A Photographer's
Blog.
Cake!
I finally gave into a slice of Ginger and Apple cake from The Tea Rooms on Stoke Newington Church Street today. I’ve resisted for so long and thought it really was about time to sample their goods All I can say is, why did Il eave it soooooo long?? Thought it was worthy of a photo before I demolished it.
Coffee Morning
I couldn’t resist doing a little shoot involving my lovely new espresso cups. The perfect accompaniment with a very simple, not very good for you but delicious cheese muffin.
Romance is Dead
A couple of weeks ago designer Kirstie Smith and I got together to shoot her latest creations for Romance Is Dead. We had a great day shooting at a location that was full of daylight as well as having plenty of interesting props and backdrops to shoot with.
Proud Cabaret
I had a busy Easter Friday shooting Proud Cabaret in April. It was a pleasure to work with Proud Chef Fin Logan again and very exciting to work with the dancers there. Many thanks girls for coming in early to do the shoot.
Here’s a few shots from the day:
Fins Food:
The Girls:
Dutch Masters Shoot
I’ve been wanting to explore lighting techniques a lot recently and so I turned to looking at Dutch Masters for some inspiration. It’s something that George and I have been talking about for a while, so we finally got together and did it! The day job can leave time a little scarce for tests, so we set the date for a Saturday to ensure we would be free. Emily and I are always discussing ideas for shoots and when I suggested this she instantly came up with some great recipes. It was really enjoyable working with such a nice team and getting to eat the cake at the end of the shoot tops it all off nicely. Deeeeeelish!
Something a bit fishy going on in Stoke Newington!
I recently got together with the lovely Flora and Ole of Hansen & Lydersen to do a few test shots of the smoked salmon they produce. The couple are originally from Norway, where smoking salmon goes back 4 generations! They have brought the traditional family smoking blend all the way over from North Norway to North London, where they have been working hard to build their own smoke house.
It was a fun afternoon spent outside in the baking sunshine. I ended up on Ole’s shoulders shooting a salmon on Flora’s back! Good times!
Mooi London
Having jetted back from Alp D’Huez (it really sounds way more glamorous than it is!) I had a busy day down in Kensington shooting West London’s newest womens clothes store. The interiors of Mooi are similar to that of an art gallery, quite industrial. It was actually a bit of a challenge technically to light. I had to keep that natural feel whilst using flash to fill in the darker areas. Love a challenge though!
Sunny Alp D’Huez
I’ve had a busy week shooting interiors this week. I had the chance to get away to Alp D’Huez in the French Alps at the weekend, photographing a ski chalet which has breathtaking views of the mountains. Georgina Harper has turned her creative hand once again and decked this superior chalet out in all one needs for some awesome apres ski time.
Despite the time of year, it was actually 30c on our shoot day and there was virtually no snow around. It was strange to see the place like that as when I visited in the previously everywhere was covered in a thick blanket of snow.
I had the joy of transporting equipment on a budget flight- trying to keep it budget and not over doing it on the weight. With the help of the team sharing the load we managed it though. The main worry was the flash pack- the Elinchrom Ranger is notorious for getting held up at airports. However, safely wrapped up in the hold it got through with no hassles: phew!
here’s a few of shots
The view over thawed out Alp D’huez.
Photo Disco!
Below are some shots of some people who attended the private view of People of Stoke Newington. I had a set, which unfortunately wasn’t quite the photo disco I’d hoped for as I could’t get the lights rigged up. We’ll call that anyway as I like the name. It’s more fun.
The gorgeous Rachel!
My lovely neighbour, Malcolm
Wedding Photo Books
I believe there is something really nice and genuine about having a traditional photo album, with real individual prints lovingly laid out by hand. However, today there are so many other options out there such as just having digital files on disc, a DVD slideshow, photos on mugs and mouse mats (if that’s your kind of thing) and photo books.
I’ve recently completed Claire and Darren’s photo book and thought it would be a good idea to post a few images of it, so you know the kind of thing to expect if you order one.
They are hard back, with an outer sleeve. The front image is printed on the book itself and the sleeve which is not what you get with all photo books. The sleeve has inside flaps which have image and text on them too.
The images will be thoughtfully laid out in varying shapes and sizes according to what works with the design.
There is no upper limit to how many pages you have, though there is a minimum of 20. The cost will be adjusted accordingly.
Congratulations on our New Arrival!: The Baby Bath House
I’ve had the pleasure of shooting The Baby Bath House recently. Tava has done an amazing job of designing the interiors for her new baby! A definite destination for cocktails and some enticing after hours entertainment.
Thanks to The People
I’d just like to say a huge thank you to all of you that took part in my exhibition. That is those of you who were a part of the documentary and also those of you who took part in the live photo disco!
It was a great week and the show was seen by more people than we could have ever expected.
We hope you enjoyed the show!!
People Of Stoke Newington
EXHIBITION OPEN!!
My exhibition opened today, wohoo! It’s at Stoke Newington Library Gallery on Church Street. We had steady flow of visitors with a potential sale in the pipeline for one of Tom’s paintings! He’s been working on his series for over to years now and this is just one of many shows for Tom. Well done my friend! Russell’s scuplture is looking amazing, well you’d hope so with over 150 hours of precision cutting involved. Hope to see you there.
Proud 2 Superclub at the O2 arena
I have just completed shooting Proud 2 at the o2 arena in London. It’s a huge place that took three days to shoot! I worked with a great team of interior designers; Danielle Proud, Georgina Harper and Kahli Gaskin.
They transformed former club Matter into what is now Proud 2, which offers live music acts and DJs, as well as amazing circus performances to be experienced within luxurious Las Vegas style surroundings. It is truly an experience not to be missed!
For more info on the club and listings of their awesome line up over the coming weeks, check out their website
http://www.proud2.com/
Here’s some of the shots. It’s a place you just have to see in the flesh!
<
Claire and Darren’s wedding
i’ve just finished working on Claire and Darren’s wedding images. They were married in Thorpe Arnold at St Mary the Virgin church. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day enjoyed by all!
They’ve chosen to have a photo book created full of photos from their day. Once it arrives, i’ll upload an image so you can see what you get.
People Of Stoke Newington Photographic Documentary
Things are hotting up in the planning for my exhibition of the People Of Stoke Newington photographic documentary I’ve been working on. I’m sharing the space with painter Tom Hemming and Sculptor Russell Terry. It promises to be a show offering a good mix of work.
I started the project last summer, so it’s very exciting to see that it’s all finally coming together!
New Website Launched!!
I am very excited that today my new websites have launched! James at createinter.net (http://createinter.net/)created my new sites in record time and I’m so happy with the results. Now I can really get stuck into creating some new work for the galleries! Possibly time to get working on my work project with Mamiya 645 Super that’s been waiting patiently! I have two sites, sisters lets say! issyoakes.com and issyoakesweddings.co.uk