Photographing Venice at Midnight

During a recent trip to visit the HQ of Manfrotto in Bassono Del Grappo in Italy, I was fortunate enough to have an evening free to explore Venice. Giorgio, who looks after all of Manfrotto's ambassadors globally, kindly agreed to be my guide for the evening and it was fantastic to have a local show me around the winding streets and canals of this historic, beautiful and unique city.

We braved temperatures of about -3C and spent around four hours traversing the streets and discovering the beauty of Venice by night under a clear, starry sky. The cold worked to our advantage as the city was deserted adding to its mystery and charm - Giorgio explained the history of this unique place and showed me some beautiful hidden gems that you would never find as a tourist. I still can't quite believe Venice has managed to remain so unique with it only being accessible by boat, having no road names, and maintaining a charm that is unrivaled in no other place I've been to. The advantage of photographing Venice at night is that you do not have to deal with the hoards of tourists and it is so easy to get lost amongst the winding canals, bridges and streets as you discover hidden gem after gem to shoot. Below are just a couple of my favourite photos from our walk. 

P.s. If you're going to shoot Venice at night a sturdy and light tripod is essential. Firstly, there is not much ambient light so you are going to want to use long shutter speeds and secondly you are going to have to a lot of walking...I'd carry as light weight a tripod as you can and think about how much gear you want to take before heading out...your legs, shoulders and back will thank you later! 

UK Abandoned Spaces

After spending time documenting Abandoned Spaces across the United States, I have been finally devoted some time to shooting some of these dilapidated places closer to home in the UK. I've already shot a plethora of photographs from some amazing sites but what better place to start than with the largest abandoned site in London - it's 62 acres and as you can imagine is going to take some time to do it fully justice!! However, here's a black and white fine art image from inside one of the old factories on the site which I particularly like - even though it was a relatively cloudy day the light infiltrated through the girders and huge windows just enough to give some gorgeous dappled light which I think juxtaposes beautifully with the old Victorian checked floor. 

Honoured By Former University

It was an honour to recently be highlighted as an outstanding alma matter for my photographic work by my former university, The University of Nottingham. You can see the article written on me by clicking the image below:

Photographing England Rugby Coach Eddie Jones

It was a pleasure to recently be commissioned to shoot England Rugby coach Eddie Jones. An Aussie originally (which led to a bit of banter on set), Jones led England to the Grand Slam at last year's Six Nations. This followed on from an already impressive coaching CV which included when he led Japan to a victory against South Africa during the 2015 Rugby World Cup  in what is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sport.

The shoot was part of a promo for Natwest/RBS/Coutts who all sit under the same umbrella and took place in the Twickenham changing rooms. I can't show you photos of these but, trust me these are far from the one's you remember from your days at playing sport at school; they look more like a five star hotel and are equipped with plenty of high tech gadgets and facilities to ensure that players can perform at their maximum capabilities. 

I chose to shoot Eddie away from all of the mod-cons though and found a quiet spot in the coaches area. I asked him to sit on a simple red cushion where instead of shirts hanging in lockers or fancy wall decals as a backdrop there was simply bare white walls. This gave me more of a canvass to work with. As I began taking some test shots for both composition light, I noticed some strong vertical red lines had been painted at one end of the room on the wall....perfect!! I could frame Eddie within these as if he was at the centre of the flag of St George. Eddie who, by the way was an absolute pleasure to work, with kindly scooted over a few cushions until he was just in the right place between these strong compositional lines. This hopefully imbues the end frame with some patriotism.... "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" which is the traditional and historical song that echoes around Twickenham to support the English Rugby Team was the only thing missing as I shouted wrap. 

p.s. there was even time for a quick impromptu snap of Eddie Jones and the Six Nations trophy! 

It's always so humbling to have such great feedback and lovely write ups. Click here or below to take a look at the article. 

Using CP Filters in Yosemite

Take a look at an article just published that I wrote as I took a journey through Yosemite. In it I explain how to use Manfrotto's Circular Polarizing filters to improve your images. 

Over The Golden Gate

With just one day off from my commission to shoot the Super Bowl in San Francisco and all of the razz ma tazz that goes along with it, I decided to escape the throngs of football fans and get out of the city to the quiet oasis of the Marin Headlands just over the Golden Gate Bridge. Indeed, one of the things I love about San Fran, is that in just a couple of miles you can be surrounded by stunning natural scenery, soaring, peaceful Redwoods and such clean fresh air making it incredibly easy to unwind. Here's a couple of my favourite shots from the day: 

Como Sunsets

I'm fortunate enough to be in Lake Como at the moment teaching some workshops. The beauty of the scenery here is breathtaking. I'll be sharing lots of shots in due course but here are two 100+ stich panorama that I took just a few hours apart. The first was taken as the fog rolled in magnificently between the mountains and the second during one of the most spectacular sunsets that I've ever seen.  

Manfrotto School Of Excellence Article Just Published

An article I wrote for the Manfrotto School of Excellence has just been published about how to best shoot out of helicopters. Take a look if you have a head for heights... 

California Blues

With Winter drawing in and the nights getting shorter, I can't help but crave some Californian sunshine. Here's a panorama taken of the Hollywood Sign and surrounding hills from up by the Griffiths Observatory contrasted with a skater catching some air at Venice Beach...

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