Merry Christmas!
Project 52: Week 52 – Christmas
Just stopping by to wish you all a Merry Christmas folks!
Summer Holidays!
Oh dear, I’ve been neglecting this blog rather of late haven’t I.. Sorry about that. I’ve not been neglecting my photography though and have been pretty busy over the past few months with training clients, and especially busy with my other passion which is my martial arts school.
There wasn’t a big point to this post other than dropping in to say that things are going great, I’m on holiday now for a couple of weeks and looking forward to a trip to Paris next week so expect some more regular updates again very soon!
Guidance for Security Personnel
In recent years there have been numerous reports of heavy handed security guards hassling photographers for taking photographs in public places. The fact is, you have the right to photograph anything you like if you are in a public place, including people, vehicles, buildings etc. so unless you are on private property said security have no right to stop you.
Thankfully, the British Security Industry Association have recently issued some guidance to their members in the form of a brochure which outlines the legal position and their expectations.
[button link=”http://www.bsia.co.uk/web_images/Securit-e-News/November%202011/photography_guide_002.pdf” style=”download” text=”dark”]Download the PDF Here[/button]
Sites which may be of interest:
- I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist
- Photographer in Golden Wonder crisps security fiasco (Amateur Photographer)
- NEWS UPDATE: REACTION TO ‘EXPLODING CRISPS’ FIASCO (Amateur Photographer)
Dope Awards… I won!
A couple of weeks ago I received a mail to say that one of my photos had been nominated for an award, it was this photo of Arleta Andreasik.
I accepted the nomination and sent them a few technical details about the shot etc. and thought nothing more of it until this morning, when I received another mail to say we’d won, so yay!
RIP Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs 1955 – 2011
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
– Steve Jobs
Training Update..
Just a quick update for those not on the mailing list.. (by the way, if you’re not, and you’d like me to add you, please just drop me a note using the contact page)
One-to-One Training
Wow, July was a busy month of training! I had at least a couple of students every week, including both new clients and some who were returning for some additional training. It’s always nice when I get to see people for a repeat visit, especially to see how far they’ve progressed. If you are one of my previous students then do please keep in touch and let me see some of your photos as I love to see how you’re getting on!
I had a suggestion from one student that it might be nice to see some of the others photos, and as we’d been to the same locations with a few different people it was nice to compare results. Click here for a few from the past week or two..
Availability
Getting pretty busy through August so if you’re interested in any training, please get in touch ASAP to compare diaries. Weekends are always the first to book up of course and at the moment the only slots available are 6/7th and 20/21st. Weekdays are still pretty flexible at the moment through until the 21st, but after that I’ll be in Paris for a workshop until the end of the month.
July Special Offer – Last Few Days!
Don’t forget – if you want to take advantage of the July special offer for mid-week training at a reduced rate you’ll need to book your training by the end of the month, Sunday 31st. I’ll hold the offer open for training dates through August too, providing the booking is made this week, after that it’s back to normal prices from next monday..
August Special Offer
August Special Offer – Bring a friend for half price!
Book a training session between now and the end of August and you can bring a friend for half price. Book before the end of July and I’ll even let you combine that with the mid-week offer. I must be mad!
Recent Pics
Here’s a quick snap from a nice walkabout I had in Bath a couple of weeks ago. Had a great afternoon there with Hannah and Tom.
You can see a few of my snaps from the day in this flickr set.
Training Courses – Update..
I’m getting very busy with training requests at the moment so first item on the agenda is availability.
Weekends
For weekends through July I now only have four days available:
Sunday 3rd,
Sat 23rd
30/31st
If you’re interested in booking a training day please get in touch ASAP!
Midweek Training
With the weekends being super busy I’m trying to shift some of those bookings to week days.
So, through July 2011 I’ve got a special offer on my one-to-one training days. If you book a mid-week session (mon-fri) before the end of July you can get £25 discount on the full day rate, which means you can get a whole day for just £150. These are filling up quickly so please get in touch ASAP if you’re interested.
Bookings
As I’ve been messed around a little recently with last minute cancellations etc. I’m going to have to introduce a couple of conditions on workshops and one-to-one training with immediate effect:
- Payment will be due in advance, with a completed booking form to secure your place.
- Cancellations made more than 28 days in advance will incur a cancellation fee of £25
- Cancellations made with less than 28 days notice will forfeit any fees paid.
- We will only reschedule due to inclement weather if this has been agreed in advance.
- If you need to reschedule due to illness or circumstances beyond your control you will not be penalised providing the course is re-scheduled within 28 days of the original date.
Payments
Advance payments can be made by cheque, bank transfer or paypal.
We will be adding a payment page to the site very soon to handle paypal payments for courses, books etc.
Getting busy…
I’ve had quite a few requests for individual training days coming in recently so my calendar is filling up quite fast for the next couple of months! Midweek slots are still looking pretty good but the weekends in July and August are filling up quite quickly so if you are interested in booking a day do please get in touch ASAP.
To encourage the mid-week slots through the summer I’m going to extend an offer through July and August. if you book a full day’s training midweek I’ll discount it by £25, so you can book a whole day for just £150. Strictly for bookings in July/August only.
Coming soon to a bookstore near you..
As I’m getting quite a few bookings now for my one-to-one training days I thought I’d upgrade the notes I’m giving to my students and get them bound up into a proper book.
That idea soon expanded and I realised I’m going to make a series of them!
Here then, is the first of many I’m planning to release over the next few months.
In truth it’s not quite finished yet, but i did order a few copies today of my current work-in-progress as I’ve got a couple of clients on Saturday for one-to-one training so I thought that rather than giving them tatty single sheets I’d give them the current version of the book instead.
Give it a few weeks and I’ll have a much better version ready for a proper release so watch this space!
In the news..
Had a little piece in our local paper today. (Click on the picture for a bigger version)
The article is a rather succinct version of the press release which the Royal Society sent, and though it’s not the most exciting read in the whole world it’s still nice to see it in there.
Nice they included a link to my site too :)
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