Shanghai really is a city that needs to be seen from above to be appreciated. The problem is that getting up there in the more traditional way (in a helicopter) simply isn’t possible – so there is a growing movement of photographers who (ahem) “access” rooftops with key vantage points across the city. It’s not a risk-free process by any means, but when you get up there and can look down at the pace of things […]
“Never work with children or animals”, they say. Luckily, the discussion I had with Per Aquum about photographing a 10th birthday didn’t relate to either. Instead, we were shooting memories of the staff at their stunning Maldives resort – “Huvafen Fushi” ten years on from its original opening. They have a lot to celebrate – 10 years ago when they opened, it was one of the most innovative resorts to be launched in the (now aspired to) Maldivian […]
The homepage of Phase One looks a little different today, as their feature on my cityscape work appears as the headline story online. 🙂 Backed by feeds on their Facebook page, galleries, email newsletters and more – this is quite some campaign to get the quality of cityscape images that can be achieved with the 645DF+ and iQ280 out there and known. A year on from my purchase of their top end Medium Format equipment, I’ve taken quite […]
Every now and then, I’m surprised by the reaction to a photograph which I didn’t think was that great when I actually took it. This image, “Alone“, taken at Lake Wanaka on New Zealand’s South Island just outside of Queenstown, turned out to be one of those shots after I uploaded it onto a few social media platforms… Some trips just aren’t destined to go the way I had them planned in my head. Flying to […]
Welcome to the W Retreat Maldives – where one of the coolest hotel brands in the world meets paradise on earth. (As you can imagine, it’s a great combination!). Building on the shoots we did at the amazing W Retreat Koh Samui last year, I headed out to the Maldives to photograph the talent team there with the Starwood digital marketing team. Now I’m not going to lie – paradise or not, the warning email I got […]
I was asked last week, as part of a written interview, if I’d ever had to get out of my “comfort zone” in order to get the shot I wanted – the answer, of course, was “yes”, and many times over. The next question was, funnily enough, about how I approach a brand new city in terms of locations and what to shoot. So, what better than a live demonstration as answers to both questions […]
Stood on the banks of the River Thames looking at Tower Bridge and the Tower of London at 4:30am, I pondered over the question I’d been asking myself the whole way back to London this month: “Why don’t I have more pictures from home?”. Looking at the images I’ve captured over the years, I’ve been really lucky to get to see and photograph some stunning locations around the world – but as with many others, […]
Imagine waking up to this view at sunrise every morning. The crystal blue water, vibrant pink sky at sunrise and sunset, the tranquil overwater jetty leading out to your own private villa (or in the case above, the entrance to the island’s underwater spa). It’s all just “wow” and a memory I’ll always keep with me. Sadly, the web version of these 80mp images don’t really do them justice – but I can assure you […]
What happens when you mix an award-winning artist, the world’s first underwater spa, the world’s first underwater nightclub, the luxury of the Maldives and the creativity of the Per Aquum brand? Simple – a unique underwater exhibition titled “Phantasy Fairytale” – a collaboration between two amazing hotels and Andreas Franke, the artist responsible for previous underwater galleries such as his work on “The Sinking World”. Looking back at my blog, in part I feel sad […]
A few miles south of the town of Rotorua, on the north island of New Zealand, lies a very special place. Of course, New Zealand itself is home to many volcanoes and much of its stunning scenery has its origins in volcanoes, glaciers and all manner of activity deep within the Earth – but this is one of the few places I’ve visited where you really can get up close and personal with nature… …and […]
Hong Kong. The city where East truly meets West, and what an amazing recipe it has for a burst of culture and style. “Reach” – print available to buy now As a result of living in Shanghai, Hong Kong becomes easily accessible and such a Mecca for photography it simply can’t be ignored (and the tax free purchases can’t be sniffed at either 😉 ). Having spent some decent amounts of time in the city, […]
As always, the most frustrating images to capture are also the most rewarding. At 7pm on New Year’s Eve, this is the night shot I was taking from a nearby rooftop looking out over Shanghai’s “Nanpu Bridge”. “Over The Rainbow” – print available to buy now The bridge is one of two spans which link the two sides of the city – PuDong and PuXi. Not only is the HangPu river one of the busiest […]
Wow – what a morning it turned out to be! Preparing for the worst, having checked the weather forecast the week before I arrived back home to England, I wasn’t expecting anywhere near this shot when I arrived at Dorset’s Jurassic Coast – getting ready to (hopefully) capture Durdle Door at sunrise. There’s a small window in the year when the sun rises just perfectly through the arch. It’s south enough to allow you to […]
“Circular Motion” – print available to buy now Who remembers being told as a kid to make sure to look both ways before crossing a road, and that cars are dangerous? Yeah… I do. Sadly, when I drove through Lujiazui on the way home the other night last week, I saw a sight that made me cast that very wise advice aside and resolve to get the shot I pictured in my mind, no matter […]
Welcome back to the W 🙂 That stunning view, above, was part of what prompted me to write about the W Retreat Koh Samui in February, after I returned from an amazing stay there. Realising that what made the place so special was in no small part down to the the talent of the staff at the retreat, Nick (the general manager) and I got talking… W Hotels pride themselves on being cool, hip, and vibrant […]
Now there’s something you don’t get to see every day – the top of what was once the tallest skyscraper in a country (the Jin Mao Tower), from above, at night 🙂 By day, it’s spiky architecture is a defining part of Shanghai’s Pudong skyline – indeed, it was the key focus for another shot I took from the same building (if a little lower down) – the SWFC. This image, however, was unplanned… I’d […]
Many people said : “you’ll love the street photography opportunities in Shanghai” and from looking around the galleries here, I was always certain they were right. The challenge is, as someone who’s never really gotten into that genre, it’s tough to know what makes a good street photo or not. Walking around Xintiandi in downtown Shanghai, you’d be forgiven for thinking the opportunities for any good form of street photography would be limited to shooting […]
“The Racetrack” – Print available to buy now In 2011, I managed to capture another shot of Devil’s Golf Course in Death Valley. Having visited many times before, each time being stunned by the scenery this National Park has to offer (along with the 120 degree heat some days!), it dawned on me that there was one area that I’d never quite managed to reach : The Racetrack Playa. The place still remains as mysterious […]
That’s right – I’ve decided to provide a watermark free copy of my Horseshoe Bend sunset image for use as a desktop wallpaper*. The image was taken in July this year, just as the sun hit the tip of the desert horizon in Page, Arizona. From this amazing vantage point, you can see the Colorado River snake its way around the huge rock formation as it makes its way to the Grand Canyon National Park. […]
This is Danny Denkmayer – one of the final four in Channel 4 and E4’s hit TV show “Playing It Straight“. The 2012 Series 2 contestant spent the series at Hacienda de los Hombres in Spain before being eliminated in the final episode. So – why was he in the studio? Simple : we were shooting for another set of adverts for Attitude, and the boys at Lick had drafted him in 🙂 He does however, […]
The Only Way Is Essex’s Dino and Georgio Geogiades headed down to Meadows Farm along with a few of the other “Lick guys” to shoot for the new “fit as” Lick Underwear campaign last month – and what a great laugh the guys were 🙂 Shooting the day after your birthday is probably not the best of ideas – a bad head is extremely likely. Luckily, having spent the night before in Birmingham (which has […]
Wow, it’s been a looooooong time since I wrote on here – and for that, I can only apologise. Those following me on facebook and twitter will know that it’s been a crazy busy few months, but I know that’s no excuse for not checking in on here every now and then. So tonight, I was planning to grab a few pictures of the 99% full moon – but instead the somewhat permanent feature of rain […]
This is a photograph I never thought I’d get – not only because I hadn’t planned a trip to Norway (the Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis had never been something I thought I would see for myself) – but also on the first dark Friday night there, having spent 4 hours freezing by the side of a lake, they showed absolutely no sign of appearing! That’s right – less than 30 minutes after getting to Tromsø, […]
After a gruelling CES in Las Vegas, a free day in San Francisco was just what I needed, and the prospect of spending the day shooting with a great photographer friend of mine – Scott Marrs – was not to be missed 🙂 With my new Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 L II in my bag, it was time to get the tripod and ND filters out to go grab some images. We actually spent the day […]
