BSI’s annual congress in Liverpool

The British Society for Immunology were good enough to embed me in their events team for their four-day congress in at the Liverpool Acc Conference Centre, Albert Dock in December.

When I wasn’t being bamboozled by the discourse of cutting-edge scientific research (a c.20 year old GCSE Biology didn’t really furnish me with the skills to keep up!) I found it to be an enthralling event and it was inspirational to witness the passion with which this collection of remarkable brains set about ridding humanity of some terrible afflictions.

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Dad’s 70th

My Dad turned 70 recently and it was celebrated with a huge gathering of the Strange Clan in the Sussex motherland.

The birthday boy

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Uncle, brother and nephew

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Another brother

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A recent arrival to the family, one of a pair of new twin nephews

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Birthday cake

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Dad with his new bike!

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This pic sums up my Dad pretty well – pulling faces at his grandson whilst his professorial brothers muse on heavyweight geopolitical themes. 

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Birthday walk

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Nephew

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Corporate portraiture

Howdy,

A string to my bow that I haven’t shown off for a while is corporate portraiture.  I set up my studio equipment at companies’ premises and take portraits of their employees. Not just that, there is a hefty styling element to the shoots, from ensuring straight ties and even collars, to optimal angling of the shoulders and chin definition – JUST the right amount of ‘jut’ works well 🙂

Here are samples from a couple of shoots – the background and overall look is usually dictated by the clients, often to tie in with other images in their library.

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Bike shoot!

East-London based Single Speed Components have been a regular client of mine (and I of them).  One of my favourite shoots was for some of their lovingly-restored bike frames in a park near to their headquarters in Leyton.

Single Speed bike frame restored by Single Speed Components

Single Speed bike frame restored by Single Speed Components

Single Speed bike frame restored by Single Speed Components

Single Speed bike frame restored by Single Speed Components

Single Speed bike frame restored by Single Speed Components

Long weekend in Birmingham

Birmingham’s not the obvious choice for a romantic getaway, nevertheless my girlfriend and I made our way there for a long weekend a couple of weeks before Christmas. It was a fantastic jaunt – we quaffed on hot alcoholic drinks, ate German ‘delicacies’ at the famed Christmas market and generally had a wonderful time.

First stop was the new library…

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Playing with my new cameraphone

A few weeks ago Nokia launched a new smartphone aimed squarely at photographers – the Lumia 1020.  As chance would have it this launch co-incided with the death knells of my trusty old Blackberry. After a few glowing reviews surfaced on the internet, I took the inevitable plunge and ordered it in a stealthy black finish.

Nokia are making much of the fact that the camera has a 41 Megapixel sensor; of greater interest to me was the fact that the sensor itself is larger than those found in any other smartphone and the majority of compact cameras.  Larger sensors have a positive effect on low light work and achieving a shallow depth of field – getting your subject sharp and your background out of focus.

Early tests with the camera have been positive on the whole.  I am probably a more exacting user than most of the target clientèle, and whilst I do take issue with the lack of detail in bright areas and the softness of the lens in the corners, I recognise that to get the image quality in such a small device is a real marvel.

One of my test ‘shoots’ – via a gesture of unbelievable generosity from my girlfriend’s mum – took place at Wembley Stadium during the crucial England vs. Poland World Cup qualifier match.

Wembley Stadium, England - Poland World Cup qualifier

It was so fantastic to have a half-decent camera to hand to be able to capture a few snapshots of what was a truly unforgettable experience.

The below image has been processed to maximise the detail in the light and dark areas

Wembley Stadium, England - Poland World Cup qualifier

Skin tones do have a yellowish tinge straight out of the camera, unfortunately – this has been more or less corrected in post-processing in the below image.

Wembley Stadium, England - Poland World Cup qualifier

Obviously I’m not about to start cracking it out for professional commissions, but to have what is really a very good camera on my person at all times is a real game-changer and will alter my relationship with photography for the better.

Llandudno

After many months of busying myself with weddings and corporate work, I’m getting to tinker with some personal work – namely post-process some shots that I took on various trips over the summer months. First up, Llandudno Pier and a view from the Great Orme (accessed via a cable car from Llandudno).  Lovely part of the world – so rugged – I was there for a couple of days before attending a graduation ceremony at Bangor University.

LLandudno Pier

Panoramic view from the Great Orme, Llandudno, Wales

Channel 4 News Event

A bit of a blast from the past this shoot. I was thrilled to be asked to cover a second event for ITN, this time for a Channel 4 News Editor who was stepping down.  The event was held at 06 St Chads Place and was graced by many familiar faces, not least the one and only Jon Snow.

06 St Chads Place, Jon Snow

Jon Snow giving a speech at Jim Gray's farewell event

Jim Gray giving a farewell speech

06 St Chads Place, Jon Snow

News journalists at the Channel 4 News event

Trip to Paris

I recently took a trip to Paris with my girlfriend – and monsieur camera. The trip was timed to coincide with the final stage of the 100th Tour de France, specially scheduled for a dusk finish to add drama to the occasion. The last stage of every modern Tour de France has taken the cyclists from a suburb of Paris – Versailles in the 2013 edition – to the centre of Paris where they perform ten circuits up and down the Champs Elysees before ending with a sprint finish.

We took up a great position near the Arc de Triomphe and awaited the arrival of the cyclists.  I’d been avidly following the race for the preceding three weeks so I was particularly excited to catch my first glimpse of the peloton. After several hours of various sponsors’ floats and vehicles going past the arrival of the competitors onto the Champs Elysees was greeted with a flypast from the Patrouille de France (their version of the Red Arrows). It was a great way to signal the start of the main event.  
Patrouille de France perform a flypast as the peloton approach the Champs Elysees

About 10 minutes later we caught our first glimpse of the peloton – Chris Froome in the leader’s yellow jersey was at the front with his Team Sky cohorts. A couple more circuits went by and a breakaway was beginning to establish itself led by the Scottish cyclist David Millar.  These breakaways are almost always in vain and serve mainly to give the team’s sponsor some airtime on the TV coverage.  Occasionally they manage to keep clear of the main field and throw up a surprise winner, sadly not the case in this instance.Scottish cyclist David Millar tried to make a breakaway from the peloton 

The peloton passes the Arc de Triomphe The peloton passes the Arc de Triomphe 
At the final sprint Cavendish was well beated by the new sprint phenomenon Marcel Kittel and then Froome rolled in, yellow jersey still intact, with his team mates, the overall winner of the Tour.

An almost interminably long presentation ceremony followed featuring a light show where the Arc de Triomphe was illuminated to reflect the various jersey being awarded.An illuminated Arc de Triomphe during the presentation of the King of the Mountains jersey to Nairo Qunitana 
We eventually slunk off to a bar to give our feet a rest.  My appetite for the Tour was well sated and I’m already looking forward to next year when it’s due to start in Yorkshire and pass through London. Wonderful stuff.

The remainder of our 2-night, 3-day stay in the city was taken up with the regular touristy sightseeing activities. We popped to Pere Lachaise cemetery… Trip to Pere Lachaise cemetery

…and went to see the Eiffel Tower.  It looked fantastic at night…
The Eiffel Tower at night    The Eiffel Tower at night

We made our way back to London on the Eurostar with weary legs, tanned skin and the taste of some particularly potent cheeses still on our tastebuds.

Alli & Dan

With the UK resplendent in some lovely sunshine, the time seems ripe to post some photos from the gorgeous summery wedding of my friends Alli and Dan.  

Alli and I lived together in a big house share in Clapham, South London and I bore witness to the burgeoning romance that was to end up with their marriage, so it was a particular thrill when she and Dan asked me to photograph their wedding. 

The wedding took place in the gorgeous village of Stisted in Essex. I have always been quite ‘patriotic’ with regards to the natural beauty that exists in my homeland of Sussex, but Stisted and its surrounding areas were very much the equal of the best that Sussex has to offer.  Really a very gorgeous place, and great for cycling (I incorporated a bit of a bike ride with the recce a couple of months before the big day).

My first stop on the wedding day was Alli’s parents’ house where she was getting ready.

The make-up artist’s brushes

Make-up artist's brushes during bridal preparations

Great selection of flowers by the Traditional Vintage Flower Company

Buttonhole by the Traditional Vintage Flower Company

Bouquet by Traditional Vintage Flower Company  Bouquet by Traditional Vintage Flower Company

Bouquet by Traditional Vintage Flower Company

Alli having her make-up applied

Bride having make-up applied

I set up a studio light in the lounge to get some slightly more ‘stylised’ photos of Alli with her parents and bridal party

Portrait of the bride with the mother of the bride and the father of the bride

I couldn’t resist requesting an arm’s-length ‘selfie’ with the bride 🙂

Bride with the wedding photographer

We then made our way to the church for the ceremony

Groom and bride meet in the church

Bride and groom in the church

Groom places ring on bride's hand

Bride and groom celebrate

Bride with priest  Groom's shoes

The formals took place immediately after the ceremony

Photograph of entire wedding party in front of the church

We moved on to the reception venue where took Alli and Dan away from some newlywed shots

Bride and groom pose as newlyweds  Bride and groom pose as newlyweds

Bride and groom pose with their rings

This is a stance I frequently use myself….

Wedding guests having their picture taken

I absolutely loved this wedding cake – very innovative use of Lego

Wedding cake with lego

This conga really caught hold…

Conga at wedding reception

A view from the outside of the marquee

Marquee with wedding band