“Malaysia, truly Asia” – The jingle on the TV ad, plane intro’s and travel programmes that I’ve been hearing for years and years really did come true last week – and not only for all the good reasons they intended… I’m sat writing this blog beneath bright blue skies and a fresh breeze in Bali – and with all of that above me, it’s too easy to forget the horrendous conditions I left behind in Kuala Lumpur last […]
That’s not a sunset! That’s in black and white! …would be what I’d normally think about the shot above. I mean, why shoot at that time of day if you’re going to remove all that colour? And it really was fantastic colour – for two nights, I’d stood in the same little cliff-alcove and watched as the sun set off to the right of this amazing formation – “Pulpit Rock”. For sure, we’d been lucky […]
“Welcome to W Doha, we saw you had a good flight” – was my welcome as I entered this amazing hotel. Granted, W Hotels are unique in the way they really take time to get to know their guests, but I was still surprised. “Oh, we saw your instagram post”, was the response when I looked back at him slightly puzzled. Ahhhh, I get it… Entering in to the lobby (or “Living Room” in W speak), you’re […]
Of course, witnessing that sunset was a special moment in itself – but being up here on the rooftop of the Jin Mao Tower, the home of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai, was especially significant for me. Soon, I would be leaving Shanghai – a place I’ve called home for 3 years now – and this was a return to the very first building I’d ever visited in Asia. Stood up on the roof with my […]
Tokyo – what a truly amazing place. Full of modern innovation, side by side with centuries of culture and history. It’s one of my favourite cities in the world, and despite visiting a few times (I’ve climbed Mount Fuji twice now!) – it was another tick off the list to head back there and capture an iconic image of the skyline before I leave Asia for a while. The standard stereotypes can actually be pretty accurate […]
From the tallest buildings in the world to the largest permanent video screen on earth – My “Tiny Planets” series has managed to make it on Broadway! At 7 storeys high, the MarketSite Tower on the corner of Times Square was broadcasting my images on Thursday to millions as part of NASDAQ’s celebration of WPP’s “Brandz Top 100” 10-year anniversary. With their CEO, Martin Sorrell, in attendance for the occasion this was a big day for […]
Well, *I* was back for winter – I’m going to guess the willow trees themselves didn’t go anywhere since I was there last year! For those who remember my shots from last winter – “myst” and “the three witches“, you’ll recall that we were pretty much fog-bound for the window we had to shoot. This time, with the flexibility of our “Jucy Casa” home on wheels, I was determined to get a shot showing the true […]
At the time of writing, this is literally the highest platform that a Phase One system has ever been in the world – pretty cool! Being able to capture the view below in 80 megapixels of definition is amazing, and the level of detail I managed to record (despite the circumstances you’ll soon read about below!) still surprises me. This might even become my new desktop background for little while 😉 Looking down on two of the world’s tallest […]
Note: Updated August 2016 after a year of using NiSi filters, click to read below. “What filters do you use?” – It’s the question that most landscape photographers ask just after they’ve probed into what camera you’re using. And in the same way as the ongoing “Nikon vs Canon war” (which is amusing to watch in itself!) the so-called brand allegiance is fun to explore when you start asking exactly why a photographer has chosen a […]
“That tree” – said with admiration, love, or detest – it doesn’t matter, it’s what pretty much everyone living in or visiting Lake Wanaka will say at some point once a day! To be fair, this was the second time I’ve visited “that tree” in 12 months, and while unassuming and unimpressive in itself, the scene surrounding this lone willow tree out in the freshwater lake is nothing short of stunning. No wonder it’s helped bring […]
Night/Astro/Star/Star-trail Photography – whatever you want to call it, this is a genre which has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years (partly connected with the increase in sensitivity of reasonably-priced camera sensors over the same period). The irony being, it’s also one of the easiest forms of photography that yields some of the most impressive results if you get it right. Given the chance for some downtime while travelling around the New […]
What an amazing view! I’ve seen many sunsets during my time shooting in the Maldives, but never have I seen it in context of the entire island of Huvafen Fushi from above… Granted, my title is a little wrong – by definition a “drone” is “an unmanned aircraft or ship that can navigate autonomously, without human control or beyond line of sight”. But then, bearing that definition in mind, none of the so-called drones out […]
Welcome to the crystal clear blue waters of Lake Tahoe, spanning across the state lines of California and Nevada on the West Coast of the USA. Taken at sunrise, the shot above was the result of quite a bit of waiting, anticipation, depression (as the clouds looked like ruining the morning) and a severe lack of sleep! As part of the workshop I was running across California, Mark and Martyn came along to the lookout […]
It’s vacation season! (Well, “holiday” season when you grew up in my part of the world, but let’s not split hairs… 😉 ) And it seems my “Top 10 tips” have made it into a few publications, including today’s update on ShutterBug. With that in mind, I figured it would probably be a good idea to put a copy of them up on my own site too, so – here goes…! 😉 1. Don’t Let the Camera […]
It’s that time of year again – the “WPP Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” has just been released for 2015, and this year (their 10th anniversary) it features a subset of my Tiny Planets series. Contained within the 100-page publication, there’s analysis on every section of the world, along with insight into which brands are making headlines and commanding huge value. In between each section, you’ll find an introduction featuring a subset of […]
My first visit to Beijing was a bit of a mixed bag – on the one hand, it would have been “rude not to” visit the capital city, given I’ve been living so close in Shanghai. On the other, it didn’t really impress me as much as I’d expected. Given the effort it took in order to get there, I also wasn’t keen to repeat the visit. However, a random “empty weekend” and a chat […]
Per Aquum Huvafen Fushi – A surreal Maldives luxury resort in the North Malé Atoll. They call this place “a waking dream” – and having had the pleasure of shooting with these guys many times over the past couple of years, I can tell you it’s an accurate description! Not only is the island a hideaway of perfection in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but I can honestly say the guys there are some of the most […]
It’s been a crazy and exciting month, May 2015 – for many reasons, and most of which are the excuse for not updating my blog often enough (sorry!). Still to come, I have images to upload from Tokyo, Beijing, the Great Wall of China, Dubai, Maldives and much more. For the next few weeks, however, I’m going to focus on my California road-trip photography workshop as well as the most recent Instagram takeover I did for […]
That’s right – we’re looking for models to shoot a set of brand images in the Maldives next month 🙂 We’re shooting in two of the most luxurious Maldivian resorts in April, and are looking for two faces that can represent each of the properties. Sadly, we’re on a bit of a tight timescale, but for those interested in expanding their book and/or adding a campaign to their portfolio, this is a great opportunity. If you […]
It’s every photographer’s nightmare: “That email” from somebody telling you they’ve seen your work published in a place you didn’t know about. Usually this results in a sunken heart, some stern letters and frustration that yet another person has taken your work without permission. So, when I clicked the message from Joey yesterday, it was not only a huge relief – but also a pleasant surprise. It seems an agency I’ve been working with has […]
It doesn’t matter how many rooftops I’ve photographed from, whenever I’m in a new city I always get that “wow” moment when I look across the skyline for the first time – and this was no exception. From the top of a building (which was, in fairness, extremely tall in its own right!), I set up on the ledge and started clicking. Sadly, jpeg compression doesn’t do this image enough justice on-screen, but the tones of the sky and detail in […]
Well, it’s official – I got the news today that I’ve been awarded a Fellowship by the British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP) 🙂 By their definition, an FBIPP award is “attainable for distinguished and exceptional ability and creativity” and my panel of landscape and cityscape images that were submitted evidently hit the mark! A Fellowship is considered as the highest qualification that there is within the professional body and the fact I’ve been awarded one is quite […]
Well this was a trip down memory lane – in more than one sense of the phrase… I last saw Ed Sheeran play live at a realtively small venue – the O2 Academy in Bournemouth. Back then, 4 years ago, he was still playing as a “new act” in many ways and had a growing base of loyal fans who sang along to every song with perfect timing. Also, “back then”, I was shooting a few […]
“Venezia” – print available to buy now What an awesome sight – being up before dawn on one of the first vaporetto (water bus) services across to Piazza San Marco (or “St. Mark’s Square” as we know it in English) and capturing San Giorgio in the distance as the gondolas moved gracefully in the tide, lapping the side of the lagoon. But Venice had a little surprise up its sleeve for me – just waiting […]
