Mountain Biking and Running Stock Photography in North Wales. November 14th, 2011
Time to shoot a little stock photography for Cultura and I’d got just the spot for it. I’ve waited a long time to shoot at this particular location with the right conditions but ever year something wasn’t right, mostly weather and diary. So with renewed determination for the autumn I kept an eye on the Met Office website with my fingers crossed. Eventually I saw a possible break in the weather coming up. I asked Kevin Harris to come up and model, and after two days sitting out rain and fog we decided to chance it and drive to Wales. By 2.30 in the afternoon we where there and the light was just incredible. After a quick look around we got to work and shot for two and a half hours and I couldn’t have be happier, I’d taken the Rangers with me just in case, but it turned out that we hardly used them, as the large flash in the sky was doing a fine job.
Somnio Advert. November 30th, 2009
Having seen the images that I shot for Profeet, the training shoe company Somnio decided that they wanted to use one for an advert, and here you have it, they are a revolutionary new design and they have this to say about it;
“Somnio is founded on the principle that running shoes should adapt to the individual runner and improve biomechanics. Every runner is different, and we believe that every pair of running shoes should be different too. Somnio needed an image to stand out for their advert in Running Fitness Magazine.”
Somnio Running are in stores nationwide, visit, www.somniorunning.co.uk for info.
Rain Rain Go Away. November 30th, 2009
What a crazy couple of months that’s been, it’s just flown past. I had made a few plans to shoot stock at some point, but they had to be shelved. October was spent mostly in the office or down in London, it’s a busy time of year with the Ski Show right in the middle of the month, I also had a wedding shoot from September to deliver and I had to edit 3 private shoots for Getty Images.
With October out of the way I started getting ready for a Mountain Warehouse shoot.
The brief was hiking & biking in the rolling hills of England, big landscapes, silhouettes and good fun. So we headed to the South Downs to try our luck, unfortunately our luck ran out, as did a Stella autumn that hadn’t seen any rain for nearly two months. Mother nature decided to make up for lost time with record rain falls and floods all over the South East, 100 mph winds in the Isle of Wight and “the storm of 20 years” ending a trying week. I will never again shoot on West Wittering beach either, not a very pleasant or friendly location!
So we rescheduled and moved to Shropshire to continue, I love shooting there, it’s like having our own private little Lake District, but without the lakes! Again we had some pretty mixed weather, but we did manage to shoot some nice images on and around the Long Mynd, Stipperstones and Carding Mill Valley.
The week I had in between the two shoots I managed to get a Getty Images submission out of the door and upload some fresh work to my Getty Assignment portfolio, and manage a trip to Scotland.
Busy, Busy, Busy!
Profeet. September 22nd, 2009
Profeet are opening a new concept store on the Fulham road, and it was up to me to furnish it with inspirational images. So they packed their staff into a minibus and picked me up on the way through to a jaunt around North Wales.We stayed at Betws y Coed in the heart of Snowdonia national park and spent a few days shooting running, hiking and biking around the hills and lakes with their crazy crew. We had a great time with a BBQ/bonfire in the hills one night and a quick visit to the Long Mynd in the Shropshire hills on the way back to London. We also shot a few pictures down in the smoke to mix it up a little. All in all it was a great shoot and everyone was pleased with the results. Many thanks to Shula and Hamish and all of the staff who helped to make this work out.
Water Water. July 30th, 2009
During the winter months I try and make loose plan’s for the summer months shoots, I create “wish lists” for images and locations, sometimes the ideas come to fruition, sometimes they get shelved for another year. I try and figure out the most cost effective way of getting the shots on my list, my philosophy being that you can sometimes find the exotic right on your door step. Here in the UK we are blessed with an exceptionally varied landscape to work with, but the weather can often let you down. So if the UK fails to deliver, then Europe is a pretty cost effective option, the Mediterranean is a top spot to work, and your chances of blue sky are much higher. Start crossing the Atlantic or Pacific and the price really starts to rocket.
With this in mind I hit North Cornwall to try and shoot some kite boarding with my friend Adam who has a cracking spot right by the beach. So I dusted off the old Ewa Marine water proof housing and cruised down the M5 a couple of times during July to try my luck. It’s a fairly frustrating business shooting sports that rely on the wind/weather and tide to be right, all at the same time, so patience is essential, I don’t get too stressed about any lack of progress, I just go fishing instead!
“All good things come to those who wait” and, as usual, it all came good in the end and I crawled out of the sea with a few shots to work with and a belly full of sea water, as they say in Cornwall …Proper Job!
Canon advert. June 2nd, 2009
Back in August 2008 I was in the alps shooting some mountain biking stock for Cultura. It seems that Canon liked these pictures too, they have used one for their web advert for the new iP4600 printer. Happy days 
Duffers’ fortnight. May 30th, 2009
The Mayfly hatch was a little early this year in Shropshire and the weather was a bit unpredictable, never the less, I went out and had a cast during duffers’ fortnight. So called by my fishing mate Graham, because the trout gorge themselves on Mayfly with such gusto that even an idiot like me could catch one. We went on the Wye and Usk Foundation water somewhere out in the middle of nowhere and had a really nice couple of days fishing, catching wild Brown trout….. small but wily. This wasn’t a photoshoot, but I did pack a camera. There’s always the chance of a crafty stock shot at some point.
Wind power. May 15th, 2009
Summertime is here…at last, so I took advantage of some early blue sky and headed to a huge wind farm to shoot some stock for Cultura. I was aiming at shooting some pictures that involve wind turbines as well as some action of some description, so I plumbed for running and cycling as they are both quite ecologically friendly sports. I used the flashes for this shoot but it was pretty hard just to keep them upright, they put wind farms where they are for good reason! We ended up weighing down the tripods with bikes and camera bags and by the end of the shoot we where thoroughly shot blasted. It is a very erie place to spend any time, the noise of those big blades swinging round is constantly ringing in your ears.
Shropshire biking. February 15th, 2009
February in the French alps can be hell, the French spread their national holidays across the whole month, couple that with UK half term and it means very busy mountains, so I decided to keep away and shoot some pictures closer to home instead.So I ventured into the Shropshire hills to shoot some mountain biking pictures for Cultura. We chose the Long Mynd as a setting, it’s a great spot, it’s almost like having your own private lake district, just without the lakes. I do a lot of riding there to keep in shape, so I went to try and capture images suggesting “mates going for a ride”. I choose to use the Elinchroms again shooting at sunset over a few days, very cold but great light.
Road trip. January 25th, 2009
The French alps had had a huge amount of snow over Christmas so I decided to get myself out there and shoot a good batch of stock for Cultura Images. I picked up Ben Benson, a good friend who is also an incredible skier and headed south to the mountains. Our first stop was Hotel Le Chamois in Alpe d’Huez. This is a groovy little hotel run by some friends of mine, it has a great atmosphere, great food and a cool bar, an excellent spot to work from. So we shot pictures in the old town and then up in the mountains, shooting ski lifestyle and action, giving the Elinchroms a good workout in the freezing cold. We had great weather and great apres ski, which sometimes merged into an evening out. It’s a hard place to leave, but I had to try and keep to my plan, which I have to admit was fairly flimsey.
We said our goodbyes and headed off to Serre Chevalier. I hadn’t been there for nearly ten years and I’d forgotten how huge it was. I did a ski season there in 1993, so I met up with old friends and worked a few days on the hill shooting action, the light was superb and so was the snow, we got some great images. I must get back there again, maybe this summer, if not, definitely next winter. Back in car again and off to Morzine where we met up with Catherine Peck and professional model who was doing a ski season there. We spent a couple of days shooting lifestyle, but unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worst and our plans for action pictures where finished. We’d had a great trip but, as always when your travelling, money gets eaten everyday, so I decided we had done enough and headed back to the UK and home, all in all a very successful trip.
Many, many thanks to Gareth, Catherine and Adam at the Hotel Le Chamois for their help and hospitality. To Mike Truelove for nearly killing us and to Lara, Howie and Sally for the breakfast, guiding and Tartiflet. Also a big thank you to Ben Benson for all of the hiking and amazing back flips and Catherine Peck for all of the help in Morzine.
