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........

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

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!

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!

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

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!!

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

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

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!

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!!