Barcelona Photo Blog
A Flying Visit To and Then Around Casa Bonay, Barcelona
One of the first really interesting job of the year was a shoot at Casa Bonay, a boutique hotel recently opened by Inés Miró-Sans in the centre of Barcelona. Receiving an email that is a possible job is always a little like Christmas, when it comes from another country even more so, because apart from the appeal of…
City Light; Those Magic Hours When You Can Take Your Studio to the Streets
I would like to take the idea of ‘Magic Hour‘ and turn it into Magic Hours. Maybe ironically, what I am suggesting might fly in the face of something sacred to many; that moment when the natural light is just perfect (and alas fleeting) for beautifully lit portraits. My magic hours are when the natural light, by chance…
The Europa Cup Tournament; Kids in Camp Nou
One of the more hectic events I have had to cover. Even with an assistant/second shooter this was a day of nonstop action on a day when the temperature was probably closer to 40ºC. There were maybe 50 teams of kids from about 7 years up to 15, participating in The Europa Cup tournament. The pitch at…
Linear Curves; How Making Your Images Look Really Dull Might Be the Way to Go
This is the title for my article about linear curves and HDR in Capture One Pro 8/9 on the website PhotosApps.Expert. Read the full article here.
No Fear & Loathing in Andalucia, or How I Beat Those Black and White Blues
Back in the day, when I was shooting film and travelling, I usually had 2 cameras with me, one with transparency (slide) film and one with black and white. The colour slide film was for stock library work (I used to make quite good money doing that) and b&w was just for me, to be…
Bohemian Beach Fashion Shoot, in Barcelona
I have been running a film group in Barcelona for about 7 years, I do this because I love showing people films that they might not get to see and as it is situated in a cultural centre and there is also a great bar, so the whole evening is very sociable; people arrive early…
My latest article about Capture One Pro
Where Oh Where Will All My JPEGs Go… Apple Photos or Capture One Pro? This is the title for my latest article about Capture One Pro 8 on the website PhotosApps.Expert. It was meant as a jokey working title but it seems to have stuck. Read the full article here.
Fashion Shoot, Gaucho Style Belts
I was contacted by Philipp, the MD of Iracional, a German/Argentine accessory company. They wanted to do a shoot for their belts. The style of the belts is a traditional Gaucho design and they are handmade by a guy in Buenos Aires who is famous for his horse saddles, etc. The idea was to have some models in the…
Chiaroscuro in Astypalaia
I am not being completely pretentious, using that artistic term in the title, as the island was ruled by Italy for about half of the 20th century, up until the end of WW11. I learnt this fact one day when walking around the town on a blistering day and came across a little old widow in a worn-out shawl, “like a wizened…
Back to School, Another Day at BHA
I got invited back to Barcelona Hair Academy, which is I guess is confirmation I must have done an ok job the first time. This one was a workshop for women, maybe a little quieter than the first time. I more or less knew how to set up the artificial lighting and got on with it. I did however…
Harvard Business School, Casablanca
Back in January I flew to Casablanca to take photos for Harvard Business School. Basically they had several groups of students there who were working on business proposals and as part of the assignment they had to essentially interview people around the city for market research. So an interesting challenge, with added language and cultural hurdles…
Barcelona Hair Academy
I have been getting my hair cut for a couple of years now by Emma, she has now set up with Cecilia a new venture, the Barcelona Hair Academy. Cecilia asked me to do some publicity shots at the new location, a very cool space in Gracia, an old industrial building now housing various start ups and the like.…
Your Aperture Files Imported into Capture One Pro 8; the Good, the Bad and the Missing
This is my second article for photoapps.expert, This time dealing with what happens to Aperture Library images in Capture One Pro 8, writing these articles has been an enlightening experience and is teaching me to be a lot more methodical, especially when asserting what is or is not possible (I am expecting to get pulled up…
Using Aperture Libraries in Capture One Pro 8
I recently was invited to write about my experiences using Capture One Pro 8 for another site, I was pleasantly surprised and got to work, it turned out to be a lot more work than I imagined as I found I had to be a little more ‘scientific’ in my approach and actually test out…
Capture One Pro 8; Some Initial Likes and Dislikes
I have started to immerse myself in the programme, but a short trip interrupted the flow and I feel like I almost need to start again! As an Aperture user in the process of migrating a couple of things I like and dislike have become apparent; If you liked Aperture’s interface then C1 with kind…
Goodbye Aperture; Hello Capture One Pro 8
Well, we finally got the confirmation recently that the Photo app from Apple would not be any kind of new Aperture; it’s aimed squarely at iPhoto users and a lot of them might be unsure if it’s even fit for purpose for some of their workflows. Apple, it would seem, is no longer interested in…
NYC: Back After Three Years, 3 Years Too Long Away…
I am painfully aware of how slack I have been in writing blog posts: but trust New York to cure that. I am having breakfast in Maybelle’s Cafe in Brooklyn and I am surrounded by industrious people tap-tapping like fiends on their laptops, so out of pure guilt I am endeavouring to do the same.…
Astypalaea Revisited (or) Trying to Avoid The Bloody Obvious…
… I think I half succeeded. Greece has to be one of those places where it is too easy to slip into shooting what there is, as it is. Faithfully recording rough-hewn houses, fossilised doors, blue domes, endless steps… and cats… and cats… and… and… I was here 4 years ago and even then felt…
Lea & David Wedding, Misterton, England
Another month another wedding. There was an again an American element, The previous month I was in Texas (which will be posted soon). The bride Lea is from the States and her husband is from the UK, I got to do this wedding thanks to my good friend Yeesan who lives in NYC. Luckily it was…
Homage to Catalonia? (A Touch of Gaudí in Texas)
A little side job I had whilst in Texas (for a wedding shoot) was to photograph the house that Zack built (He was the groom and designed it as well). I stayed there for about a week and in a few sessions took photos for a book they wanted to make. It was an enjoyable…
Hong Kong, The Future Now?
I got the opportunity to return to Hong Kong in September and took it. My first trip there left me feeling similar to how I felt when I first went to NYC; dazed from sensory overload. In both places I was filled with a manic energy that, coupled with jet-lag, was very enervating; a kind…
From Barcelona to Berlin, Winter 2013
After my first visit to Berlin, just before Christmas I was eager to get back. I felt I had found somewhere I might be able to call a second home and was already thinking of ways to split my time between there and Barcelona. The second visit tempered my zeal a little just because I…
Anthony Llobet, Hair Dresser & Salon Owner
I went to photograph Anthony whilst still recovering from a stomach bug that had been doing the rounds of the city. I was feeling very light-headed and generally not ‘all there’, I did however have an idea in my mind as to what shot I would like and when you are lucky enough to have…
Hong Kong, Finally, I Make it There
Many years ago, when I was young and living in a little village in the country-side, I dreamt of going to Hong Kong. I was attending an art college, doing a foundation course, and had this friend who I was secretly, madly, in love with. She had Anglo-Italian parents, had been born in Angola, during…