It’s been around 18 months since Phase One first launched the concept of Frame Averaging in their IQ4 series of digital backs – a technology that can produce an in-camera long exposure image, essentially “decoupling” time from the traditional exposure triangle, with no need for filters in front of the lens. As one of their global ambassadors, it was great to see it develop through from those very first images I shot for the Phase […]
Lensballs, glass ball photography, rabbit-holes – regardless of the name given to this style of photography, it’s seemingly becoming more and more popular with each passing day. As someone who’s more inclined to shoot literal scenes of landscapes and cityscapes, it’s often good to try something completely different, just to mix up the thought process a little. And that’s exactly what shooting with a glass ball did for me over the past few months. Every […]
Updated – only 24 hours to go before entries close at 23:59, 23rd April 2018 (CEST)! Once again, Phase One have pulled some huge prizes out of the bag for their latest Capture One Pro competition, and all you have to do to win is show them an image which is really special to you as a photographer… The top prize? An all-inclusive workshop with me, to your choice of either California or Shanghai later […]
Have you ever seen a still photograph of a cityscape move? Here’s your opportunity! Together with the guys at ToInspire, we’re pulling together each of my collections into a promo-reel, starting with cityscapes, “out of this | world”. Creating moving images from still shots isn’t the easiest thing in the world, and a lot of painstaking pixel-level work goes in to every single photograph to get the effect just right while still keeping as much of the […]
Well, that’s it! After 3 long years being based in Shanghai, this is one of the last images I captured of this amazing skyline. In the illuminated cityscapes I’ve now shot so many times, it’s easy to forget about all the problems, issues, health effects and frustrations that come as a downside to living in such a rapidly expanding metropolis – at least the view’s amazing! But stood on top of yet another amazing rooftop location, I […]
Of course, witnessing that sunset was a special moment in itself – but being up here on the rooftop of the Jin Mao Tower, the home of the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Shanghai, was especially significant for me. Soon, I would be leaving Shanghai – a place I’ve called home for 3 years now – and this was a return to the very first building I’d ever visited in Asia. Stood up on the roof with my […]
At the time of writing, this is literally the highest platform that a Phase One system has ever been in the world – pretty cool! Being able to capture the view below in 80 megapixels of definition is amazing, and the level of detail I managed to record (despite the circumstances you’ll soon read about below!) still surprises me. This might even become my new desktop background for little while 😉 Looking down on two of the world’s tallest […]
It’s that time of year again – the “WPP Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands” has just been released for 2015, and this year (their 10th anniversary) it features a subset of my Tiny Planets series. Contained within the 100-page publication, there’s analysis on every section of the world, along with insight into which brands are making headlines and commanding huge value. In between each section, you’ll find an introduction featuring a subset of […]
It’s every photographer’s nightmare: “That email” from somebody telling you they’ve seen your work published in a place you didn’t know about. Usually this results in a sunken heart, some stern letters and frustration that yet another person has taken your work without permission. So, when I clicked the message from Joey yesterday, it was not only a huge relief – but also a pleasant surprise. It seems an agency I’ve been working with has […]
Well this was a trip down memory lane – in more than one sense of the phrase… I last saw Ed Sheeran play live at a realtively small venue – the O2 Academy in Bournemouth. Back then, 4 years ago, he was still playing as a “new act” in many ways and had a growing base of loyal fans who sang along to every song with perfect timing. Also, “back then”, I was shooting a few […]
You may not be aware, but 2015 is the International Year of Light (or “IYL 2015”) – a global initiative adopted by the United Nations and UNESCO to raise awareness of how light and optical technologies can promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health. Along with over 100 scientific bodies spanning countries all around the world, SPIE organised a photo contest some time ago, and to my […]
It’s the one thing I promised myself I would never do after I upgraded my equipment from my Canon gear to a Phase One Medium Format system : re-shooting a cityscape I had already captured. But the lure of Shanghai’s rooftops on a clear night was just too strong, and here I found myself shooting “Shanghai Calling 2” with my 645DF+ and iQ280 digital back. Now, before I go any further, let my just clarify […]
This is Auckland, but not as we know it 🙂 This is the “Tiny Planet” version of my cityscape from New Zealand in June this year – and while only a bit of fun, I think it looks rather cool! Spending a week or so resting at Huvafen Fushi, I finally had time to start playing with some Apps I downloaded a long while ago. While there are much better (and higher resolution) ways of […]
There’s something really nice about arriving back in England for a few days to find some of your work, in print, waiting for you at home. This year the Royal Photographic Society has produced its 157th International Print Exhibition, featuring my image of Shanghai’s Nanpu Bridge – “Over The Rainbow” and both the RPS Journal as well as the Print Exhibition Catalogue were sat waiting for me to read when I got back from Shanghai. As the longest standing exhibition […]
It’s an industry I’ll always hold a huge amount of respect for – not only did I learn the foundations of my own photography from those I worked with as a model many years (and burgers) ago, but the techniques I was taught at the time stay with me to this day when it comes to posing others in fashion and fitness shots. Although primarily now shooting landscape and commercial work, every now and then […]
Shanghai really is a city that needs to be seen from above to be appreciated. The problem is that getting up there in the more traditional way (in a helicopter) simply isn’t possible – so there is a growing movement of photographers who (ahem) “access” rooftops with key vantage points across the city. It’s not a risk-free process by any means, but when you get up there and can look down at the pace of things […]
The homepage of Phase One looks a little different today, as their feature on my cityscape work appears as the headline story online. 🙂 Backed by feeds on their Facebook page, galleries, email newsletters and more – this is quite some campaign to get the quality of cityscape images that can be achieved with the 645DF+ and iQ280 out there and known. A year on from my purchase of their top end Medium Format equipment, I’ve taken quite […]
As always, the most frustrating images to capture are also the most rewarding. At 7pm on New Year’s Eve, this is the night shot I was taking from a nearby rooftop looking out over Shanghai’s “Nanpu Bridge”. “Over The Rainbow” – print available to buy now The bridge is one of two spans which link the two sides of the city – PuDong and PuXi. Not only is the HangPu river one of the busiest […]
