Merry Christmas all

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!

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.......

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

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!

Quick Blog!

....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!!

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!

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.

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!

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!!