Merry Christmas!

Hi Everyone

Fallen Tree Stockgrove Park

It's Christmas Eve and I just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas!.

I've had a couple of days off already and took the opportunity to take my Hasselblad 500C out for a walk with my Son Harry at Stockgrove Park. I used Ilford HP5 Plus film which is rated at 400 ASA but can be pushed to 800 ASA if the light is poor.

I'll be shooting my Polaroid SLR 680 over the break too along with all my other film cameras. It's great to give the digital kit a break and have fun with film. I develop the film myself but I don't print as I don't have a darkroom. Instead I photograph the negatives with my Fuji XT-1 and 60mm Macro on a lightbox. This is much quicker than using a flatbed scanner and I think the quality is just as good.

I've got a busy January with the first commercial shoot in Manchester on 3rd and I think next year is going to be a busy one. I've also got an expedition to India to photograph in April which I am really looking forward to.

If you know anyone who has been given a digital camera for Christmas and who might like to learn the basics of photography then please let them know that my first workshop of 2018 is booked for Tuesday March 6th. It's a full day at the lovely De Vere Horwood Estate in Buckinghamshire and is great value at £95 inc breakfast and a full three course lunch. We'll cover all the basics of shutter speed and aperture and get everyone using their cameras in manual mode. This enables people to understand how their cameras work and helps them to get the most out of them. You can book online here - https://www.facebook.com/events/144948706161867/

Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!.

Photography Workshop, Singing for Syria and Winslow Livestock Market

https://www.facebook.com/HandsUpFoundation/videos/1959626130978344/I ran my first photography workshop last week with a very keen and friendly group of aspiring photographers. I'll be running these regularly from next March and the first workshop is all based around teaching people to use their digital cameras in full manual mode. We run through all the basics of photography from ISO, aperture and shutter speed to white balance and composition.

I started my career 30 years ago working with manual film cameras and I still believe that learning these basics was a great starting point for me and I'm always happy to pass on this knowledge to people who are keen to learn how to work their DSLR without relying on the auto modes.

Getting ready for the judging

During the workshop I took a few snaps with my Pentax 67 medium format film camera and developed the film that evening. I'm still a big lover of film and developing you own is very easy and doesn't cost much at all!.

Winslow Livestock Market

On Monday I photographed the local livestock market in Winslow which I do every year and I give the pictures to the Winslow Facebook group and also to The Bell Hotel who sponsor the event. It's great to see the town so busy and vibrant. I took some shots this year with the Hasselblad and black and white film but most of them I took with my Fuji XT-1 with the superb Fuji 35mm f1.4 lens and also some with an old Canon fd 50mm lens adapted to my fuji.

We had a great time last Friday where the team and I filmed a flashmob at Marylebone Station for the Hands Up Foundation and Singing for Syria. We made the film for free as we thought it was a great cause and the film has been shared online thousands of times already. Here's the link to the film on Facebook :-
https://www.facebook.com/HandsUpFoundation/videos/1959626130978344/
It's always good to help out good causes and to put something back!.