Andy's Blog

2010-12-19T15:30:00.003Z

There have been some pretty interesting high points of my career as a photographer, but I reached the peak recently when I undertook my first Royal Variety Performance as the Official Photographer for EABF the charity that arrange the spectacular event. The first two days involved watching the artists rehearse and getting familiar with the logistics of the event. Behind closed doors, away from the paparazzi and fans the stars themselves were very relaxed and mingled with the BBC staff and EABF team quite happily. At one point I was chatting with Susan Boyle about her trek down from Scotland in the snow and on another occasion was talking to Robbie Williams about Stoke on Trent, somewhere I lived too when I was younger. Over the course of those days I got to see how the show was put together, marvelled at the lighting rigs and choreography, and worked out my own positions for the big night. I left Leatherhead at 6am on the morning of the show, parked my car at Marble Arch and after stopping en route for a McDonalds breakfast on Oxford street arrived at the Palladium in time for the royal arrival rehearsal and the start of the dress rehearsals.
The buzz around the Palladium was awesome, famous faces everywhere, lots of excited children who were performing either with the Wizard of Oz, Spelbound or Susan Boyle's Choir, and nerves aplenty, my own included!
Finally at around 7.15pm the Royal Car arrived and HRH The Prince of Wales, and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall appeared, slightly shaken after their ordeal en route with student protesters but ready to get on with greeting the dignitries and some of the performers in the foyer. Kylie, Take That and N-Dubz were also there to greet them and so the show began. A great performance it was too - comedians, singers, and acrobats in the form of Britain's Got Talent winners, Spelbound, all wowed the audience and everything went smoothly and on time. Take That rounded everything off with two of their new tracks and the first live performance as the newly reformed five peice, Robbie going down a treat with the audience and being the usual showman and natural performer. Sadly the Royal Couple were hurriedly ushered out of the Palladium to avoid any further incidents outside and so there was no meeting the perfomers but I got the opportunity to meet some of them myself and grab a few relaxed shots.
The night was not over there as next was the after show party to be held on Park Lane - it was chaos outside and no chance of a taxi so I hired a rickshaw and clutching my precious payload and about eight grands worth of camera gear I was cycled through the riot torn west end by a polish youth who for an extra fiver, put his foot down! The party went well and wound up around two thirty. I took around four thousand images over the course of the three days, I was exhausted but what a great experience. Hopefully they will have me back next year. A big extra 'Well done ' to Spelbound - some of whom are from Surrey, who put on a blinder of a show and were thoroughly nice kids to boot!

2010-10-04T08:49:00.004+01:00

Greetings all, once again Iam behind on my blogs - this is one of 4 now so I guess maybe I should streamline them eh! Its been a manic month - became the official photographer for EABF - the charity that organises the Royal Variety Performance, so look out for me on the box in December snapping the stars with the Royals! Am very excited about this new opportunity and am looking froward to working with Peter and the team at EABF. Also became the president of Leatherhead & District Chamber of Commerce and had a nice evening being 'chained' up last week. Even managed to get a laugh or two during my inaugural speech. Hope I can do as well as John Hickey - a hard act to follow. Covered the BGC Charity day for the Childrens Trust recently too - at one point I was chatting to Ronnie Corbett in the lift, then snapping Amanda Holden and Jonathan Ross and the next was filling my frame with none other that Roger Daltry from The Who! I also did the Childrens Trust Sleepwalk with some friends - ten miles in the middle of the night - great fun but sore the next day! Last week I went along to the booksigning of 'The Elephant to Hollywood' to do some media images with Sir Michael Caine - half way through the book at the moment - some great anecdotes! Surrey Life this month has been very popular - Keeley Hawes photos went down a treat and I was pleased with the Peter Alliss feature too. This weekend I have been teaching again at Denbies Vineyard - 5 great students who hopefully went away a bit more camera savvy then afterwards went to Botley Mansion to cover the Sam Beare Ball - a few names there too and embarrassingly I asked JB from the very popular band JLS what he did for a living - his girlfriend looked most disgruntled that I did not recognise him, I guess I am now of that generation that my Dad was when I was into the 80's stuff, - only thing was he was a record collector and generally knew of the trendy bands before I did, Oh how old I feel!!!

2010-09-06T11:42:00.002+01:00

Another exciting shoot this weekend, this time with Formula One front runner - Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes World in Byfleet - This pic was sent to me by fellow photographer Andy Barnes who was also snapping away. Lewis was there to add some glamour to the Smart Festival and meet some of the kids at the Mercedes driving academy - he was generous with his time and seemed to enjoy himself too! Lewis is at Monza next week so watch him battle for first place again next sunday.

Also this week I covered a Charity event for the Sam Beare Hospice which was hosted by Bobby Davro and featured amongst others, Tony Hadley from Spandau Ballet and comedian Tim Vine.
Great evening with heaps of cash raised for the hospice. See the pics in next months Surrey Life Magazine!

Wheres the bloody summer gone?

2010-08-27T18:38:00.002+01:00

Summertime is over - back to cold, drab, wet and miserable! we may still get an indian summer yet eh? Been a busy few weeks on the personal front - moving house again! I have lost count of how many times now. Also planning for the next few months and keeping up with stuff. I am taking over as president of the local Chamber of Commerce next month so am getting ready for that! Have just updated my online Ashtead & Leatherhead Local blog as I realised I had not updated it in several months so you can click back a page and have a look at that for recent news if you like!
Some BIG exciting news coming in the near future so watch this space! over an out for now!!

2010-07-14T14:45:00.003+01:00

Blimey, its been a while! My life is so busy nowadays I just don't get time to write anymore. As you can imagine A lot has happened since Max and Jo's wedding - many events, quite a few names to drop and a few hard times too.

I have just returned however from one of the best jobs of my career - an eight day cruise round the med with 300 or so of great people, all on a treat holiday from their boss - the very generous Tony Bloom. Rarely have I seen such mutual respect in a company and rarely do I see people at his level give so much to the people around him. It was a pleasure to shoot and has to be a record to me with a final toll of 3126 images edited (over 8000 taken in all) During the trip on a top notch cruise liner we visited Nice, Corsica, Sarrento in Italy, Sicily, Corfu, Dubrovnik in Croatia and the wonderful Venice. Comedian Alistair McGowas joined the cruise for a night and along with Milton Jones from Mock the Week, did a great job of entertaining the guests. The trip was all round luxury and fun and a great time was had by all, including me, who felt like one of the guests rather than a contractor. Big thanks to everyone and Jo and Terry from Sherring Events who hired me in - count me in next time if you will have me!!

back to business in the Uk and lots lined up - no rest for the wicked!

Max exposure!

2010-04-07T21:28:00.003+01:00

What can I say! A brilliant week so far. On saturday I exclusively covered Max Clifford and Jo Westwood's wedding and a great day it was too. I have known Max and Jo for a few years now and was really honoured to be asked to do it for them. It was held at Great Fosters in Egham and was a very low key affair with just 120 guests. There were a few names of course but by and large it was family and friends. managed to get a spread on sunday in the daily express and a pic in the News of the World and there are lots of bits and bobs about this week, was a great high point in my career. Tomorrow I have another high profile shoot in London but its not all glamour you know, at present I am editing away in a lonely studio!
I now have a PA by the name of Angharad Wynter - she has joined me after working on cruise ships and having studied photography at college. She is already getting up to speed with editing the portrait shoots and is fitting in quite well.

Shoots in the pipeline include some more names so watch out on my facebook page and I will try and update this again soon.

BBC Surrey come to Leatherhead

2010-02-08T14:57:00.003Z

After the recent guest spot on BBC Surrey with Nick Wallis (Left),I went along to cover an outside broadcast in Leatherhead today at the Surrey County Council Traffic Management Centre.
Fascinating place and a great bunch of people. This is where all of the traffic light systems are controlled, road cameras and bus systems - one of the town's best kept secrets! They also deal with the current pothole situation after the roads were damaged by the extreme weather and there were representitives from Surrey CC on hand to answer questions - Got a bit of a grilling but handled it very well and professionally. It was good to see them making notes to ensure that action was taken too. Ursula Hudson from the Leatherhead advertiser was there too and she reminded me to ask for good news stories about the town so if anyone has anything newsworthy for our local rag then let me know and I will pass it on - there is no point us moaning that the paper is full of bad news if we are not going to help get the good news to them.
Revellers at the weekend would have had the misfortune to hear me sing as I was up on the mike on saturday night in my local. it was videoed too so I will probably end up looking like a prat on utube too!
Well done Denbies Vineyard on winning their recent contract with a national chain of public houses and welcome to the new thai restaurant that is opening where Estrellas used to be, I cant remember its name but am looking forward to a taster soon!
Don't forget to sign up on my Facebook page - just type andy newbold photography in the search bar and you can keep up with the stuff I get up to on a daily basis....

BBC Radio Surrey

2010-02-01T13:44:00.002Z

Well finally things are starting to pick up and a little flow of work has started. This morning I was a guest on Nick Wallis's breakfast show on BBC Surrey which was a fun experience. The interview can be listened to up to a week after the 1st Feb, so if you want a listen here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0064kyv/Surrey_Breakfast_with_Nick_Wallis_01_02_2010/
Doing lots of work with the wonderful Surrey Life at the moment, so look out for my stuff in there - few famous faces too!
Big happy birthday to my friend Jade Tolfree!
regards to all!!

Bah

2010-01-14T15:06:00.002Z

As the snow melts and that brown slushy stuff that is uncomfortable to walk in lies dismally on the floor I reflect on the past year. Last year saw a decline in business for photographers and a few I know fell by the wayside. It is sad to see that due to the availability of good quality, reasonably priced cameras and the digital techniques that are easily available to amateurs, the need for portrait and even commercial and wedding photographer is rapidly decreasing.
Last year was a tough one for me and I limped into 2010 with an uncertain future. I am sure I will find ways to keep going but I do wish it was easier sometimes.
At present I am suffering from a lack of motivation too which does not help much. Recent developments in my personal life and the aftermath of a disasterous christmas have left me jaded to say the least - There are no answers, time is all is required and in the meantime I get inspiration from people like my old photographer friend from Radio Jackie, Darren Graham who seems to be in about fifty places at once and comes up with some stunning photography on a daily basis - where do you get your energy man. Also I have been watching Channelle Sergius -Bruce's work via Facebook, a great and very positive wedding photographer.
So have I just ran out of steam or is it time for me to roll over and get a job at Chessington?
no doubt I will drag myself out of this depression in due course but so far 2010 - not impressed!

Merry Christmas all

2009-12-18T20:59:00.002Z

Well it is that time of year again and I am just winding down the studio. It has been a tough one but I am still in business and for that I am grateful. Next year will see some interesting developments I think as I should have the opportunity to streamline my business a little.
I hope everyone has a brilliant time. I am very much looking forward to time with my family and some fun in the sun!
The studio will be closed throughout christmas and new year and will reopen on the 8th January.

At this time of year there are several people who I wish I could see - one in particular who I miss every single day and I hope that one day she will be a part of my life again but above all I want her to know that I love her and miss her very much :(
Big Hi to Mum and Dunc, Dad and all the rest of the family up north, My adopted Sister Tina and the Tolfrees and in particular my special friend Shorty! The Krohn Huses - Marit, Knut, Kristin and my beautiful girlfriend Hilde who keeps me sane and happy! - hello too to my friends, Andy Park, Euan & Jenny, Zen & Matthew, the Bretts, the Fowkeses, Caroline and Matthew, Max and Jo, Blue White, Billy Harvey, Andrew Half pint Gordon, Mark, Leo, Gaz & Em, Gary & Louise, Andras, Keion, Dan, Ahmed and every one else I have forgotten.
hope to see you all in the New Year xxx

Welshed out!

2009-12-06T15:41:00.002Z

Just got back from the lovely village of Llyswen in the Brecon Beacons where I was covering the wedding of Mark and Helen Thomas - Mark is a well known ex newspaper editor and now manages various celebs and runs a PR agency so there were lots of media types there - great wedding, shame the weather was not up to scratch but it was a great venue and also featured singer Shola Ama who sang for the guests and a fireworks display. Now begins the job of editing the 1000 plus images.......

2009-11-17T18:47:00.003Z

S'been a strange few days - last week was full of events and late nights, Saturday was a blast with a letting the hair down kinda night, and getting very wet at the end of it! and this week has so far included root canal, a very interesting town meeting, lots of editing and lots more worrying. For once the worrying was noit about the business but something far more serious. Little Sian Tolfree has been in hospital for an operation which was very complicated. Sian is a little star and has had a life of operations and dealing with her condition but never moans and is just about the most inspiring person you will ever meet. I have known the family for quite a while and am very close to them - throughout all of the imtense stresses they have had to endure they have remained very caring and thoughtful people and have become an extended family to me - to think of Sian going through more surgery was very difficult for everyone but especially her Mum, Dad and three siblings. I am happy to say that she seems to be recovering from the operation and that hopefully we will have her back in our lives very soon. Anyone who knows Sian will understand this and I hope will join me in wishing her a very speedy recovery.

nearly time to go home, had enough of sitting in front of the PC for one day - time for some quality time with my lady!

Tee Hee

2009-10-23T14:12:00.002+01:00

Once again I have been a bad blogger and it has been too long since my last one. What can I say, I am a busy chap, what with keeping the business going, chamber of commerce and the other pies I have my fingers in.
The last few weeks have been very busy with events, charity stuff and general commercial stuff which has allowed me to get back on top of things and hopefully survive this annis horribillis - or whatever it is the Queen has from time to time.
loads of celeb stuff on at the moment - am working with the Princess Alice Hospice tonight and good old Mr Tarrant which should be great fun. Next week there are a couple of big names in the bag to drop too and if I get chance to blog afterwards I will let you know all about it.
Part of the reason I am slacking with my blog is Facebook, I have embraced it wholeheartedly and in fact have been building pages for other businesses in the town - Barton's Bookshop, Toni&Guy and helping with the Dukes Head one too. I guess this is the latest way to communicate with people so one has to keep up with the times. To become a fan of my own page click on the box to the right! next thing is to master tweeting!
A big happy birthday to my old mate Billy Harvey who recently turned 40 - we are all getting so old!!!
Thats it for now, will try harder I promise, hello to everyone and thank you for bothering to read!

2009-09-15T17:15:00.000+01:00

Quick Blog!

2009-09-15T16:49:00.003+01:00

....forgive me father for I have sinned, it has been far too long since my last blog.....
ok, I am a bad blogger... seriously, I have been bogged down with work over the past couple of weeks and so a big apology to anyone I have not been in contact with, (specially Blue in Scotland). Last week I was at the BGC Charity day at canary wharf and worked with loads of famous folk, they raised 8m for charity!! whatta result. Pics are online - follow the link on my homepage.
Been doing a lot of work with the childrens trust and rainbow trust lately ... a midnight walk with Daley Thomson and Kate Staples, entertainment in Epsom and family profiles in Wiltshire & Dorset to name but a few. All very rewarding I have to say.
Few hellos - Dan Vickery - apology up front for my leatherhead and Ashtead local blog, I am sure your Nan will love it ....., Blue, hope you are ok and doing well in the centres, evryone says hi, Andy P - catch up soon my old friend. Happy birthday to My Dad, & Kristin Krohn Huse.
see you all at the theatre for the 40th party! should be a hoot!!

one of those days!!

2009-08-24T17:51:00.002+01:00

Headed off into London today for a shoot in st John's Wood and just as I arrived something started to feel wrong with my car - the engine started losing power and the car was jolting around all over the place. I managed to park and and do my job, which was fine but not before noticing that the exhaust cat was glowing bright orange!!
Thankfully I had AA coverage and after a while a bloke called Paul came along and fixed it - eighty five quid and a new ignition coil later I was back on the road ..at least for a while after getting caught in M25 traffic for a good hour. Finally, after getting back to the studio around 4.30 I discovered an enormous spider (one of my worst pet hates) on the blind next to my desk. (Ok it was not exactly enormous but it was bloody big enough!) - now I am wading through tons of emails and trying to catch up.
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day!!

its been a while!

2009-08-20T11:08:00.003+01:00

Must be a couple of weeks since blogging, and plenty has been happening. I kind of took a week off as my Dad came down from Staffordshire to visit. We managed to cram a lot in - a few nights in the pub, sightseeing in London and Sussex and I let him indulge in his hobby of trainspotting by taking him to the Bluebell railway. I did also take along my girlfriends Mum to keep ME company. It was very well laid out and definately a worthwhile place to visit - specially if you have kids (or trainspotting Fathers) He also had the opportunity to attend a Chamber of Commerce breakfast and meet a national celebrity so I think he had a good time. The Lego House has finally got underway with James May laying the first brick earlier in the week, the position of it is fantastic and I cannot wait to see the finished thing.

I met Toni Mascolo of Toni&Guy fame and his lovely wife Pauline the other day - he was a thoroughly nice chap and he even invited me along for a game of snooker!

Well it has been a very long three and a half weeks while my other half has been in Texas and New Orleans with friends. I am really looking forward to her iminent return and hopefully a few days off so it may be a little while before I blog again. Look out for the August Surrey Downs Magazine this month (I did the cover) and I have stuff in Surrey Life as well as the usual Ashtead and Leatherhead Local and Dorking Diary. Sadly nothing in Hello this month though!

I was also very saddened to hear of the death last week of Bobby Robson. I met Bobby at a Downing street reception and he was a lovely man, I am sure he has touched many lifes over the years - a great legacy.

2009-08-04T19:05:00.002+01:00

Busy week again! I was at the Lego house launch with James May at the weekend held at Denbies Vineyard - hundreds of people turned up and it was brilliant. Cant wait to see how it pans out!! Sunday was cool too - this time at the Dukes Head in the high street where they were having a family day as part of the new friendlier pub image. It was really good and nice to see such a calm but jovial atomosphere.
all the pics are on my website as usual. I went for lunch with Angela Marshall my appearance management consultant too the other day to talk about future business collaborations - Angela is well worth talking to if you need to find out what really suits you, something I regularly get wrong but as part of my 'just turned 40 and sorting my life out' drive she is being a big help as is Greg Suart who is coaching me in buisness mastery and who is making me see things in a whole new light. At this rate I will be a tee total, vegan who jogs to work and does not suffer from stress.....I think I have a way to go yet but its a good start thanks to these guys.
It is also the end of the first week my girlfriend has been away and boy has it dragged! I have been busying myself with catching up on things I have been meaning to do for ages but I do miss her! Happy birthday to Joyce and John Frayn Turner - well known local artist and writer and make sure you check out what is on at Bartons Bookshop - tomorrow Simon Scarrow is doing a book signing in the evening and on saturday its the launch of Ember Fury by Cathy Brett so pop on down and give them some support!

aftermath!

2009-07-29T21:45:00.007+01:00

What an amazing party on Friday night - these are just a few of the pictures - to see more just type the word moon in the password box on my homepage! - very simple but the running horse was the place to be - loads of friends turned up, I feel really lucky to have so many brilliant mates and it was great to see pals from the drama festival committee, chamber of commerce and my evening buddies all together having a laugh. OK, so my singing and dodgy stand up routine may have been cringeworthy to say the least but it was all in the name of fun. Sadly Hilde could not come for long as she was unwell but I am glad to say she is better now. It was a shame my good friends Andy park and Blue White could not have been there but it was an awfully long way to come. Thank you to everyone for coming and sharing it with me and thanks for all the cards and gifts, it was a night I will not forget in a hurry! Thanks too to the Running Horse, Colin the DJ, and the Dukes head for the 'after party'.

My reccommendation for the week is the restaurant in Cobham - La Capanna, I was treated to a lovely meal by Hilde's family there and It was superb!

Not much to report on the work front except I did a great Surrey Life shoot with a thoroughly nice chap called Greg Manchester yesterday, He was located up on Ranmore Common and we had a great time with his dogs and his son Jack snapping away.

So now I am 40 I guess I had better grow up a bit and act my grand old age.....nah! no fun in that. Besides, I have to keep my youth for my lovely girlfriend who is a little bit younger than me although sometimes she is the more sensible one in the relationship. She is in Texas at the moment and I feel like I have had an appendage removed!!

OVER THE HILL AND AWAY WE GO!

2009-07-24T14:48:00.003+01:00

Wayhey, I am 40 - cannot believe I have made it to this grand old age. They say life begins at 40, er, well, bring it on!
I will not be in the studio tomorrow as I may be a little hung over!!
hi to everyone, other news: Photographed Mick Hucknall this week at Sandown Park - nice chap, he spent some time with some of the kids from the Childrens Trust and was happy to be snapped with them along with the rest of the band. The concert was good too!
mind you - my era, I have to confess I was a fan of theirs, and Queen, spandau Ballet, The pet shop boys etc etc etc ......

2009-07-22T00:13:00.005+01:00

Just got back from a really cool day in London at a music video shoot with Shola Ama the singer who had lots of hits in the late nineties and early noughties and who is relaunching her career! The video included a cameo with Jack Tweed who was well down to earth and had a good laugh doing his thing! Shola was a pleasure to work with and it was a great experience watching how it is all done. Lots more been going on over the past week or two - last week I had a work experience lad with me - Luke who spent the week learning Photoshop and editing. I finally got on top of a ton of bits and peices and am in the middle of another busy week. anyway, more next time but now its late and my eyes are starting to struggle! till then!

Facebook Frenzy

2009-07-11T09:15:00.003+01:00

Ok so finally after avoiding it for too long I have embraced the cultural phenomenon known as Facebook. It is strabgely addictive, suddenly I have this new realm of communication and already I am keeping in touch with pals I have not had time to be in touch with, so far so good. I officially have friends now, there is something quite disconcerting about a statement that says - you have 1 friend which is what it said for the past eight months since I sort of signed up!
Anyway, finally I have had a quiet week and was able to catch up with some housekeeping and editing.
This week consisted of a total of ten meetings of varying types, two shoots and lots of screen staring. One very positive aspect of the week was my sessions with Greg Suart from Ultimate Goal who is helping me to re focus on my business aims and is so far very enlightening. Sometimes you just have to see things from a different perspective and this is what Greg does. It is like turning a light on in a remote corner of your head and discovering that actually, there is some sense in there! I will keep you posted on progress but for anyone who is needing a help in the right direction then this is the man for the job, for more info go to www.ultimategoal.co.uk
So, what else? like I said, a quiet week so not a lot! Only two more weeks till I hit the 40 mark and so far I still have not decided whether a party is going to happen yet although I am sure there will be some sort of event involving alcohol and falling over, we shall see!

2009-07-07T12:03:00.005+01:00

Looking out of the window, the rain is lashing down and it feels like Britain again! Lets hope that this is just a temporary thing as I was quite enjoying the hot summer weather, made a nice change!
The events are still thick and fast - I even went to a christmas event - a preview at Denbies Vineyard - at one point we had santa jumping up and down between the vines in sunglasses - quite surreal! The Swing and Pop events at painshill were fun and the weather did them proud. The highlights were of course the fireworks at the end of the evening and spectacular they were - pics available to see on my home page!
The Duck race too was a huge success with over £2000 raised and a riverside full of kids and families brandishing duck whistles - a great family atmosphere. For me that preceeded a superb night in Hyde Park with my old pal half pint (aka Andrew Gordon), as we watched the Boss in all his glory on stage at Hyde Park Calling. I have always been a Springsteen fan and this is the fourth time I have seen him perform. For a sixty year old bloke to keep going like that for two and a half hours is pretty amazing - I would be knackered after ten minutes! My reccommendation music wise is his latest album - 'Working on a Dream', and look out for the first track - 'Outlaw Pete' - awesome!
Last week I was in London a lot, for various commercial projects and sweltered on the tubes which I really don't enjoy. I did drive one day and seriously regretted it after getting stuck on the Kings Road for I don't know how long!
Last Thursday I was working for The Children's Trust again covering the Guy Portelli Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. Guy won investment from Dragons Den to put on the exhibition which was very good and made even better with support images of Iconic rock and pop stars by famous photographers. I met photographer, Nobby Clark there too whose work is well known and who informed me he had photographed Springsteen (pah!) - For me it was quite an honour to meet one of my contemporaries and to actually have approval of my techniques by him (ie. no flash and prime lens). Amongst the guests was Prince Harry's friend Astrid who was really pleasant too.
Somewhere between all this I managed to go fishing with my girlfriend but it was too hot to catch anything, although it was a beautiful location and it was great to relax in the sun!
After such a hard week sunday was truly a day of rest and it was spent walking with the dog on Leith Hill and watching films, just the ticket.
It would not be right to let the week pass without mentioning Michael Jackson. What a shame and such a musical genius. Once again the press had a field day with an average of six to eight pages per paper dedicated to him for the most part of the week. This I disagree with as he is just one person in a world of billions and whilst he was a superb performer and unique in many ways he did have his dark side and it was obviously his dark side not his music that gave him so much coverage - what a sad world we live in. Nevertheless he was one of those artists who left his mark in some way on most people. I myself won a Michael jackson dancing competition when I was nineteen and recently at a party I relived the experience (after a few jars of the brown stuff of course!) I hope that there is not one almighty battle now for his kids, for their sake . ...and boy, how quick did the jokes start! I bet the phone companies made a fortune on text messages.
Happy birthday to my Nan who was 86 on the 4th July, bless her and my brother Christopher who died when I was younger would have been 37 yesterday, I cannot even imagine what he would have been like but I still miss him so much.
and finally, as Trevor would say, hello to Kristin who is in Namibia at the moment eating crocodile kebabs and doing canyon treks, - it sounds like 'I'm a celebrity....' hope you are looking after my camera, I dont want it coming back covered in elephant dung.
...till next time, I will try not to leave it so long!

2009-06-25T15:31:00.004+01:00

This time of the year is all about events and this year there seems to be more than usual.
On sunday I was at Wildlife Aid in Leatherhead for thier open day. It was a little lower key than usual but a fun day with all the usual hilarity from Simon and Vernon the extremely funny and near to the mark compare! That was the second visit for me last week as the centre had a visit from Chris Grayling MP too. For more on wildlife aid and the series Wildlife SOS, visit the website at http://www.wildlifeaid.org/
In the evening I went to see musical version of The War of The Worlds at the O2 - superb night and well worth going next time if you missed it. Also last weekend was Ashtead Village Day which was a big success as usual. This year I did the chopper ride, just to get some aerial photos of the area which you can see via the link on my homepage. Not brilliant due to the weather but everytime I go up and look down on surrey it amazes me how green it is, especially around Ashtead.
This weekend is no different with 4 events on in all. Dont forget the Duck Race on sunday - should be a good day if the weather stays good.
For some reason I am on a downer at the moment, whether it is just because I am knackered from working too much or the annoyance of finding Mr tax man being the only real person that benefits from it all at the moment I dont know, it just seems to be a bit like being on a treadmill at the moment! I'm sure it will lift.
....or maybe it is the thought of turning 40 next month, yeah, that must be it........

2009-06-05T13:18:00.002+01:00

Oops, I am getting behind with my blogging - pressure of work you see! This last fortnight has been a pretty hectic one - I was up north last week, sadly to attend my Uncle George's funeral in Barnoldswick although he had lived to a ripe old age and was a real character so it was a celebration of his life rather than a morbid affair. I have been in and out of London for concerts, events and PR jobs all week and am just about to go and climb on the roof at Denbies to photograph their Atrium. Never a dull moment!
Happy birthdays go to fellow photographer Mark Lewis - who was about a hundred and four last week. I caught up with him briefly at Silvermere where he was a little worse for wear. Also to My friend Andras who is 29 today - I believe he is at Thorpe Park today with his new squeeze Vicki.
We had our Chamber of Commerce Focus For Growth Conference on Tuesday which was a great success - the speakers were all very good and it was nice that they were largely Chamber Members so they will get a lot of benefit out of it. Thanks to everyone who supported it.
Hilde and I went to the new restaurant in Cobham - Strada, the other night which used to be Dawson Strange, where I used to work. I have to say I was very impressed with it, the food was very good and the service excellent so that is my reccommendation for this month. However it was a little weird being in there and brought back a few memories of people I used to work with.
It is a little sad that it is no longer Dawson Strange which was there for donkeys years.
....what is going on in Cobham these days by the way? knifings on the high street and bodies in bins, you dont get things like that happening in Leatherhead!
Congrats to Blue's daughter by the way who just passed her PHD much to her Mum's delight.
and hello to all the models at Leatherhead Food International - I am still wading through the editing now!!

Duck time coming up

2009-05-27T13:01:00.002+01:00

Greetings all. So now that the annual Drama Festival is over things are slowly getting back to normal. It is never quiet for long though as we have loads of events in the pipeline - The Duck Race, Focus for Growth Conference by the Chamber of Commerce, Wildlife Aid Open Day, Ashtead Village day, to name but a few.
I am currently working on a creative poster for the Duck Race - last year we had a giant rubber duck squeezing through the arch of the town bridge and prior to that it was the 'Leatherhead Duck' on the roundabout by the Plough - kinda taking the mickey a bit out of the Dorking Cockerel (in a nice friendly way of course). This year I hope to have an equally amusing image so keep your eyes peeled and come down on the 28th June to join in the fun. Sadly I will not be there for long this year as I am heading off to a concert in London later in the day.
The weather is lousy today - wet and miserable, not what we need right now, where has the sun gone? I am supposed to be doing some stock photography this week but so far it has been no good. A big congratulation to my pal, Andy Hill and his wife Laura who have just announced that they are expecting a baby, (here's hoping it will take after its Mum on the looks front....only kidding Andy, I suspect the hair style will be similar you yours though!)
Congrats too to Andras for catching an 18lb catfish the other day - wish I was there to see that one. I hear Mike Creasy managed nil poisson - remember Mike, worms and a twig!! works everytime...he will know what I mean. anyway, I'm off, have bigger fish to fry, catch you later!

2009-05-23T18:11:00.003+01:00

It has been a busy week with all sorts going on. Kelly, my work experience assistant finished on friday and I hope that she learned loads and enjoyed the experience - whether she will still want to be a photographer remains to be seen. Well done Kelly and good luck for the future. Bobby Davro and Vicky Wright came in to the studio on Friday too and we had a little shoot which was fun followed by dinner in the town. This week there has been a couple of studio shoots and some commercial work so hopefully things are picking up a little on that front.

Today I was at Denbies Vineyard running a small photographic course which was great fun. It is very rewarding to help people understand how to use their cameras and Denbies is the perfect venue being very photogenic and full of learning opportunities. I look forward to running more courses like this in the future. I will soon be offering Photoshop courses too in the near future so watch this space.

Now it is bank holiday weekend, and so for some chillout time. Big hello to my wee pal, Sian and I hope you all have a nice holiday!

Soap box time!

2009-05-19T19:27:00.002+01:00

Well, that was a fantastic final night - Michael & Shakira were great as always and the performances were well received. It was all hussle and bustle in the green room at half time as everyone wanted to say hello to Sir Michael who generously posed for photos and signed autographs and the audience watched him present the awards to our winners. Well done to everyone who took part - the standard was superb as it always is and I do not envy the job of the adjudicators one iota. After 28 performances - 30 including the awards night i am now drama'd out for now - it is nice to have an evening to catch up on stuff such as this.
Other news and this week I have some help in the form of Kelly who is working with me for her work experience - hopefully she will learn something and it will give her an idea of whether to persue a career in photography or not.
Entertainer Bobby Davro was in my studio yesterday for a brief visit, they should give you back your saturday night slot Bobby, get us all laughing again, ...we need it with the current state of the country, a bit of humour would not go amiss.
Finally, you may read in the local papers this week that we could lose our town centre managers here in Mole Valley. Here in Leatherhead we have grown and developed since the dark days when we were voted worst high street and this is largely due to the commitment of our town centre manager - Lucy Hanson who works with traders to put on events, encourage new business to the town and attract tourists. Who will do all of this if she goes? plus dealing with all of the other issues that crop up. This could be a very short sighted decision by the local council - the worst time to leave a town to its own devices would be in the middle of a recession.
I encourage everyone to get behind Lucy (and Sandra in Dorking) and support what they do - we do not want to go back to the dark ages and certainly do not need the negative press we will attract with these desisions.
I will get off my soap box now....till next time!

done and dusted

2009-05-15T23:17:00.001+01:00

Yey, cracked it - all 28 shows covered and present in the gallery - 3 great performances tonight, just the big one to go tomorrow night now!
now for a beer..........

Tired!!

2009-05-15T17:16:00.004+01:00

It is the last day of the adult week at the festival and boy am I tired. I have covered all 25 performances so far and am proud to say they are all edited and up on the site! Last night was one of my hardest ones as there was a play by the Churt Amateur Dramatic Society set in a lifeboat with very dark lighting throughout. This is a challenge as it is difficult to capture from the back of the Theatre in low light with no flash. However - I opened up my iso rating to 3200 and managed to make it look lighter than it was in real life!! Even though it is a bit 'noisy' you can still see all the detail and they actually look very atmospheric.

That is the beauty of Theatre photography - the light is constantly changing and there are often big challenges. One of the other performances, by the Bookham Players was set in Leatherhead and there were mentions of the Swan Centre, Dorking, Ashtead and that place on the high street where you can get your photos done, they can even do a bit of airbrushing too.... yeah! fame at last! It has been a fantastic two weeks and even though I am pretty knackered I have enjoyed every moment. It has been made all the more enjoyable by the presence of my two new friends who usually sit behind me although they moved down towards the stage last night - I was quite lost without them......I still think they have a crafty vodka or two hidden away under their seats!

We had my friend Max Clifford along on Wednesday too. He was here to watch a friend perform in one of the plays and apparantly enjoyed a meal at Lal Aakash beforehand! Tomorrow of course is the big night and I will be there dinner jacket, fully charged camera and loaded with pro plus!!

Not much else to report just now, it is all quite in the studio - sign of the times I think, worrying really as that is my bread and butter and I am already down to crumbs and margarine. the days of the high street studio are sadly numbered I think!

The papers are all full of Katie and Peter just now. how clever - will the next step be the next tv series - Katie & Peter - The Reunion, followed by renewal of the marriage vows (again....funded of course by a national magazine), and then the inevitable baby........or am I just being cynical. If they did get back together the best thing they could do is keep a low profile and have some family time, but then is it a marriage of convenience or is it real and they are happy living their life in the public eye?

Oh well, I had better go and take up my position at the back of the theatre for the final three shows, full report on tomorrow when I have recovered!

High Drama

2009-05-12T23:25:00.002+01:00

Phew, half way through the second week of the Leatherhead Drama Festival - I have black rings round my eyes and am very tired but what a great week of am dram once again! Last week saw some great performances from the juniors and there have been some crackers so far this week. Good to see an increase in bums on seats too. I have been up at the back most of the time but have had the pleasure of the company of two of the festivals regulars who I enjoy chatting to in between performances. The two lovely ladies have been coming to the festival for many years and I think they have taken root up there at the back, I even suspect they have a secret stash of vodka under the seats! Seriously though it is people like these that make the festival what it is today - without the audience there is no festival and I take my hat off (if I wore one) to them both! Well just a few more days left before the big night and it looks like another sell out! Not much other news this week, Katie and Peter have split up, they obviously did not like the pics I took of them a couple of weeks ago. I was given a fantastic testimonial by my friend Max Clifford today for my website - it is in the testimonial area of this site if you want a wee gander. Thanks Max. anyway - I have just finished editing the last of the three performances tonight and am bushed - it is 11.40pm - maybe I will make last orders at the top of the street before hitting the sack - I could certainly use a beer.
Quick Hi to Blue up in bonnie scotland - I have not been in touch lately - work pressure, sorry Doll, hope you are ok.
till next time!! au revoir!

Drama and Dancing

2009-05-06T13:11:00.006+01:00

So here it is - the Drama Festival is upon us. It does not seem like five minutes since the last one. So far we have seen five very good performances and all is looking good. I wonder who the stars are going to be this year - one thing is for sure, we are going to have a different junior winner as the three time winners are not included this year, a shame really as their performances were always excellent but at least it will give the others a chance.
Went to an excellent party on saturday night in aid of Chase. It was the celebration for one of the teams in this years Scumball Rally which featured Jo Westwood and friends, over £70,000 was raised to it was time to celebrate and a good night was had by all. I was there as a photographer but did let my hair down a bit after a trying week and joined in the fun. As you can see from the pics, we had a few names pop along, aside from Max Clifford and his fiance Jo, we had the very funny Bobby Davro (pictured doing a george and zippy impression wiith some dodgy geezer), Michael Underwood from Dancing on Ice with TV presenter girlfriend, Angellica Bell and Eastenders' Gemma Bissex. Not to mention of course the amazing Sian Tolfree who became my assistant photographer for the night. Gemma is pictured above with Hilde and Surrey Life editor Caroline Harrap. Well done to the team and to everyone who made it a night to remember.

Not much else to report i'm afraid - business is very thin on the ground at the moment as it is for everyone - will this be the summer of discontent? .........lets hope not eh!

A taxing week!

2009-04-30T21:27:00.003+01:00

So - the government are supposed to be helping small businesses are they? Well I for one are not finding that - having fallen foul of the tax on account system I am under pressure now to change what I do to survive. I have my fingers in plenty of pies and pride myself in running an honest and fair business but I feel like I am working for the government now, not myself, God only knows what the outcome will be if things don't change - I dread to think how specialist portrait photographers are managing having seen a general decline as it is a luxury product, oh well, beans on toast for a while it seems!
Next week sees the start of our wonderful Drama Festival, the biggest of its kind in the country, i have just loaded all the galleries, on my site ready to fill them with images of the festival - lots of late nights in the pipeline now but well worth the effort as everyone works so hard to make it a festival to be proud of and it is great to be a part of it. Dick Jones of Jones creative services has produced a great programme and is selling badges to commemorate the event so visit the drama festival website to order one - www.leatherheaddramafestival.org.
This swine flu is a bit worrying eh? a blonde friend of mine was worried about filling her car with petrol the other day until I reassured her that is was Mexico, not Texaco she had to avoid. . . . not a laughing matter I know but it did make me smile!!

ITS ALL GONE CRAZY

2009-04-28T15:47:00.005+01:00

What a weekend! Covered the marathon on Sunday for the Children's Trust - what an amazing day - it is a unique event and the atmosphere is awesome. I was lucky enough to have a pass into the VIP area so got to snap away at the likes of Gordon Ramsey, Katie & Peter, Ronan Keating, Jenni falconer etc etc. I captured a good percentage of the Childrens Trust Runners at the half way mark before positioning myself on the finish line gantry to record some of their finishes, which of course included the Andre's and the Yellow submarine which was manned by Lloyd, Priya and the team. Whilst I did not actually run, I felt like I had, after lugging my gear accross London with the help of the Children's Trust's Ruth Allsopp who looked after the PR for the event. Well done to all who ran!

In the past few days I have also done the Denbies medieval banquet, the Leatherhead St Georges day festival and have just returned from the Mad Hatters Lunch in Guildford with featured Louis Mariette, DeDE Valentine, Sally Kettle and a host of other Milliners along with Anthea Turner.

I think I have taken in the region of 4000 images in the past five days! who said that photography is not hard work?

Apologies to all the people I have neglected - I have a load of calls to catch up on and stuff to do - please bear with me, I have to appease the tax man so its flat out at the moment. Better get on!

Going to the Runners, but not the Leatherhead Pub for once!

2009-04-24T16:20:00.012+01:00

It is all going on at the moment! - I have just got back from a photocall with Katie Price and Peter Andre at the Tower Hotel in London in prep for sunday's marathon. I was there on behalf of The Children's Trust working with Louis Mariette (Britain's Next Top Model Judge), and Sally Kettle (1st Woman to row the Altantic, twice!) who are also running on sunday. Earlier I was outside GMTV with presenter/reporter, Priya Kaur Jones and Lloyd Scott photographing them with the Yellow Submarine that they are running around with. . . .all good fun - pics are already online via the link on my website.
Good luck to all the runners for the Children's Trust, and the other charities (Rainbow Trust, Chase etc) and look out for me in the crowd, I will be the one wearing a white T shirt!!!!
Yesterday I went along to see Angela Marshall from Appearance Management (http://www.appearancemanagement.co.uk/) who I am hoping to do some work with in the future. She offers a service to help you select the right colours, style and material to suit your skin and personality and has recently joined the Chamber of Commerce. Sadly I realise I have been doing it all wrong up till now and thankfully she has put me on the right track with some excellent advice. I really enjoyed the consultation and am sure that it will be a big help to many of my PR and Model clients - I would thoroughly reccommend her to anyone wanting to sharpen up and improve the way they look - but this really is just the tip of the iceberg as Angela has a wealth of expertise in this and other related fields. Thanks Angela for helping me, I think I am going to have to get rid of most of my wardrobe now!

2009-04-23T15:02:00.002+01:00

Hey, the weather has arrived - what a great week, sunny and warm, just what the doc ordered! Everyone seemed to be ill last week with flu and stuff, thankfully things are picking up, at least on the weather front. I have had an interesting week. On Sunday I was at Denbies for the Rainbow Trust 10k Run, too early for me on a sunday but fun all the same. In the afternoon we went to the British Wildlife Centre which is one of my favourite places in Surrey. Tuesday was the breakfast for the Chamber of Commerce at Denbies which was a great success (again) with 54 atendees - I am so proud of what the Chamber is achieving nowadays and the new members it is attracting.
Yesterday I was in London - at pall Mall in the morning doing some PR photography which was good, except for the fact I was 6 minutes late getting back to my car and was awarded a parking ticket for my achievement - then after getting stuck in the wonderful London traffic and developing tourettes syndrome whilst avoiding the stock car type situation in the Strand, I arrived at Excel for the Marathon expo where I was working with The Children's Trust. Unfortunately I dropped my flashgun, smashing it and adding another £350 to the cost of the day! Was good to see the guys at Children's Trust though who were joined by Trojan from the Gladiators, Pria Kaur-Jones from GMTV, Marathon runner Lloyd Scott (the guy in the deep sea divers kit last year, and TV's Lucy Evans (Corrie, Hollyoaks etc). By the time I got home last night I was bushed but my girlfriend decided to treat me to dinner at my latest favourite restaurant - Wagamamas in Guildford - thats my recommendation for the week!!
Good luck to all the runners on sunday - I will be there snapping away - I wonder how Jordan will do and will she need two timings? as I am sure parts of her anatomy will arrive way in front of others!!

2009-04-18T17:04:00.005+01:00

What a great week. I have just returned from a brilliant week away on holiday in Portugal with my girlfriend and her family. We stayed in Praia de Luz on the Algarve which is a lovely sleepy little place and basically just chilled and relaxed (something I rarely do!) I actually read 3 and a half books and did not go near a computer all week. I did however take loads of pictures - (...well some things cant change) we also went dolphin watching which was great fun, especially the ride out to sea on a very fast rib! We also visited Villamora and Monchique while we were there - all in all a very nice week away.

On my return I was faced with 150 emails to wade through - yesterday I was working with BBC newsreader Nicholas Owen who was interviewing a local Surrey Personality for a magazine - Nick is a great guy and is just as friendly and genuine as he comes across on TV.

Congratulations to my pal, Andras who starts his new job on monday - good luck, and well done to the Running Horse darts team who topped the league and were promoted last week!

We are getting close to the Drama Festival again, this is when I take a deep breath and prepare for a fortnight of late nights and lots of time sitting in a dark auditorium but enjoying some great performances.

Just before I went away I hosted a children's photography workshop at Denbies. Over 50 kids turned up and we had a great time, it was great to see them practising their new skills afterwards and a big thank you to everyone who came along - there are a few pictures available to view by following the link on the home page.

Once again the weekend is upon us and thankfully the weather is picking up....at last, enjoy it while it lasts. who knows, we may even get a summer this year!

2009-04-04T13:34:00.006+01:00

As you will have guessed by the lack of blogging going on this week, it has been a very busy one!

My Surrey life feature on Leatherhead has generated a few nice comments, as has the cover of this months Ashtead and Leatherhead Local which features Bluebells in Norbury Park. I am also doing the cover of the Dorking diary which is edited by Louise Fowkes who used to work here at the theatre. That too is looking promising and I wish her all the very best!

My big disappointment this week was getting my first picture in Hello magazine and them omitting my credit. I have had pictures in the national papers before but not in Hello or OK and so when I finally did get on in it was annoying not to get any credit for it - if anyone cares to have a look it is the one of Shilpa Shetty in her Gymnasium on page 28. It was good seeing it in there nonetheless and I have to thank Max for the opportunity, he has passed me quite a few very interesting jobs over the past couple of years. Talking of Mr Clifford, I was lucky enough to be a guest at Hush in Mayfair on Tuesday night for a 'cash for questions' charity evening with Max and the Rainbow Trust. I lost count of how much wine I drank as they kept topping up the glasses when you were not looking but it was very good and Max himself was very entertaining indeed, they raised about 4,000 on the night which was great news!

On Thursday I attended the Denbies Gatwick Diamond award celebration - it is a great result for the vineyard and I am proud to be associated with them - I went along with Zen George from the local who was very excitedly telling everyone she had recently had installed a streamline visa machine in her bedroom! This of course is because there was no telephone point free in her office you understand and not because she has some sort of sideline going on - got a few laughs around the table all the same. I also went to a reception at 'The Chapel' this week - the very impressive and inspiring home of Phoenix plc who are hiring out office space in their building - one of the most creative I have ever seen. to see more go to http://www.thechapelsurrey.com/

This weekend is a quiet one and I am going away next week after a busy monday and tuesday!

I have been so busy that I have missed a few birthdays this last few weeks and here is my chance to redeem myself - I might add that in most cases I was not told about them till after the event but here goes anyway - firstly my wee friend Shorty who is coming in for a portrait shoot soon and is one of the best posers in surrey!, top RAC man - Mr T, the wonderful Jenny Gabbert who makes the best fruit pies in the world, the awesome Dick Jones and my Mums fella - Duncan Maddox - happy birthday all.

...time to get some editing done - have a great easter and long may the sun shine!

2009-03-28T16:25:00.005Z

Part two of the de fragging my internals fiasco and my pal, Andy Hill is here working on my computer - finally he has managed to sort out one of the major problems and is doing all sorts of weird things to make it run smoother - I have not got the foggiest what he is doing, my limited brain knows very little about the tech stuff other than anything to do with imaging.

I went to a preview at the Holiday Inn in Chessington on Thursday with Chamber president John Hickey. It was to showcase their christmas 'Las Vegas' themed parties and was very good fun. They laid on some amazing food and free drinks and the entertainment was good too. Throughout the evening there were magigians, cartoonists and showgirls wandering around as well as a kookaburra, snake and parrot! As you can see, I had my cartoon done, - not sure about that nose but the ears are about right!

Met up with TonyTijhuis - the manager of the Burford Bridge Hotel, yesterday to talk about Chamber issues and a project I am working on. I have done weddings and such at the hotel in the past and have always liked it there but it has been very nicely refurbished recently and is well worth a visit for lunch or tea, especially as it is in such a lovely location at the foot of box hill.

Tonight I am going to my local to see Thunderclap Newman - my old friend Tony will probably know them....by the way Tony - check out Blue October - especially the album Foiled - you will like it! Hi too to wee Sian, hope you are ok, and Blue up in Scotland - have a good weekend all, ...whats left of it anyway.

secret celeb shoot!!

2009-03-25T15:29:00.002Z

I had a lovely shoot today, the results of which will hopefully end up in a well known national magazine - I will let you know a bit more about it when I get clearance but it was good fun and involved someone very well known!!
Surrey Life came out today, with a nice two page feature on Leatherhead which I am quite proud of! I am having the rest of the day off with my girlfriend who is currently fast asleep on a chair in the corner of the studio - I have not got the heart to wake her though!
anyway off now to get something to eat and make the most of the sun.

2009-03-23T10:05:00.005Z

Monday morning again - the weeks seem to be flying past at the moment - at least spring seems to be on its way. I went for a walk along the river Mole in Norbury Park yesterday and noticed the buds about to spring. Life is so much better when the sun is out too.

Sad to hear about Jade Goody yesterday - it is nice that she has seemed to have been accepted finally by people for who she was - a lot of people did not like her as she was brash and not that well educated but in fact she was very shrewd and straight forward and I believe very genuine. Now people have seen that she was actually very courageous and that the reasons for doing things the way she did were actually largely very selfless - she has raised the awareness of cervical cancer by a huge amount and has caused an increase of smear tests of over 20% which is a hell of an achievement. Lets hope that people do not forget and that lives continue to be saved because of her courage.

I myself had a busy time last week, what started off as a quiet one turned into the opposite and I ended up working quite late most nights to keep up with the editing. I did some work for Which? magazine in Banstead and a couple of local conservative councillors came in for their PR shots, thanks mainly I think to my friends David & Sylvia who have been acting as my Public relations officers lately!! On Friday I was up early (not like me) for the Queen Elizabeth Foundation Corporate Golf day at Tyrrells wood - lucky them, the weather was fantastic and it seemed to be a very successful event, I photographed all of the teams as they teed off - Roger Grunsell from Swan Lettings was there with two teammates in dark shades - he looked like he was flanked by minders in his pic. Well done Dave and team for putting on such a good event and I hope you raised plenty of wonga.

Sadly we have another casualty in Leatherhead shop wise as 'Inside' closed on saturday - they are re locating in Walton on Thames leaving an empty gap at the front of the Swan Centre. Not good! lets hope it is filled soon. I noticed that finally the old Dawson Strange studio in Cobham is going to have tenants again - this time as a restaurant - it will be a strange experience (pun intended) eating in what was my old place of employment. Also I believe Pizza Express are moving back into Cobham soon. However if you really want to eat out the place to be is the Vecchia Trattoria or the Tatty Vicc as we locals like to call it here in Leatherhead - they are experimenting with dancing on odd nights now as well as having a quiz night on a thursday - the food is great and remember you will be supporting a local independent business rather than a big chain so go and see Chris and Susan in there and keep trade local!!

Finally my music tip for the week is Pete Doherty's new album - Grace/Wastelands, which is surprisingly good, not the grungy haphazard stuff you would expect from him but melodic and well written tunes that actually show that he has some talent and it is not all about drugs and Kate Moss, best track is 'Last of the English Roses' - my good friend Tony, will be off to Spotify now to check that one out!

Weekend off!

2009-03-16T09:21:00.004Z

For the first time in absolutely ages I have had the whole weekend off. On Saturday I went fishing with three pals at Bury Hill near Dorking. The weather was good and I expected a day of ribbing as I had very basic tackle - 2 rods (one from argos), no high tec equipment and just lug worms and sweetcorn on a feeder with a bit of groundbait. The others were using state of the art carp rods with specialist baits and all sorts of stuff, they also had alarms telling them when fish were biting wheras I had a snapped twig balanced on the line on one and a clothes peg on the other. Just goes to show though that the basic way often works best as between us we caught seven fish and five of them were caught by me!! What a victory! I have to say I was a little chuffed! Catch of the day was my nice five pound tench (good size for a tench!) .

Yesterday was spent driving round Surrey making the best of the weather for a bit of landscape photography with my girlfriend. Being a keen photographer herself and having a more creative eye than me it was nice to be challenged and also nice to do it for fun rather than money.
We stopped for a coffee in Cafe Rouge in Reigate and took in the Stepping Stones on the Mole, and Newlands Corner near Guildford before heading back to Fetcham for a chicken dinner and a movie.
All in all it was a very chilled weekend and I have arrived in work today feeling much more able to deal with the stresses I normally face on a monday. maybe I should take weekends off more often.

Sad about Jade Goody, much as many people including me feel she is in the middle of a media circus and that it is painful to watch - you have to admire her courage and my heart goes out to her - lets hope that the good she has done in making people aware of the dangers of not having scans continues as her legacy and that she is allowed some peace from the media over the next few days, I know Max is doing his best to keep it as as well managed as possible.

Lets hope the weather continues like it is, it is very sunny today and about time too - I think we have all had just about enough of the bad weather for one year - heres to a tropical summer!!
time for a visit to Costa me thinks!!

Eyebrow raising in Leatherhead and Bods in Bookham

2009-03-13T14:09:00.005Z

What a week it has been! Since my last blog I have not stopped. On Saturday evening I went to The Touraid Dinner and Dance which was a charity event to raise money for kids to come over from other countries and build relationships over here using Rugby as the catalyst. (http://www.touraid.org/) Max and Jo were there as were many members of the Harlequins Rugby Club and the auctioneer was John Inverdale. Pics are on my site and a big thank you to Carine and her family who bid for one of my home sittings and raised £500 for the charity.

On Monday I was in London covering a Women's enterprise task force event for Seeda at Canada House in Trafalgar square. and on tuesday, amongst other things I was at The Children's Trust in Tadworth with Louis Mariette and Gladiator, Trojan whio were there producing a promotional film for the London Marathon. We had a great time with the kids who were an inspiration. As always when working with children who are sick or injured, it amazes me how brave they are - they do not moan and winge like we adults often do, they just get on with it.

Tuesday night was an informal networking meeting for the Chamber of Commerce and I have to say that it was the food that stole the show - the evening was a big success with lots of networking going on in a very relaxed and friendly manner but Mary and Keith at the Running Horse did us proud with a magnificent spread. Thank you for a huge effort which was well appreciated by all. The evening continued afterwards with a couple of drinks and an impromptu performance of how not to walk in a straight line by Rocket Ron!

Last night was a little bit different than I am used to. I was booked about a year and a half ago to do a presentation for Bookham Camera Club and it has come around a lot quicker than I expected. Needless to say I have spent a large part of the last week collating images and preparing a powerpoint. I arrived at the venue in Bookham early and I was very nervous - I do not normally suffer from nerves when having to speak but I usually have a camera to hide behind and also this was a 2 hour long presentation to people who were pretty knowledgeable about my field so it was a daunting task. I need not have fretted though, they were a very friendly bunch and I found myself enjoying it, nobody fell asleep or tried to escape and I feel quite honoured to have been invited. I am looking forward to seeing one of their exhibitions soon and maybe doing more of these types of things in the future. It has been good practise for the upcoming Denbies events too. Thanks for having me along guys and thanks too for your donation to Rainbow Trust.

Finally for now, I have to share a little video with you. You will have no doubt seen the great dairy milk advert set in a photographers studio where the two kids wiggle their eyebrows to music - well two pals of mine - Andy and Andras decided to try and replicate it down the pub last week. here is the result -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zW0NZdHVeY .......enjoy!

Defragging my internals!!

2009-03-07T13:58:00.002Z

Recently my Pc's have been working very slowly and I have been getting more and more frustrated with the lack of speed, so my friend Andy Hill - local computer genius came in this lunch time to have a wee looksee. Hm, apparantly defragging your pc is quite a basic but necessary task...not something I have done for a while, and this seems to be what is causing the hold ups. I have to say I did feel a little ignorant watching him at work, I have been left instructions to de fragg my externals as well - sounds painful! Andy also managed to speed up my photoshops performance which will save me no end of time.
Thanks Andy for doing that for me - you are a top banana!
I have a bit of a fuggy head this morning - I had a few beers with Dick Jones and Andy last night and am suffering a bit today - why cant they invent beer that does not give you a hangover?
happy saturday!

2009-03-06T19:12:00.002Z

Its the weekend already - seems like this week has flown. Highlights had to be seussical the musical, it was so good that I went to see it again without the camera! It seems to have been a huge success and very good for the theatre too. Ex Chelsea manager Scolari was spotted attending one of the performances as were one or two other bods!

I launched a new Leatherhead image gallery as part of this site today too. There are over 300 images so far in it which will be useful for people wanting stuff for media etc. When you watch it in slideshow form it dont half look like a nice town, I think we are so lucky to live here - I can appreciate it especially after living in some right dumps in the past.

Been addicted to the Scripts recent album this week, I got hold of that and the U2 album and although the U2 one was good, I found myself listening to the Script more. My reccommendation for this week though is to go and see the film Gran Torino featuring Clint Eastwood - absolutely brilliant film with a great soundtrack from Jamie Cullum too. Another of my fave albums at the moment is the soundtrack to the film Once - not a bad film but the soundtrack is what makes it - anyone who was into the Commitments will love it as it features one of the cast and is set in Dublin.

Today I had a steroid injection in my hand to treat a trunkated tendon, hurt like hell and is quite swollen now - think I will be heading off to the pub shortly for some comfort juice. Have a great weekend all and happy birthday Nic at Rainbow Trust who is 40!!! not far off that myself - another 4 months is all - cripes!

My God its sunny!!

2009-03-02T12:49:00.003Z

There is a definate spring feel today - the sky is blue and apart from the fact I am knackered from working till 2am this morning I am in a reasonably upbeat mood!
Yesterday I was at the American Community School in Cobham photographing the rehearsals of Seussical the musical which they are performing at the Leatherhead Theatre this week. I have to say the whole performance was superb and anyone going to see it this week is in for a treat.
Good luck to everyone involved...costumes are excellent too by the way...well done Marit!

I went fishing at the weekend with my good friend Andras, it was the frst time this year and it was great to get some fresh air and relax for a while. Sadly I did not catch anything this time but I spent most of the time watching about 6 herons arguing/nestbuilding/mating/fighting etc - it was fascinating. I also did not realise how loud woodpeckers were, one was hammering away above my head making some din. That's probably what scared the fish off!

This week is a particularly busy one for me with a couple of interesting jobs in the pipeline, hopefully the weather will stay good! Tonight is a reception at Pennyhill Park with Martin Johnson, which should be fun.
I have to say a big get well soon to my little friend Sian Tolfree who is not well again. Sian was supposed to attend a charity quiz night last night to present a cheque but was too unwell to go, I hope you are feeling better today Shorty!
I suppose I had better get some work done eh!

Focus n stuff

2009-02-26T13:56:00.003Z

Have been flat out doing some work for DNA art again, complicated stuff but great results. Finally, I have managed to grab five mins to chill and blog over a chicken soup and a can of coke zero. I have a bit of man flu going on so I am feeling a wee bit sorry for myself. It has been a funny week, very little paying work but lots of 'stuff'.

It was the annual pilgrimage to Birmingham for the Focus trade show sans the night out and stop over. After a lot of badly organised faffing about, five photographers crammed into Andy Gordon's vauxhaull thingy and headed north. Bit of a quick zip about this year although I did not see much that was new and it seemed quieter than previous years - Was good to see a few familair faces though, Hayley & Will, Simon Winson, the crowd from phototopix, Kevin Wilson, the legendary John Henshall and my good friend Tony Eatough who never seems to age - he dresses like an art student and listens to stuff like Kings of Leon (who are my top music tip for the week - fantastic latest album by the way) I did manage to pick up a couple of little essentials but was tempted away from the big things - much as I fancied the newish D700 - maybe next year! The drive home was quite sober really - in more ways than one - we all felt that we should have stayed and hit broad street for a testosterone filled night of beer and tapas!

Got a great full page feature on the Chamber of Commerce in this weeks Surrey Ad - out tomorrow, its in the business section and is a really positive piece about leatherhead, great in the current climate. OK, back to work on more dna profiles, ttfn. Oh and happy birthday to my Nan and Cousin Andi. xx

Get well Blue

2009-02-23T20:10:00.002Z

Hey up again, just a quickie to say get well to Blue - and I publicly want to tell her to look after herself and take things easy! De as ah say no as ah de! (thats scottish bye the way!)

Just bumped into the great Steve O'Keefe who used to share an office here with me and is the S of S&P Photos when it was originally formed. After a brief chat which was cut short by me having to make Sainsburys before it closed, he informed me that with the credit crunch his business is right down to the floor (his exact words) - fact is it always has been - he runs a carpet cleaning business!!! I thought that was funny - hope it picks up as well as a dyson steve old boy!

Just got a copy of the latest Ashtead and Leatherhead Local - Well chuffed with the cover this month, ok, so it is a snow scene but we do not get them very often and it was such a nice shot, it had to happen. I am very proud of my association with the local and my good friend Zen who works very hard to keep it running at one a month. It is a great magazine and has become a bit of a shop window for me - there are even other photographers trying to jump in and compete with me which in a way is a compliment. sounds well arrogant and I dont mean it to be but I like my place with the mag and get lots of nice comments about the covers so I am not going to give up without a fight!

That Monday feeling!

2009-02-23T10:22:00.003Z

For once I have had quite a relaxing weekend but now I have got the monday morning blues. The sky is white and dull outside and the high street is pretty deserted. Oh for some blue skies and sunshine - I cannot wait till the weather picks up and the trees have leaves on them - I despise this time of year.
Its Focus week again, which means hundreds of photographers will be making the annual pilgrimage to Birmingham to look at all the toys they cannot afford. I am undecided whether I will go or not - normally there is a little squad of us, made up of Mark Lewis, Andy 'Half Pint' Gordon, Leo Wilkinson and Martin, Mark's colleague (I had better not say assistant or he will boot me out of the car half way up the M40). This year due to the credit crunch we will not be doing the customary stop over on Broad street followed by a very hungover Focus shuffle the next day! More's the pity. I think I will probably just venture up for the day and see what is new. Andy is going for his MPA liceniateship while he is there so good luck and er....about time!
Hopefully I have minimised the typos this time (was picked up on this by my girlfriend's sister Kristin yesterday, it is somewhat embarrassing having my language shortfallings pointed out by a Norwegian!) Hm, Starbucks beckons, I need a caramel latte to wake me up somewhat.

All that Jazz

2009-02-19T17:20:00.004Z

It is Thursday evening and I am wading through lots of editing jobs, catching up after a complex commercial project that took up most of the early part of the week but was successful in its conclusion. For once I have some jazz playing in the background which is making me feel quite chilled - Stan Getz, for those of you who are educated in such matters.Normally I have a bit of Springsteen or Coldplay on, or of course Deacon Blue who are one of my favourites but lately I have been in favour of less vocal music to enable me to concentrate.
Our local Rev - David Eaton was in this morning for some PR images - David has just informed me that he is retiring which is a shame for Leatherhead as he has always taken a big interest in the town and is a lovely chap - Enjoy your retirement David and don't forget us here in Leatherhead.
Yesterday I went to the sussex coast for a walk on the beach with my girlfriend and her dog Alfie who is a tiny yorkshire terrier that gets attention everywhere he goes - cute is not the word, he was accosted in a car park by loads of kids who thought he was adorable - he lapped up the attention! It was good to finally get a day off after a long period of late night working and stress, trying to keep up with the credit crunch. Big Eh up to Steve (Mello) up in Leek, Andy Park and Blue White whose name sounds even more like a washing powder than mine!

FLAT OUT

2009-02-13T14:57:00.002Z

I guess it has been a few days since I last blogged - that is largely due to pressure of work, editing, meeting mag deadlines and the like.
I went, along with 45 or so Chamber of Commerce members to the new Unilever building on Tuesday, who kindly hosted a breakfast for us - what an amazing place and a great environment to work in - they have a gym, bar and a really modern attitude to working - very refreshing!
I did photograph the beatles the other day - or at least 4 people that were dressed up like them as they were on the cover of the Seargent Pepper album - all in aid of the Children's Trust in Tadworth - they were the promo shots for their Marathon Attempt which was being undertaken by representitives from Allied Dunbar, Lloyd Scott, who was the guy in the deep sea divers outfit at last years marathon and GMTV presenter, Priya Kaur Jones. It was a very fun and colourful shoot - and the submarine they will be carrying was fantastic - heavy but very well created!
I suppose I had better get back down to the grindstone. Mohammed was not able to go to the singapore mountain (or Hill) but the mountain is coming back to me tomorrow so I am a happy camper - that is the great thing about Blogs - you can put a load of stuff in that some people will understand because they know the score and others will be totally baffled by! back to work, lots to do........

Happy Saturday!

2009-02-07T17:32:00.002Z

Last night I was the photographer at the youth showcase awards at the Dorking Halls. It was great to see enthusiastic and talented kids being recognised for their efforts and it was a very well organised and enjoyable evening - well done all those who were nominated and won awards.
Loads on at the moment - not so much in the studio but Chamber of commerce wise, planning for the future of my business and reworking the website. Thanks to Blue for your comments - it is a shame I had to manage on my own again, credit crunch and all that and yes there have been times when I could have used a skilled editor - people are always asking after you down here! Have you got your charity promo sorted yet Mrs?
Wish I was somewhere hot and sunny just now - this cold weather is depressing - somewhere like Singapore maybe - I have been told it is the place to be right now - there is a very beautiful hill right by the sea that I would like to relax by.........
anyway, I am waffling now, better get on with some work, happy birthday's to Knut Huse and my old pal Random Ed by the way.

BUSY ONE!

2009-02-05T16:18:00.002Z

Yep, twas all go today, some prospectus shots this morning then a meeting with my good friend Frank Scolaro who creates art from peoples DNA, really good stuff it is too, the art , not the DNA although that is pretty amazing stuff I suppose too. A couple of sittings and lots of emails and Chamber of Commerce stuff. The weather has been pretty naff today, the snow is melting, its cold, foggy and dank! roll on summer eh?

Had my first comment on this blog - from Tony Eatough who has given me a lot of support over the years - thoroughly nice chap and a good friend, thanks Tony and congrats on being the first to respond - you may of course be the only! Not sure if anyone is reading this yet but hello if you are.

Locked myself out of my house yesterday when the key snapped in the lock, not ideal, especially in this weather, at least my car is back on the road after I dug it out of a snow drift!
all in all its been an unusual week!

LONG DAY!

2009-02-04T18:54:00.003Z

Yep, been a long day today - ready to go home and chill! The snow is melting which is good as I have some driving to do tomorrow ....someone built an igloo in the car park behind the high street - quite good it was too - had to take a pic of course - well spotted Hilde!
Spoke to a very good friend of mine today who was on a bit of a downer - he knows who he is if he is reading this - chin up old boy and if you need a shoulder - I will try my best not to knock you off with my humungus ears!

Hopefully soon I will catch up with everything - I so need an assistant sometimes.
au revoir!

White out!!

2009-02-02T15:31:00.003Z

So the world has come to a stop, or at least Leatherhead has - most of the shops are shut and everyone seems to have taken the day off. What a fantastic sight though! I have never seen so many people out walking their dogs and dragging their kids along on sledges - everyone seems to be enjoying the novelty of it all.
I am sure that novelty will wear off after a few days of no public transport and taffic jams! Meanwhile enjoy!!

Quiet Time

2009-01-31T19:49:00.002Z

....it is saturday night and I am waiting for loads of images to upload to the web so while I have a min or two I am doing a spot of blogging. Its very quiet here - having just listened to Springsteen's new album for about the sixth time today (very good it is too!) I am in peaceful mode. Everyone else is probably at the pub - who works on a saturday night? sadly I do all too often as it is a time I can get things done with little disturbance. Did a couple of nice shoots today - two very nice families, all of which seemed to enjoy the shoot and did lots of smiling.

Nearly done for tonight - little bit more editing and I will be off wom (that means home if you are from staffordshire!)
....sunday tomorrow and time out - bacon & eggs, sunday papers and much relaxing - absolutely no cameras or computers!

2009-01-31T12:10:00.001Z

As I sit here trying to figure out a complicated series of photoshop actions for a commercial client, my ears are being bombarded by the sound of bagpipes right outside my window. Now I am very partial to the bagpipes and having lived in Scotia for several years am fond of all things Scottish but after a whole hour of 'Scotland the Brave', 'Flower of Scotland' and the like I am starting to despair - beautiful as the music is - it ain't half hard to concentrate. I am waiting now for Jean from Louis Q's sandwich bar to come out and start dancing.....

I have two sittings today and lots of editing - the sun is shining and it is deadline day for the tax man (I don't like him - one iota) I wonder how many small businesses are now feeling the strain after paying out their hard earned cash from last year when things were not too bad in a current crisis where every penny counts. I am lucky that I have no staff to support - thanks to my loyal clients I still have a bit of work coming in but it is getting really difficult to keep the wolf from the door now - I guess it is all about survival now eh!

Happy Saturday!!

Welcome

2009-01-30T17:57:00.000Z

Welcome to my new blog - here I will be ranting when I am having a bad day or just jotting down what I have been getting up to. I apologise now if I bore the pants off you but I will do my best not to.
Well I am in the middle of editing a shoot and have been distracted by setting this up so I had better get this sorted so I can carry on.
Hm, not sure whether I will get used to this but we will see - if it disappears pretty sharpish you will know that it is doing me head in.
have a good weekend.