Huge Fire in Newcastle

I was in Newcastle today for one of my clients. When I finished I walked out to find a huge fire the other side of the river.

Links...

Daily Blipfoto

Photographing Former Olympic athlete Jonathan Edwards CBE

Had the priviledge of photographing Former Olympic athlete Jonathan Edwards CBE at Gateshead Games Maker event in Newcastle for one of my clients.

Earlier this year, the London Organising Committee for Olympic & Paralympic Games (LOCOG) opened the first volunteer interview selection event to interview and ultimately find the 70,000 volunteers needed to help stage the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, they will be known as Games Makers and the presenting partner for this programme is McDonald’s.

Links...

London 2012 - Gamesmaker Event Newcastle

Deborah Stephenson - Build a Bear Workshop, Bournemouth

Deborah Stephenson

I had the pleasure in photographing the actress Deborah Stephenson this week, who was taking part in a PR event at Build-A-Bear Workshop in Bournemouth.

Links...

MORE PHOTOS

CHFED.org

Google Profile

I have just created my own Google Profile

Behance Network - Portfolio

Just created my first Portfolio Gallery on the Behance Network.

This is a Free web site and enables you to showcase portfolios of work to potential creative clients.

Projects can be built with text, image, video, and audio, using their intuitive and powerful Project Editor. You can also embed from Vimeo, Flickr, YouTube, and more.

My Blipfoto

I am really enjoying using my Blipfoto account (an on line photo-diary journal).

Blipfoto is a web site for people who have a passion for photography. You basically join up and add a Journal photo - 1 picture per day. Simple as that, it's so easy to use.

Until recently, and before I discovered Blipfoto, my camera didn't get to see the light unless I was on a paid job, it was packed away in my camera bag, only seeing the light of day when arriving at the location.

Now however I keep my camera out of my camera bag, (where it should be) and I am continually thinking about what my Blipfoto of the day could or will be. This has been very motivating for me, and has helped me create so many lovely images, I certainly wouldn't have created if I hadn't started using Blipfoto.

Please view my Blipfoto Journal and see my daily pictures for yourself. And please don't hesitate in joining and subscribing to my diary photos.

Picture above shows some of my images when doing a member search for Meatheringham.

Waitrose Donates Past their best Fruit & Veg to Zoo

I had a long drive to Colwyn Bay this week to shoot some press photos for Waitrose's press office.

Menai Bridge Waitrose has entered an agreement with Welsh Mountain Zoo to send them fruit and veg, which is past their best, to feed their animals.

I worked for Waitrose myself in the Warehouse Dept in Cirencester many years ago now, and I was always appalled at the amount of waste we threw away.

My Pictures were to be used to send out to the Regional & National papers.

Katie the Chimpanzee is pictured here tucking into some Bananas and a Pinapple.

The Zoo is a lovely place to visit and the staff are so friendly & fun, I would really recomend it to anyone.

See Links below to some of the places where my pictures have been used...

Waitrose Media Site
North Wales Chronicle

Meerkats

I was at the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, North Wales yesterday for one of my clients Waitrose.

The Menai Bridge store has entered an agreement with the Welsh Mountain Zoo to send them fruit and veg, which is past their best, to feed their animals.

We photographed many of the animals there, but I loved getting close to the Meerkats, one of my favourite animals. They behaved very well for us.

Thanks so much to Paul Mattock of PM Photography for the photo of me at work above.

Blipfoto of the day Uploaded - Leeds

Leeds: Took this photo of people walking past this interesting looking shop window in New Market St, Leeds, West Yorkshire earlier today.

The picture I wanted to take was of some people queuing for the Bus against the window, but as soon as I raised my trust Nikon to take the picture they all turned their backs and therefore ruined the shot.

Documenting street life is not like the old days.

My Blipfoto Journal

Microsoft Outlook Signature Problems

This week I wanted to create a neater and more professional signature for my emails, and in particular, I wanted to add the social networking Icons and links you see above.

I had many problems along the way trying to add the Icons and rather than elaborate on these issues, I would prefer to cut a long story short and explain how I managed to get to the final result above.

The first thing I did was use google images to find the Icons for Facebook, Flickr, Blogger, LinkedIn, Blipfoto, Skype and Twitter. I saved these all in one folder together. I also made a list of the URL to my home pages on each of these web sites.

For some reason when you use outlooks own signature editor due to ActiveX and other reasons, the images don't appear and it doesn't seem to work properly. My version of outlook is ancient (2002) and I am sure there must be better systems on the more modern versions.

I worked out in the end that the only way to do it was to create a html page and add the images to this from the same folder as the index file. I downloaded Kompozer, a free html editor. It's very simple to use, as long as you have a basic knowledge of html.

I typed in all the contact information and then added the icons one by one, adding their link at the same time when inserting the logo. I also re-sized them all so they looked the same size, and Kompozer has a neat way of doing this, giving you the size as you re-scale.

Once I was happy with the layout I the html file in the same folder as the Icons. I then went into Outlook and went to Tools/Options/Mail Format/Signatures. I then chose New signature and gave the signature a name and making sure the 'Use this file as a template' was ticked I browsed for the file I just saved. And that is it - all done!

I hope this helps. I just hope now my emails don't start getting sent to my clients Spam bins, I will have to wait and see.

Cheers Keith

Staples Back to School Swapsies campaign - Bolton

I was commissioned to take some photographs, at the Bolton branch of Staples, that the PR Company can use for local press to help reinforce the Staples Back to School Swapsies campaign.

It’s a great idea whereby children can bring in their old pens, pencils, calculators and pencil cases which will be sent to Africa to children in needy schools. They get £1 back to spend on stationery themselves.

Staples – Swapsies

E-Training Feature - Liverpool

I was in Liverpool this week to do some photos for a feature which was published in The Publican Magazine (above).

I was commissioned by Lisa Harlow and the pictures were taken in Liverpool's Revolution Bar of a new on-line training method called e-learning by CPL.

Links...

CPL Training NEWS
CPL Training NEWS II
CPL Training BLOG
Morning Advertiser

Red Kite - East Yorkshire

Also stopped on way back from Pocklington, East Yorkshire when I noticed a lone Red Kite feasting on some fresh road kill in the middle of a quiet country road.

I slowed the car down and watched as this beautiful bird of prey settled in a near by wood. I parked the car and slowly made my way to where it was perched, it didn't take long for it to be alerted to my presence again and off it went again into the distance, but not before circling me once - almost giving me permission to get just one shot.

I haven't got the longest of lenses but this was done on my trusty Nikon 70-200 f2.8 AF-S VR Lens. (D300 magnification making it 300mm).

Out and About

This scene caught my eye while driving back from a job.

I felt impelled to stop the car and take some picture of some sheep who were being reflected in a flooded field in East Yorkshire whilst on my way back from a magazine job near Pocklington, East Riding of Yorkshire.

Not very often us press photographer get time to stop due to deadlines etc, so was nice to have a bit of time to spare.

The Boathouse Tewkesbury for Waverley TBS

Published Feature with my photos from my recent Waverley Feature in Tewkesbury, Glos.

Waverely TBS - New Financial Director Portraits

We were asked to photograph Waverley TBS's new Financial Director in their Edinburgh offices.

In September I was commissioned by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign to Document their recent trip to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

Pictured: Families and MSPs at Scottish Lobby in September 2009

Deputy First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, yesterday evening pledged that people with muscle disease in Scotland will receive the care support that they need after announcing a thorough review of neuromuscular services.

Campaigners had called for an urgent review of health and social care services.

The Muscular Dystrophy Campaign's Building on the Foundations in Scotland report revealed that the 5,500 adults and children living with muscle disease in Scotland face a ‘postcode lottery' of specialist services.

The announcement of a review was made as families and supporters gathered at a lobby yesterday at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. One of the crucial issues raised was the fact that there are currently only two part-time Muscular Dystrophy Care Advisors (RCAs), which is inadequate to care for the 5,500 people with muscular dystrophy in Scotland. The Regional Care Advisor posts are a vital resource for coordinating services and providing support, especially during the transition to adulthood.

Links..

Major neuromuscular services review in Scotland announced

Press & PR Photographers Throughout the UK - Editorial Photography
Yorkshire Press & PR Photographer

WWII Bomb - Detonation

Spent today photographing a story, for the Daily Express and other Papers, about a 500lb WWII Bomb which was discovered while someone digging up a second world war bomber which crashed in the village of Ebberston near Scarborough.

We had a Press briefing this morning at 10am and we were told their was a 1,600 meter exclusion area - which was not going to be perfect for photography. I decided to set up a video camera at the edge of the field just in case. I was glad to find that the camera was still in perfect condition on my return, so too were the ITV & BBC Cameramen's more expensive Cameras.

Unfortunately I have a problem with my old manual Tamron 300mm f2.8 and so I had to rely on my Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 without a 2x convertor! So I had to crop it quite considerably. If only I could warrant buying a £7500 400mm f2.8. In my dreams.

Interested in the Story see below...

Yorkshire Post - I'm in this video.
DAILY MAIL
Newstin
BBC

Press & PR Photographers Throughout the UK - Editorial Photography
Yorkshire Press & PR Photographer