From London to Egypt

January has turned out to be a busy old month for photo-training.

Later this week I'm lecturing at the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP) Convention in London. The following week I leave for Egypt, where I'll be training a group of photographers from the UK and Ireland at PTO (Photo Training Overseas). My subject will be Outdoor Photography of Children.

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to capture some great images. Watch this space!

A client testimonial

A beautiful card dropped through the letterbox this morning. It was a testimonial from a long standing client for a photoshoot we did late last summer. I have photographed this particular family regularly since the girls were tiny babies. This time mum and dad opted for an outdoor photoshoot, with a few studio shots to start off the session. This is what they had to say :

"Dear Michael and Janet, Just a short note to say how pleased we are with the album and framed photographs. Grandma loved her present (a framed photograph of the two girls together) and everyone who visited over Christmas was amazed at how you had captured the girls.

Thank you so much".

Mark and Carol

A nice way to start the day. Here are a few of the images :

In my teenage years I was a fanatical racing cyclist - not quite as fast as Chris Hoy though! Janet and I still follow cycle racing and are regular spectators at the Manchester Velodrome. We've followed the career of Chris Hoy and are thrilled at the success he's had this year. Chris is an exemplary sportsman, showing true vision, grit and determination to achieve his goals. A role model for us all. The knighthood is the icing on the cake, and it 'couldn't happen to a nicer guy' as the saying goes.
I've taken the opportunity to publish a solo shot of Chris I took at an earlier World Cup meeting at the velodrome, as well as one of my favourite shots of my favourite event - the Keirin.
I'm not normally a sports photographer as such, but it's great practice for when I'm photographing fast-moving kids on an outdoor photoshoot !

New Year, New Blog

With a sudden rush of blood to the head I've done it at last and started my first Blog. Welcome.

You'll be seeing lots of photographs on my blog as we go along (I am a professional photographer after all) - some from real life client shoots, some from my travels and some of my favourite random images. I'll also be sharing some tips and techniques along the way. I hope you enjoy it.

Michael