Salmon leaping in the Tweed

I have just spent a weekend in the Borders in Scotland, photographing for a project that will chronicle a life of a farming, shooting and fishing estate over a whole year, starting with the fishing.

I am still sorting through 100's of images, but these two of salmon leaping whilst several anglers toiled away trying to catch them stand out so far!

To get them, I just had to stand there eyes glued to the viewfinder and try to react in time when a fish broke water.

Using the Leica M8 and a 90mm F.2.8 lens made it slightly easier than using a DSLR as the rangefinders 90mm frame only occupied a quarter of the screen, so I could see what was going on outside the coverage of the lens. These were two successful shots out of maybe 20 taken over two hours or so.

Another great lunch @ El Blason

The holidays now far behind us, it was off to the Kings Road for a walk and some window shopping, followed by a long lunch at our favourite haunt, El Blason a Spanish restaurant just off the Kings Road in Blacklands Terrace.

What makes it special, apart from the welcome, carpeting, panelling and well spaced tables, great food from a tapas snack to a full blown three course meal, a terrific wine list, plus brandies, vintage rums and much else is Carlos the owner, shown above on a previous visit and his team who make every visit memorable.

Today we had Jabugo ham, a wonderful paella, "Tocino de cielo" (Toucinho do céu) a sweet that is both Spanish and Portuguese, then espresso's accompanied by delicious Cardenal Mendoza brandy from Jerez. A great way to end the week and start the weekend.

A street with no cars

The council decided to re-lay the asphalt in Marville Road in Fulham SW6 this week, so the night before, cars were banished from the street which presented such a strange sight, that out came my Leica M8 to chronicle the event.

The following morning the street was eerily quiet and empty.

The following day, the old tarmac was gone, stripped away.



This next shot begs the question "did something really nasty happen here?? - nah!"

A day later the new asphalt was down, awaiting white lining.

By the evening children played in the empty street.

Today the lines were painted back and await the return of the cars and normality!

The new road is strangely beautiful at night

Sardinia with a Leica M8

I spent part of the summer in Villasimius in Southern Sardinia, on crowded beaches, but with heavenly water.
There was beauty and ugliness, but all in a wonderful light.

We visited Cagliari and all was recorded on my Leica M8 which seems to capture the quality of the essence of what is being photographed, helped by the astonishing lenses.

You can see more in a slideshow.

Photochopper

I was lucky enough to be in the South of France a few weeks ago, roaring across the water at about 30 knots on our friend's boat going across from St Maxime towards St Tropez, when a helicopter which was photographing aerial views of activity on the water, spotted us and moved in for a closer look.

I started snapping away on my Leica M8 with 90mm F2.8 lens and it was a case of the snapper, snapped!

Artisan No.4 - Jonathan Woolston - Violin Maker

A couple of days ago I photographed Jonathan Woolston, the violin maker in his studio in Cambridge for my Artisans project.

The level of skill, knowledge, passion and manual dexterity displayed was amazing, using a wide range of tools and devices, each of which left very little room for error.

What I had thought was moulded wood is in fact carved in a surprisingly vigorous way at times as shown by this flying shaving.

You can see more pictures in a slideshow.

Music Publishers Association - AGM

The Music Publishers Association held its Annual General Meeting on Thursday 25 June and I was commissioned to cover it.

As stated on the MPAonline website “Reaching for the Stars” gave representatives of twelve different sectors of the music industry 3 minutes each to make the case for their ticket to join songwriters and artists on a shuttle heading for a new musical universe. Having listened to all speakers - see below:

Stephen Navin as Spock introduces the speakers

The audience of MPA members and invited guests voted for the six representatives who they felt had made the most compelling case for the importance of their sector in connecting songwriters and artists with music fans.

Voted on to the shuttle were the music publisher (of course), the broadcaster, promoter, educator, online service provider and record label. Left behind in the departure room were the collecting society, artist manager, trade association, tastemaker, record retailer, and the lawyer.

Whilst the votes were counted Daniel Ek, co-founder of Spotify, gave some clues as to his future plans for the service in conversation with Emmanuel Legrand (editor, Impact magazine).

Daniel praised the new streaming rates announced by PRS for Music in May as part of its new Online Music Licence and stated his opinion that “the future of the music industry is in an access model”. He also raised the prospect of a Spotify app for the iPhone. Asked to give his own thoughts on “Reaching for the Stars” Daniel responded diplomatically: “There are a lot of brilliant people in the music industry. There’s a future for all of them in different shapes and forms”.

Formal business of the AGM

Earlier in the afternoon the formal business of the AGM had included reports from Nigel Elderton (chairman, MPA), Stephen Navin (chief executive, MPA) and, in his capacity as executive director of the MPA’s subsidiary company MCPS, Steve Porter (CEO, PRS for Music) and much else besides.

A selection of the pictures appears as a gallery on the MPAonline website and others will be shown in IMPACT magazine.

A corporate photoshoot: for Car leasing made simple

I recently completed a photoshoot for Car leasing made simple (Automotive Finance & Leasing Ltd), photographing their directors, staff and offices, with a brief to shoot both head and shoulders shots and images of people at work, with a look that reflected the professional yet informal style of working and quality office space that supports a successful business.


A clear brief from Paul Fagan, Sales & Marketing Director and with very helpful co-operation from all management and staff, made the shoot go easily.

South Kensington, light, mobiles & a bear!

This Saturday, I spent an hour with my Leica M8 and a 21mm F.2.8 lens walking round South Kensington, along the Old Brompton Road, Gilston Road, the Boltons, marveling at the light and leafiness of it all!



Then someone drove by talking on the phone and the turquoise of the mobile, on inspection matched perfectly the ladies bag on the left, again with this luminous light.


A few minutes later, two men talking on their mobile created a slightly surreal scene.


The need to look where one is going, when having a camera in-hand made it self apparent with a classic banana skin, waiting to send me flying, and blackened by the sun presented itself on the pavement.

Later that day in a different part of town and by then, on the hottest day of the year, I sympathised with a bear! trying to entice recession bound parents to spend their cash in the Fulham Road, Polo Ralph Lauren store for kids!


All in all - a nice little outing for the M8 and me.

Eating at St John with the LondonEater

Last week I had the privilege of trying out a new (for me) restaurant with Kang Leong, foodie, photographer and restaurant guide who tells all through his blog the LondonEater.

As Kang says "LondonEater is a London foodblog which writes about the best places to eat. It is an online restaurant guide which helps you keep up to date with the latest developments in the London food scene. New restaurant reviews are released every Tuesday and Friday. The Must Go List is updated on the 15th of every month and lists eight great places for you to try. If you love food, you’ve come to the right place. "

We went to St John in Farringdon which as Kang states in his blog is "currently the 14th best restaurant in the world. Opened by Fergus Henderson in 1994; St John restaurant at St John Road has since been awarded a Michelin star and is well-known for utilising offal and neglected cuts, in what he calls the ‘nose to tail’ concept."


His description of the restaurant and the delicious food we ate there is far better than anything I can write. I took my camera and captured some details of what I had. Marrow bones with Parsley salad - simple but delightful.

Roast pigeon with courgettes, was a bit too rare for my taste, but the simple but robust flavours blended well.
The apricot crumble was quite simply amazing, with a hint of bitterness from the apricots that adding zing to a sublimely sweet dish. Sharing the experience with Andy and then reading what he wrote about it was a bonus and confirms in my mind that he is a food critic and guide to watch out for.