Tuesday 15th May Tony Corbell

Today I attended an SWPP seminar at Loxley Colour in Glasgow. The speaker was the amazing Tony Corbell from San Diego, who knows everything there is to know about lighting. He was very, very good, and lots of fun. I met Tony in London in January and attended one of his masterclasses, so knew it would be good. I wasn't disappointed!

Met up with a few old friends as well which was nice. A great day, which ended about 1.30am when I finally got back to Thurso. Thanks also to Chris from Loxleys who gave some of us a guided tour of the lab, which was very interesting.

14th May Glasgow

Travelled down on Sunday to do another shoot with Elske Bridal. Today's shoot was at Mar Hall, which is a magnificent venue. I loved it here and would really like to do some weddings here!

We had 4 models today, Lauren, Rosemary, David and Graham from Model Team in Glasgow. Highland Dress was supplied by Martin Gill of Blackstairs in Wick.

A few images from the day......

12th May Wedding

Today was the wedding of Stephanie Macleod and Kevin Sinclair. both of Thurso. They were married at the Weigh Inn and went to the beach at Scrabster for photographs.
Cars were by Dunnetts, and we had a visit to Caithness for the very first time by Spud the Piper

A couple of shots from the day will follow - not finished them yet!!

Sunday 6th May

Disaster! Smashed my car on the way North. had 2 portrait sessions to do today as well. Had a head on collision at the entrance to Kincraig House Hotel near Invergordon. Someone overtaking and I couldn't get out of the way. Spent half the day on back of a truck. Nobody seriously injured though apart from me having a bit of a sore back.

Oban 5th May

Today I had a wedding in Oban, so drove South overnight after yesterdays wedding. Today was the turn of Lynn Mitchell and Scott Robertson, both fom Oban. Ceremony was at Muckairn Church, in Taynuilt, with the reception being in the Royal Hotel in Oban.

A couple of images from the shoot at Dunstaffenage Castle:

Friday 4th May Wedding

Todays wedding at Wick Baptist Church was that of Liza Stewart and Wayne Reid, who live in Aberdeen, Liza is from Wick originally. The bride got ready at her mothers house in Seaforth Avenue. She arrived in Prestige Cars White Rolls Royce. The couple went to Olrig House, outside Castletown to have their photographs taken. What a place!! It's just been sold so I guess I won't be doing any more here - what a pity!! I could spend a week here and not run out of spots to work. The reception was at Mackays Hotel back in Wick.

A couple of pictures from the day:

Aberfeldy 3rd May

Edinburgh based band Aberfeldy are currently touring the Highlands and I was commissioned to photograph them as they sailed to Orkney on the Hamnavoe. Band member Sarah McFadyen is from Hoy, so it was a homecoming story for her. The band played a fantastic gig in the ferry bar which was very entertaining. They were playing 2 gigs in Orkney over the weekend.

A few images from the day..

Inverness Model Portfolio Shoot

A couple of preview shots from Saturdays portfolio shoot in the Inverness area.

Sunday 15th Fashion Shoot

After the trade show I met one of yesterday's models Alex, who I had found out lived only 5 minutes from where I was staying. We did some fashion shots for her portfolio. She is an amazing model - really easy to work with and natural in front of the camera. The pictures certainly show that. A few pics from the shoot.....

SWPP Scottish Trade Show, Grangemouth. 15th April

Well, after much panic and nerves I finally managed to get my first seminar under my belt. It wasn't as bad as I expected, and next time I'll know where I am and where I need to improve. I actually quite enjoyed it. Thanks to the SWPP for asking me to speak, and a huge thank you to Trevor and Faye Yerbury who were extremely supportive. Thanks also to all who attended.

Trevor and Faye's seminar was really good and showed me what I have to aim for! They had some wonderful childrens photographs on display and did a great shoot with a wonderful little model.

Elske Bridal Shoot 14th April

Went to Glasgow today to take part in a shoot with Elske Bridal . We had an amzing day at Oran Mor on Byres Road. What a venue. I was like a kid in a toy shop when I arrived. So many spots to photograph in. We had two superb models Kirstie and Alexandra. We also had some amazing jewellery from Sheila Fleet in Orkney to finish off the look.

We shot all day and the hard working models must have been shattered by the end - I certainly was - but it took my mind off tomorrow's seminar at Grangemouth!

We ended up on a bridge near the SECC and shot some lovely outdoor stuff with cranes and more industrial surroundings.

Big thank you's to Jim and Frances for asking me to do the shoot, as well as all others involved. It was a memorable day!


Some pics here....

Country Music Festival 7th and 8th April

Back out to Halkirk for the annual Country Music Festival run by NNCMC. The event has become huge and attracts acts from all over the world, and is supported by hundreds of fans from all over. It was estimated that there were 1100 people in the building on Saturday night. My favourite as a photographer was the incredible Travis LeDoyt, an Elvis impersonator from the states who was the star of the weekend, driving the crowd crazy with his amazingly realistic take on "The King"

More pictures from the whole weekend are on my Image File site - click here.

Password is nncmc

Here is a taster.....

Saturday 7th April

No rest for the wicked - a portrait session at Keiss. It was very dull and windy but we got some good atmospheric shots.

6th April, Inverness

After a busy day yesterday, I was back on the road in the morning heading North to Inverness, where I had to meet 3 different couples about weddings. The first meeting also involved an engagement shoot with Jane and Ian, who are from Yorkshire, and get married in the Highlands in December. With a little help from Red Bull, I managed to get through another draining day and arrived back in Thurso about 5pm. 800+ miles in total over the journey!

5th April Gretna Green

Today was my longest journey so far for a wedding - Gretna Green. 360 miles away and about as far as a person can drive from one end of Scotland to the other. I travelled down on Wednesday and stayed ata B&B in Waterbeck, near Lockerbie. It was a good journey and I met my bride and groom, Nicola Cooper and Gavin Masefield at their hotel. They were staying at the Smiths Hotel, Gretna. The couple stay in Wakefield, Yorkshire and contacted me after seeing the images from Beth and Toby's wedding at Loch Torridon Hotel last year.

As a wedding photographer, I suppose it was inevitable that I'd do a wedding here sooner or later, and I was quite excited about it. As it was a small wedding party, I had longer than normal with the bride and groom and really had some fun! I'm not sure the people of Gretna were used to seeing the groom and best man browsing a Lingerie store, despite the 2500 weddings per year they have!! I didn't want to do too much of the stereotype Gretna shots, and stuck to my own style. Of course there are a few shots that have to be done!

I drove up as far as Perth before crashing at a B&B and having a great sleep!

Some images....

31st March Bunchrew House, Inverness

Today I travelled to Bunchrew House in Inverness for the wedding of Emma Hosegood and Paul Ellis, from Streatham, London. It was a beautiful day, again, almost too sunny from my point of view. This was my first wedding at Bunchrew, and it was great. What a superb location it is.

Here are a few shots from the day...