BLOG 2012

Samuel Adams is am American brand of beer brewed in Boston, the company has recently linked up with Britain's oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame in Faversham to produce its Boston lager. The companies have been acting as importers for the company for over a decade now. With Brewers from Boston visiting Shepherd Neame this week to see how the brewing process was going. The photography was to document the tour as well as capturing some of the product as well... ...more

I had been commissioned today by Broad Oak BMW to take some new photos for their websites, the BMW and Mini dealerships are based in Ashford and Canterbury. The photographs were directives from BMW Munich and were very specific, plus they also had to be cropped to a certain ratio for the BMW website... ...more

With off camera flash taking over a lot of portable studio lighting now due to its weight saving and creative advantages it can be easy to over look can be easy to over look something as simple as a basic flash gun like the Canon 270EX II, at just 155g it is compact and versatile enough to act as an on camera flash, trigger or off camera slave... ...more

Saturday morning and off to Augustine House where the universities students were rehearsing for this evenings orchestral performance in the venues hall. The principal photography was to update the library of music images that I have taken last year, plus this was also a full dress rehearsal which would give the impression of this evenings concert, plus I would have better access then i would during an actual performance... ...more

After covering an action packed morning at Brands Hatch it was a short drive to Hextable where one of Avante partnerships care homes was having a dinner party where the residents were cooking for guests from the companies head office... ...more

As I was up at Brands and BHM needed some press photos for an advertisement for the new Morgan 3 wheeler which sports a Harley davidson 1800 engine and has a 0-60 time of just 4.5 seconds. Martin from Brands Hatch Morgan brought the car along which grabbed everybody's attention... ...more

Three shoots today, two involving a Toyota MR 2 and Morgan 3 wheeler at Kent motor circuit Brands Hatch followed by a lunch at Avante care homes in Hextable, this job is nothing but diverse. The car photography was for Brands Hatch Morgan, the 3 wheeler for an advert in a magazine and the Toyota photos for their mechanic Jamie who is entering in a national MR 2 championships this year... ...more

Another master class to cover at the University Centre in Folkestone today, and one with a twist where students in the drama sector were learning the art of stage make up where the theme was tied in with horror and gore, this links in with a forthcoming production of "zombies" that will take place at the Quarterhouse in Folkestone... ...more

The University Centre Folkestone (UCF) is holding a series of master classes this week where students can learn from industry experts in various different professions of the performing arts, including creative writing, singing and other disciplines... ...more

Stepahead supports young people across the community who are in need of help and guidance. It regularly helps young people who are finding life’s problems difficult to overcome. Support is provided for young people living at home, in foster care, leaving care, who are homeless, in council/private or supported accommodation. The photography today was based on six service users who were going to be promoting the services that the charity promotes, I had a concept which would show two sides of the young adults expressions in one photo... ...more

Canterbury Christ Church University was to be the venue for Phil Packer's British Inspiration Trust charity walk. The walk today would cover eight miles and Phil will continue his walks across the UK until mid December. The photos today were commissioned by Christ Church University and will be used for press and web releases to promote the Universities support of Phil's campaign... ...more

The festival chamber orchestra were performing with Michael Chance at Shirley Hall, Kings School Canterbury, Michael has established a worldwide reputation as one of the foremost male alto voice in all areas of the classical music repertoire and is in equal demand as an opera, concert and recording artist. The photography was to cover a documentary of the evenings concert and events... ...more

Today is the launch of the new BMW 3 series, I was asked to cover the first unveiling of it to Broad Oak BMW's customers a few weeks ago, but due to today marking the official launch to the UK had to keep the photos under wraps. The 3 series amounts to almost a third of BMW's UK sales so is a very important part of its product line up, fortunately the motoring press has given it some great reviews, with Audi and Mercedes still trailing behind their German opposition... ...more

Off to Brookands museum for the first day of an ongoing project which is very similar to the Day in the Life of Canterbury Cathedral project that I covered over three years ago, although this time in colour but still focusing on the volunteers. With so many vehicles at the museum their are plenty of backdrops to utilise, including Concorde, Hurricane and Lancaster aircraft along with cars, bikes and buses... ...more

Last year I was commissioned by Private Jet Charter to cover some photography for them in Geneva, Switzerland. The company supply aviation requirements to clients all over the world for the chartering of private aircraft... ...more

With the snow covering most of Kent during the last 24 hours Monday morning had a few requests from clients for some scenic images depicting the snow, one of them was St Edmunds school who rather conveniently are next door to the Canterbury Innovation Centre where I am based, so a short walk next door also gave the opportunity on the way to get some wintery stock photos... ...more

The penultimate Basepoint centre in Ipswich Suffolk was to be the last place where extensive traveling was required, even the sun was out for the journey. I arrived in Ipswich town centre nice and early due to the traffic on the QE2 bridge being relatively quiet, as I had some time I went in to the town which has a market town feel to it, certainly worth a visit again when I have a bit more time, the quay side looked appealing as well on the drive to the centre... ...more

Automotive dealer Barretts of Canterbury had two new features at its Honda showroom in Canterbury, firstly new exterior lighting at their showroom and more importantly the new Honda Civic which had been officially released to the UK this week. The images of the showroom are to be used on the Honda and Barretts websites... ...more

Maybe not the best start to the day, temperatures sub zero and a as promised by the forecast a blanket of sleet starts to spread across Kent, the good news though is that the traffic is clear as I head my way down to the 26th Basepoint centre which is set along the East Sussex cost in Newhaven... ...more

Four Basepoint centres to cover today all based in North Kent and Essex so not too much travelling, the centres range from a recently built state of the art building in Dartford to a unit based at the historic dockyards in Chatham... ...more

The first Digital SLR photography workshop of the year took place at the Canterbury Innovation Centre on Sunday, with ten attendees from various different levels of experience it was going to be a good opportunity for everybody to enhance their skills as well as taking some great photos during the two practical sessions that were set up as well, one involving models Sonia and Kelly... ...more

Thursday evening and off to the Sidney Copper Gallery in Canterbury to cover the opening of a new exhibition which includes various works from artists including Anish Kapoor, Richard Long, Vong Phaopharit, Bruce Maclean and William Tucker... ...more

After covering over 3000 miles already this month I decided an early start would allow me to beat the M25 and make a door to door trip without any traffic jams, it turns out that a 5am start off to Portsmouth was the ideal time to leave. I arrived just after 7.30am in Portsmouth which gave me time to park up and take some photos of the impressive Spinnaker Tower which graces the quayside... ...more

Three jobs today in Basingstoke and Crawley, the first two covering Basepoints centres in Hampshire and West Sussex followed by more interior and exterior photography for Motorline automotive group who have just recently built a brand new Nissan dealership in Crawley... ...more

Day three covering the photography for Canterbury Christ Church University and a second visit to Augustine House. Today the photography was for the new prospectus, mainly for the front and rear cover along with some additional images to replace some of last years I had taken to refresh the brochure with some new faces... ...more

The second of three days photography and the base today is the modern and spacious Augustine House, this had been the setting for the business degree photography two years ago and today was to freshen up the previous images that I took back in October 2010... ...more

Today is the first of three days photography for Canterbury Christ Church University. The photography I would be covering today would be based around the Universities teaching training programmes where students were on placements at schools based in Canterbury and Whitstable... ...more

After covering a successful series of car photography courses at Brooklands museum in 2011 and with more dates set already I will be running a course with models, cars and planes on Sunday May 13th. The course will be limited to eight people only and promises to be a great day, where we will have access to a mix of classic and modern cars along with a variety of aviation history to use in the historic setting of Brooklands circuit and airfield... ...more

Three centres to cover today for Basepoint, continuing the interior and exterior photography of the companies buildings in the South of the country. After leaving early the first stop was Swindon followed by Andover and finishing off at one of the newest centres in Camberley in Surrey... ...more

Sunday morning and off to the Shepherd Neame Brewery to host this years fashion photography course, last Octobers event at the venue in Faversham was a great success and with four models and six photographers it was going to be another great day for some off camera flash techniques and great photos... ...more

Today three centres to cover, Bromsgrove, Evesham and Tewkesbury all within half an hour of each other. The weather had a mix of cloud cover and sun seeping through from time to time. Bromsgrove is one of the larger centres in the portfolio and provided a good range of images... ...more

Continuing the Basepoint centres photography today with four to cover in Hampshire. The first stop was Bournemouth, followed by Southampton, Winchester and then Romsey which was the very first centre set up way back in 1999. The weather was mild with a very the sun out in all its glory creating some striking blue skies... ...more

Off to Exeter and Weymouth this morning, 5AM to be precise, for Basepoint who have twenty eight business centres across the south, from exeter to Ipswich so a busy month ahead. The interior and exterior photography is to be used on Basepoints new website which will be launched early this year... ...more

The camera club that I run, KPC, has been going for almost three years now and with nearly thirty members it has certainly been a great base for some good friendships and great photographs. The theme that had been set for December was inspiration, the image was to be influenced by music, art, photography or films, so I set about creating a couple of iconic album covers with a slight twist... ...more

A great way to start the year with a visit to Brooklands for their annual New Years Day car and motorbike meeting. Despite a damp and dull day their was an amazing turn out of cars and bikes on display, the event also coincided with the start of the London to Cape Town rally which takes off from the venue this afternoon... ...more