air, (loud!) birdsong and a riot of colour from the Rhododendrons, Magnolias and windflowers… enchanting place…
Magnolia buds at Westonbirt
Corylopsis at Westonbirt Arboretum
Prunus, Cherry Blossom
Hydrangea seed head
Autumn Flower Photography for a cold winter day!
It’s freezing here in the office and I’ve got my long-johns on, but Ive just been editing pics from a recent autumnal shoot at Bristol University Botanic Gardens, and the warmth of the colours is helping keep the frost out of this room! Its going to be a while before we see these colours again in the gardens of England, but one of the joys of this job is reminding yourself what you did earlier in the year!
Autumn Flower and Garden Photography
Garden Photography at Hoar Cross Hall Hotel
Have been photographing for the wonderful ‘Alias’, a creative team based in Stow On The Wold who are doing the design work for Hoar Cross Hall in Staffordshire… Part of the brief was to do some exteriors of the hotel, including the fabulous gardens… a boon then, to have some sunny weather… Hotel Photography involves a mix of disciplines (part opf the reason I love it!) and here are some of my favourite ‘moments’ from the shoot…
Garden Photography at Hoar Cross Hall Hotel
Powis Castle, A National Trust Garden through the seasons…
I have had the privilege in the last year of photographing at Powis Castle in Wales. I have been taking pictures through the seasons for the National Trust guidebook, and its been a joy revisiting the garden every few weeks… the structure of the garden shines through and the lovely planting ‘dresses’ up those terraces, borders and vistas. The actual castle is an imposing building, full of history, collections of antiquities, and a supposedly good collection of ghosts! The gardeners, led by David Swanton, do a great job, and as with all the N.T gardens, its always a picture (literally!)
Powis Castle Photography in spring
Powis Castle Photography in summer
Powis Castle Photography in autumn
Powis Castle Photography in winter
A Country Living wedding
Last week I was priveledged to be asked to do some photography at a wedding for Country Living… I am in no way a wedding photographer, and never will be, its a skill that is as specialised and tricky as any other speciality… but in this case, the brief was to photograph the decoration, atmosphere and mood of the wedding, rather than the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the affair… The bride and groom had chosen the beautiful ‘Trevoole Farm‘ in Cornwall, and Beth, the owner, and all her helpers had turned the place into a fairytale venue.. lanterns, vintage candelabras, garlands and rose arbours, it really was the perfect country wedding. Two days after the wedding, the marquee was transformed in to a sale room and all the cutlery, vases, candelabras and chairs were sold on for charity… a lovely was to start married life! thanks for letting me come along and do the photography!
Country Wedding at Trevoole Farm, Cornwall
Newsletter
Have just sent out a new ‘newsletter’ to those of you who have subscribed… its about ‘Small Hotel Photography’ and can be reached by clicking on the relevant link on the right hand side of this page (or here)… here are some of the images that I sent out in the newsletter…. and if you’d like to be sent the newsletter (very infrequent, don’t worry!), please let me know.
Small Hotel Photography
Fuji X100 on the allotment
I usually have a compact camera to carry around with me, and until now, this has quite often been one of the Canon ‘G’ series models. However, after my G11 broke last month I decided to try a new model and have gone with Fuji X100. Still trying it out at the moment, but I already have a long list of ‘Pros’ and one or two ‘Cons’…Firstly, I have to say that the quality of the files is amazing. The Fuji has a larger sensor than the earlier Canons (although the new Canon G1X has a larger one too), and this is reflected in the smooth digital files that seem to have very little noise. I am not (in the slightest!) a technical boffin, but I can say that the files also seem to require less work in Lightroom (I shoot RAW always)… they come out of the camera with fantastically accurate exposure/contrast/colour etc. Its a lovely camera to use, and is pleasingly like a Leica/Contax in the way it looks and handles (I know the way it looks shouldn’t be important, but my Leica M3 was my favourite ever camera!). The focusing is accurate on Auto, but the manual is a bit fiddly, and there is a very good ‘macro’ setting that is easy to use. There are a couple of problems with the ergonomics, most obvious being that the exposure compensation dial is VERY easy to accidently move off ’0′ which means that I have inadvertently shot a few images at minus or plus compensation… I will try and post again once I have tested the camera further, but here are a couple of samples from the first few days…
Garden shed in early summer
Brassica flowers on the allotment
Overbecks Garden, National Trust, Devon
Garden Photography at Overbecks, general view
Tulip, Overbecks, Devon, National Trust
Its a beautiful time of year down at this garden on the south coast of Devon. I normally think of it as a late summer ‘spectacular’, but its good at any time. These were photographed early morning in April… a beautiful garden overlooking Salcombe estuary… all the ingredients to make for a good days garden photography!
Powis Castle Winter Photography
Been back to Powis Castle again for the National Trust, photographing the gardens in the frost we had this morning. In many ways, garden photography in winter is easier than summer… the subject is stripped bare by the season, and structure is all… There are very few details (apart from the usual close ups of hoar frost in all it’s crystalline glory) and one is looking for shape… the light is clear and clean, and when (if) the sun comes out, it lights up the starkness of those wintry scenes. Powis is a garden renowned for it’s structure… hundreds of year old Yew topiary, terraces, statues, sprinkled through a garden that cascades down form a castle straight out of Harry Potter… Its a long way, and it was seriously cold, but well worth the trip. Again!
Winter woodland at Westonbirt Arboretum
Here’s a poem by Longfellow.. and some photography from the wonderful Westonbirt Arboretum… a joy, even in the depths of winter… poetree!
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WOODS IN WINTER When winter winds are piercing chill, O’er the bare upland, and away Where, twisted round the barren oak, Where, from their frozen urns, mute springs Alas! how changed from the fair scene, But still wild music is abroad, Chill airs and wintry winds! my ear |
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