Taken from up top of the old wall next to the DeVere Hotel in Southampton.

No photoshop was used during the processing of these photos.

I was out taking some photos around my home city of Southampton last night and as I took the first of the photos in this series I was inspired by the classic Andy Warhol visual of old.  So I decided to leave the tripod in exactly the same place and take some more shots as the colours in the wall display changed.

Before last night I’ve never gone out in Southampton at night with the sole purpose of taking photographs, and I have to say I was quite disappointed with the efforts the local authorities have gone to to light up the old walls the city has.  Other than this wall (next to the roundabout near the DeVere Hotel if you’re interested) there was nothing.  The streets and shops were all lit up just lovely, but not even the Bargate was lit properly.

Very disappointing Southampton.

I know it’s another expense, and budgets are tight, but surely if the city invested more in this area, then the city would attract more tourists and more money.  The wonderfully lit arches here prove it can be done.

So come on you Southampton council folk, get off your arses and lets display our cities heritage off in a better way.

So I was kind of politely told off last week because in this persons opinion tea and cake wasn’t an appropriate choice of activity for a first date.

I know there are many more exciting things you can suggest to try and impress someone on a first date but when you think about it, what is a first date about?   Getting to know the other person to see if you want to spend more time with them?  What better way to do that than with a chilled out meeting over tea and cake?

What should I do?   Continue with suggesting tea and cake, or something else?

Please leave your suggestions in the comments box below.

I thank you. 

I feel I should try and keep with the 4 theme going on, but alas I cannot.

This is the third issue of the 4Networking magazine, 4Community, and it’s my third cover.  This photo was taken during the middle of the 4N Christmas party last year, everyone was slightly merry, and it’s my favourite cover to date.

I love seeing my work in print, and thanks to Brad and the 4Networking team that’s happened quite often over the last few months.

Cheers   Here’s to 4N going global over the next 4 years.

I enjoyed my ‘little’ 3000 mile / 10 day road trip from Las Vegas to Denver last year so much that I’ve been thinking ever since getting home in October just how I can better it and do something even more fantastic this year.

After weeks of thinking, I’ve come up with a cunning plan.

Currently my plan is to start in the Boston, and finish in San Francisco.  I’d take the more northern route across the USA, taking in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego.  I did think about hitting up Florida, but the humidity there just sucks the life out of me, so unless I get some amazing offers it’s probably not gonna happen.

What about Canada I hear some voice cry?  Not this year I’m afraid.  As much as I love Canada and Canadians, it’s time to see some new places.

I haven’t quite figured out dates yet, but I’d plan to start the trip sometime late August / early September time.  It would be my aim to be in Las Vegas for Olympia.  I’d end the trip early in October.

How to fund the trip is the next challenge.  To make it a little easier I’ve come up with the crazy idea of trying to crash in as many spare rooms / sofas as I can on my way across.  You see hotel costs on my extended trip across Canada last year almost killed me, and I figure if I can drastically reduce my accommodation costs then I’ll have more money left for nice steaks, beer and cake.

So, if you’re interested in shooting, giving me a place to crash, joining me for a beer, being a tour guide, or even joining me for part of the road trip, then please drop me a note and lets see what we can make happen.

I’ve known the mother and daughter team behind Floral Enchantment for some time now.  I’ve worked a fashion show on the Beaulieu estate and a wedding at Rhinefield House with them.   It quickly became clear to me that they are as passionate about all that flowery stuff as I am with my photo stuff.

So when they invited me to be a part of the wedding fayre they were organising I jumped at the chance.

“Floral Enchantment are coordinating a unique Wedding event, using local specialist businesses that offer that little something different as well as a bespoke service.

Our vision is that each bride to be receives a customer focused, luxurious and relaxed visit to a wedding fayre with a difference.  There will be a small entrance fee, which will  entitle each person a glass of champagne to enjoy whilst perusing the stands.

We visualize this Wedding Fair being very different to any of the current Wedding fairs, with an emphasis on luxury, something different with a more bespoke approach. We want you to come to the Wedding Fayre and see some exhibitors that will put that extra Wow factor into your special day.

The Wedding fayre is on Saturday 13th March 2010 11am – 3pm.  Hotel TerraVina, 174 Woodlands Road, Woodlands, Southampton, SO40 7GL”

I will be there all day on the 13th March.  Please pop in and say hello!

I saw these freshly shot pheasants hanging outside of the King’s Head pub in the small village square of Wickham, Hampshire.  The man who’d just shot them was walking into the pub with three fresh kills while I was taking a couple of snaps.

I’m not happy with the photos, so I’ll have to return again in the near future to try and get some better images.

On the specials board inside, £9.50 for pheasant and chips.  If I hadn’t already eaten I’d have ordered.

I had a few spare minutes this morning on my way to a client meeting at the local Krispy Kreme outlet (gotta love clients who suggest meeting at a doughnut vendor!).

It was a damp, cold, ever so slightly depressing morning, and I wanted my photos to reflect the day.

I had parked on the top floor of the Bargate Shopping Centre carpark, and walked up East Street, along to the Bargate, and then in the back door by the book shop in West Quay.

I’m planning to photograph my home town more often this year.  I realised recently after living here my whole life I have no proper photographs of it.   Southampton really isn’t as bad as this set of images make out.  It’s not the prettiest city in the world, but it does have some nice bits.  I want to show it warts and all.

I was at Rownhams House recently doing a little bit of video work for my friend, magician Paul Newton.

We were chatting over a cup of tea with the owner Roger, and he was telling us about a recent booking that he’d taken for a wedding later in the year.  The lady had come to visit in the evening and had been sold instantly by the look of the place at night.  Roger only had photos of the house during the day, so I offered to stay around half an hour later until it was dark enough to capture the house at night.

Rownhams House is hidden away just a couple of minutes from junction 3 of the M27.  The building in the photo has recently been beautifully refurbished for weddings.  If you’re looking for a venue for your wedding in the Southampton area I suggest you make your booking quickly, because once word gets out about this lovely venue it’s going to be booked solid!

It’s also ideally situated for me as its just a 2 minute drive from my house, so I really hope to be shooting weddings there very soon.

Update: I forgot to mention Rogers clock! If you pay him a visit, be sure to ask him to show you his clock as it really is quite impressive.

HDR (High Dynamic Range) images are cheating a little because they allow you to show a greater range of light and detail in the final image.  The above image was created from a single RAW file.  I extracted 3 versions (see below) of the image at -2, 0 and +2 stops and then set to work in Photomatrix which allowed me to combine the best bits from all three images.

Now I love dogs probably more than I like most people, but this one scared the crap out of me.  It wasn’t aggressive in any way, it was just big, bloody big.

It was early in the year, around March or April and I was on a photoshoot in the Miami area.  I remember it being stupidly hot and humid even at sunrise when we started shooting on the beach.  It was so uncomfortable that we soon had to admit defeat and head back to the house where one of the models was living.  I had heard this beast of a K9 barking for the previous hour from a distant corner of the huge mansion like house.  I’ve seen smaller horses than this dog.

Does anyone know what breed of dog this is?

Yes I know it’s a poor photo, but its all I’ve got handy.

We also used him as a prop for the shoot – below is a photo of that mornings pretty girl with the beast.