A hint of Santorini

Whilst our recent week in Santorini was a great break - with temperatures in, I'd guess, the mid 30's each day - I did take a camera (or two!).

It wasn't the right time of year (lightwise) to photograph some of the iconic images of Santorini that you have probably seen in calendars and postcards, so I concentrated on abstracts, patterns, textures and colours which, apart from one or two obvious images, could have been anywhere with a similar climate (there is a cunning reason for this).

So here is a small selection of my favourites, the first two, perhaps, a little bit more obviously Santorini:





These were the winding steps down to the hotel next to ours. What a fabulous view each day!



What's a Greek urn, as the old joke goes? Well, this pot was just outside of the steps where we stayed and I took one or two images of it in different light. This is my favourite:



I loved the simple pattern of these white steps and the shadow in Oai:



This was a close up of part of the hotel next door:



The reflection of some of the parasols in 'our' pool:



The best seats in the house for watching the sunset:



A litle Greek kitten (aaaaaahhh):



And, last one in this post, a classic holiday view (!):



More to follow.

Minatures from a Devon garden

A few days R&R over Easter, visiting my father and step mother in Devon.

Cameras, of course, came with me but rather than take any photos of people I was crawling round their garden on my stomach photographing some close ups of garden detail. Most unlike me because, apart from 'shooting' Mr Bojangles, the beagle, the other week my passion is to photograph people.

Anyway, I thought that some minatures of the garden would make a bit of a change, although I'm not a gardener and can't tell one end of a flower from another - unless a bride is holding the bouquet upside down!

Here are some of my favourites:



This, I'm reliably informed:



will open out like this (okay, I know what a daisy looks like):









Back to people later in the week!

Top secret location!

Those of you that know me will know that I'm slightly (!) anti white background, and love looking for locations where there are great colours and textures to use as backgrounds.

Well, last week a friend and I went to recce a potential new location, a derelict factory which I hoped would make an interesting location for some portrait sessions or even a trash the dress session.

Having seen it, there is certainly scope! Rather than show you a wider view because, hopefully, it will appear once we've done a shoot or two there, I'm posting some of the glorious details that I shot there.





And my kind of door, with flakey paint to die for(!):







I can't wait to shoot there!

Clarkson, Captain Slow and The Hamster

I'm not especially into cars and can't confess to being a fan of, or even watch, Top Gear but I couldn't help but go to Stanford Hall today for the Italian Car Concourse.

It was a chance to take the mickey out of my old friend and colleague John 'Alfa Male' Griffiths - and hopefully get a shot or two of him in typical 'pose' - but also Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were there filming for Top Gear.

Firstly, Alfa Male in action:

Then in more recognisable, 'tea-pot', pose:

The Top Gear boys hard at work:

Okay, they were working really:

Oh, and there were some cars there too!