Tag: London

2012 Calendars available from Lulu publishers

I have prepared a series of four calendars for 2012 which can be brought directly from Lulu.com, an Internet publishing house.  They are available world-wide.

Get a different gift this year

The Calendars come in two sizes – Premium and Standard.  Premium is  13.5″ x 19″ and the Standard is 11″ x 8.5″ (11″ x 17″ open).  They are printed on high quality gloss paper and bound by a sturdy spiral binding. The calendars have United Kingdom & US key dates & holidays.  Premium calendars are £19.50 and Standard are £12.50 (or the equivalent in other currencies).

Click on the images to link through to Lulu.com where you can preview the whole calendar before buying.  : )

Note on the Series 1 Cathedrals Calendar:

This is the first in a series of four calendars which I will publish over a four-year period.  The set will eventually include all 43 Cathedrals of the Church of England in alphabetical order.  The 2012 calendar includes the first 12, from Birmingham to Durham.

The proceeds of the sale of this calendar will go to St Mary’s Church, Caterham, Surrey and to cover the costs of production.

Premium Calendars – 13.5″ x 19″  (343 x 483mm)

    

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                Scenes of England                                                                                   It’s a Small World
                 DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                                                                    DOWNLOAD PREVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   Images 2012                                                                    Church of England Cathedrals – Series 1
                 DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                                                                    DOWNLOAD PREVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                   Africa 2012                                                                                     Cities of Europe – 2012
                 DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                                       DOWNLOAD PREVIEW 


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 Standard Calendars – 11″ x 8.5″ (280 x 216mm)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         Scenes of England                                                                    It’s a Small World
                          DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                                               DOWNLOAD PREVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                          Images – 2012                                                      Church of England Cathedrals – Series 1
                          DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                    DOWNLOAD PREVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             Africa 2012                                                                 Cities of Europe – 2012
                          DOWNLOAD PREVIEW                                                                                             DOWNLOAD PREVIEW

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Wedding photography

Wedding photography is the bread and butter of many High Street photographers.  Many do it really well – at a price.

I have deliberately stayed away from wedding photography for a number of reasons :-

  • the stress and pressure of THE DAY, which might just be another wedding shoot for you but it is THE day for bride and groom and their family and friends;
  • it is a highly competitive area with all sorts of photographers involved – the good, the bad and the …..;
  • the life style where weddings are generally on the weekend, meaning a substantial commitment over the years if you are going to do it properly;
  • the limited scope for creative expression with much of the actual photography being prescribed and formulaic.  This is not to say that there are not many very creative wedding photographers out there.

I was privileged recently to do a wedding as a rare once-off event and it went really well.  I was very concerned to capture the special day, to do a high quality professional job and the family were very happy and complimentary about the results.  It is a privilege to be part of a special family time – to capture the essence of the event in a non-intrusive way.

Doing the occasional wedding on a specialist basis has its advantages and can be very rewarding creatively (and financially).

St Paul’s Cathedral, London

I spent Wednesday 16 February in London photographing St Paul’s Cathedral.  A selection of images from my visit can be seen on the Season Images gallery – follow this link.

St Paul’s is an amazing and inspiring building with a history tied closely to London and the life of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom.  St Paul’s is not an easy place to photograph.  Ordinary visitors are not permitted to take photographs.  A special permit needs to be pre-arranged and costs £300 per hour – I was very kindly given a special rate of £120/hr.  A member of the Cathedral staff is required to accompany you.  Given the hundreds of tourists and dozens of groups of children moving about on most days, this is no doubt a good thing. Many thanks to Hannah Talbot, the Cathedral Press and Communications Officer who was very helpful.

I joined the 12:30 Eucharist service which was great although a little lost in the cavernous vastness of the Cathedral.  The West end of the Nave is striking in its simplicity whereas the East end with the High Alter is breathtakingly ornate.

A particular highlight for me was William Holman Hunt’s painting “The Light of the World” of Christ knocking on the door.

Getting a boarding pass in Lagos

In all my years of working in Africa I did not personally come across a great deal of corruption  – this particular experience at Lagos International Airport is the exception rather than the rule.

Lagos is a very large city in Nigeria – it is the second largest city in Africa (Cairo is the largest) with an estimated population of 15.5 million. It is an overwhelming city which is full of life but also mostly poor and dilapidated.   I first visited Lagos in the late 1990s on an assignment for UNICEF – the UN Childrens’ agency.  We could only travel in convoy with an armed escort and it was not recommended that you walked around in the city.  I recall very clearly arriving at the hotel I was to stay in with a colleague from the United Nations.  As I checked in the clerk asked me how I was going to pay and I put my credit card on the counter.  My colleague slapped his hand down on the counter covering my card and gave it back to me saying that I must not use it or let it out of my sight anywhere in Lagos – I paid in cash.

My memorable experience of catching a British Airways flight from Lagos to London happened on the same trip as my remarkable flight from Abuja (read about it here) – it was a long day.  Continue reading “Getting a boarding pass in Lagos”

Photographing markets

Late last year I spent a couple of afternoons at the Borough Market in London.  I have always found markets to be intriguing places.  The traders are usually full of character – self made individualists most of them who are by nature fiercely proud and protective of their independence.  The Borough Market in the South East of London has been there in various forms for hundreds of years.  Today the market as a whole is run by a non-profit organisation (although all the traders are there to make a living).  The market has a wide variety of produce and is well worth a visit.

As with most photography, the objective is not merely to produce a picture of the subject but to capture the essence of the place – to portray the life, texture, colours, personalities etc. which reflect the character of the place.  Continue reading “Photographing markets”