A fun day at the office!

I had a lot of fun photographing this great team on a full day’s shoot at this well-established architectural firm in the city of Nottingham. The directors wanted images for the new website, articles, publications and social media.

Having shot numerous buildings for the practice over a few years now, it was great to finally get to meet the whole team, and to put faces to names. The office is based in an old building that has been beautifully converted over 3 floors into a modern and light contemporary space.

There is a wonderful roof terrace with tables and benches for staff to have lunch or simply take a break with views of rooftops and the city.

I’m so looking forward to photographing future projects for this team in the coming months!          

Headshots for a newly qualified nutritionist

Janet has just qualified to become a full-time nutritional therapist and is in the process of setting up her business. She needed bright, natural and authentic images reflecting who she is for her new website and social media. We met pre-shoot to discuss the sort of images she needed and on the day of the shoot collaborated to set up the shots and bring her vision to life. We had a large kitchen to work in with plenty of natural light flooding in which help to make the fresh fruit and vegetables we were using look appetising and pop with colour.

WellSpring Church in Wirksworth Derbyshire

A corker of a job in the lovely market town of Wirksworth in the Derbyshire Dales. I was lucky to find myself there on a beautiful summer’s day and had help moving bits of furniture from the different rooms I was shooting from three very helpful members of the congregation who had volunteered to help me.

 This build is a wonderful example of how to add a contemporary new extension (and modifications to an existing structure) to what was originally a Methodist church built in 1886. The extension houses a new community kitchen and dining area along with new stairs connecting the kitchen to the rest of the church.

 The structure is filled with natural light thanks to the installation of the large windows on one side and the high ceiling over the kitchen area gives a sense of grandeur to the space. Likewise, the dining area is light and open with plenty of space for people to mingle and chat over some food and drink.  

The modifications are in the large community room where children’s and other activities take place during the week and the spacious prayer room in the old church which is so well linked by the main staircase to the new community kitchen beneath it.   

Sobraon Barracks Lincoln - exterior

The exterior shots of the building which is matt black in colour and looking amazing against all the greenery in the daylight.  Again, I showed as many different perspectives as I could, to give a sense of the scale of the build and how the structure presents in its immediate surroundings.     

Sobraon Barracks in Lincoln

My first visit to an army barracks! I really didn’t know what to expect but was very quickly put at ease by a very friendly, soon to retire gentleman, with a classic handlebar moustache and cheeky grin with sparkly blue eyes. He’s such a character and had so many stories to tell about the long list of tours he had undertaken, I could have listened to him all day!

 However, there was work to do, so after my cup of coffee and chat I got to work on this new build which the architects responsible for this new structure had commissioned me to photograph. There were three parts to this shoot and I’m starting with the gym.

 These images are of a large, light filled, spacious and well-equipped gym where cadets, reserves and staff members would be using the excellent facilities. The architects requested I photograph the gym with people in it for some shots but sadly that wasn’t possible as the new facility was still waiting for the fire safety certificates to be issued so the gym wasn’t yet officially in use.

 It’s always a challenge to work in mixed lighting situations and tricky to not accidentally photograph myself in the long mirrored walls but I’ve enough experience and practice now to make sure my reflection is clear of all shots.

W Creative Beauty Salon

I had the pleasure of photographing this new beauty salon in Nottingham recently. I loved the colour palette used in the main area downstairs from reception all the way to hairdressing in the back of this substantial space. Upstairs, where the treatment rooms are located has a different feel entirely, with a clean monochrome look but the two areas do work well together.

There’s lots of natural light coming into the building so it makes for a welcoming and airy salon to spend time in. I love the cinema seats in the reception area below those inspiring words and the pink neon on the brick wall behind the coffee bar. Not to mention the excellent playlist that I was listening to while I worked. Clearly someone has great taste in music!

Headshots for a dream client

When I arrived at the house and Manju told me she had prepared a playlist for our shoot (what a brilliant idea!) I knew we were going to make some great images together. Manju introduced me to some new music (which I’m keen to add to my library!) and we had a fun and relaxed time. It’s always great to work with someone who has a natural warm smile and is full of joy. It’s wonderful to watch someone really enjoy a shoot and collaborate with me to achieve the most authentic representation of who they are as a person. We're both really happy with the results and here are some of my favourite images from the day.

Photographing for Middlesex University Mauritius

After a twenty one year absence I finally decided to visit Mauritius and I was very excited to be commissioned by the university to spend an entire day photographing for them. Different subjects were outlined in their detailed and comprehensive brief which I was happy to complete. I met and photographed a range of staff and students on campus who were all lovely to work with and very accommodating. The campus is near one of the most popular beaches on the west coast of the island and I was very pleased that the day was a little overcast at times, so I could get some respite from the warmer temperatures I would normally be experiencing, which made the job a little easier. Lots of beautiful light to work with and I couldn’t help thinking what a wonderful place it is to study. These images are ones I shot of the library and I will share other images from the shoot in future posts.

Nottinghamshire Hospice

A little trip down memory lane here but a year ago the lovely people at Nottinghamshire Hospice got in touch to explain they had great news about some free promotional space which they would need images for. Nottingham City Buses had offered the hospice free advertising on the back of one of their buses and so I was asked to produce a range of images which meant working all over the site to cover the different services they offer, the staff that work there and the wonderful grounds the hospice is surrounded by. The building is a day centre and offers numerous services to people including a range of therapies, treatments, refreshments and a freshly prepared hot meal at lunchtime. 

Fortunately, I had a warm and slightly overcast day which meant there were no harsh shadows to contend with when photographing the grounds and people sitting on the benches relaxing and talking. In the end the main image chosen does, I feel, reflect exactly what the hospice is about and that is people. People and the quality of life they can enjoy for the days, weeks or months they have left. Nottinghamshire Hospice is a wonderful charity doing really important work to help people in the community.  if you would like to know more then here is the link to take you directly to their website: www.nottshospice.org 

International Women's Day - BBC Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Police

BBC Radio Nottingham invited firearms officer, Angie Cochrane, one of only 4 female firearms officers in a team of 52 from Nottinghamshire Police to discuss her career to date. She talked about her most memorable 999 call, her pet hens and what it's like being a woman in a male dominated environment.  I was asked to nip over to the BBC building to photograph Angie and Verity once they had finished the interview and managed to get this image of the two of them in the recording studio. The interview wasn't broadcast live but was part of a series of programmes being aired weekly over Women's history month of Verity speaking to different women about their careers. I have often passed the BBC Radio Nottingham building and wondered what it would look like inside so was very excited to finally be walking through the doors! I obviously didn't have much time to grab my shots, as both Angie and Verity had to get back to work but managed to get this shot, straight after the interview.   

Victoria Tretis from My VA Rocks

Victoria and i had a very enjoyable morning walking around West Bridgford to find outdoor places where we could shoot her headshots. Always wonderful to work with someone who is so cheerful, positive and up for trying all sorts of places to see what works best. Victoria was a little nervous at the beginning as she hates being the centre of attention but we talked a lot and shared funny stories and she soon started to relax. 

Charmaine Roche, Lifeflowbalance Coaching and Consulting Ltd

Charmaine has worked in the education sector for over 20 years initially as a teacher and now as a coach in education establishments working alongside staff. She specialises in coaching consultancy related to promoting organisational change, resilience, leadership development and well-being. As an executive Coach she works with teams individuals and groups. It was a delight to work with Charmaine as she was calm and easy to work with. Charmaine had requested a variety of images of her running a workshop at The University of Nottingham and also headshots which she could use on social media, publications and websites.      

Nottingham's newest aquatics centre opens in Arnold

The owner of this new aquatics centre has already built a very successful online business selling fish and other pet foods. He now, however, has decided to take the next step and open what he hopes will be the first of a number of outlets in Nottingham and potentially across the UK. It was a pleasure working with him and his team in the new shop and already there were plans to purchase additional tanks for the tropical and marine fish room so it will be interesting to see what other ideas they have to utilise all the space this premises has to offer.   

Working with a Website Design Business

This business has some extremely talented individuals working there and don't take my word for it go to their website and see examples of their work for yourself at www.h22solutions.com Happily not only are they talented  but also great guys to work with and I enjoyed photographing them in their office and meeting room as they discussed their next project. I am sure there will be additional members of the team in the near future and I look forward to seeing the business develop and grow. 

Corporate Images for Online Marketing Business

I was commissioned by the MD of this business, specialists in online marketing, to shoot images for their website. Yet another East Midlands business seeing significant growth and quickly out growing their premises. It was a pleasure to work with a such a friendly and happy team and i look forward to working with them more on future projects. If you’re in need of specialist help with paid per click advertising then this is a great company to talk to and this is their website: www.keyprinciples.co.uk

Networking events at the Nottingham Playhouse

I was commissioned by a marketing company to photograph a series of their monthly networking meetings at Nottingham Playhouse over the course of five months. I had been attending these events to meet potential clients before being commissioned so I knew the drill. I really enjoyed being there as a photographer and photographing for the two hours. The Playhouse can throw up some interesting lighting issues in different parts of the space the meeting, networking and presentations took place but it's all in a day's work and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.