Turkeys

Christmas in the UK churns up all sorts of music industry oddities. And this year is no exception with the talent contest winner's version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Thankfully the song is strong enough to survive this attempt on it's destruction. And what of all the other versions? Well my favourite was the live version as seen and heard and performed by himself at Edinburgh Castle in June.
But the alltime great Christmas song has to be The Pogues Fairytale of New York. I found this version on YouTube. Shot in Black and White it's got a gritty noirish feel that compliments the near dereliction of the characters and their situation. One can't help but feel that someone from eastern Europe could be writing a modern version set in London. And who's that playing the copper in the opening scene?
And if you're fed up of writing cards and stuffing your face you could shoot a few turkeys here. Or if you're a vegetarian or guns ain't your thing you could hurl the fat red man here. Beat my 330 meters anyone?
Have a good yule.

New Year

With the year fast drawing to a close one of my last tasks was the creation of a 2009 calendar. I've included my favourite shots from the year plus one or two with lasting appeal. It's a CD case format and alas a very short run. Please let me know if you'd like one.

Christmas Ba Hum Bug

According to yesterday's Observer we are very much in 'thrift' mode. And how appropriate that Douglas at z360.com sent me this little ditty by Paddy Roberts from 1962. More 'post rationing' than Ba HumBug perhaps it never the less hits a spot.
(Opens in a new window. And if any one can tell me how Blogspot accepts .mp3 and .mov files I'd be very appreciative).

Carol Coulter Framing

Thursday, 11th December, saw the hanging of my 'Shadow' series of nude images at Bohemia, 31 Dundas Street, Edinburgh. It was also the occasion for their shop warming and Christmas shopping evening. And a grand time was had by all.
Picture framing was by Carol Coulter Framing. She wins my (and others) praise for her beautiful work which so wonderfully enhanced the images and brought them to life. Thanks Carol.
The prints are available online or instore, framed or unframed, A2 in size. Editioned at 25 each.
Thanks to Mike Coulter for the pixs.

Your Party Invite

Enlarge

New Town Nudes

Edinburgh's New Town that is.
My friends at Bohemia are about to add to their stock lines by selling original art. And they've asked me to kick it off by reinterpreting a series of 8 nudes (6 shown here) that I shot a little while ago. Sized at A2 and editioned at 25 each these are on sale at their Dundas Street, Edinburgh shop and also online. Printed on heavyweight archival art paper and framed by Carol Coulter Framing.

Smoked Salmon

I don't get to Aberdeen that often so when I was asked to head there for Waitrose Food Illustrated I jumped at the chance. And what a welcome we got at John Ross Jr. Their smokehouse is a listed building and the fish sides are smoked for a minimum of two days depending on the weather, temperature and humidity producing what I can only describe as the best smoked salmon that I've tasted in a long time.
It's all in Food Illustrated this December with words by Sue Lawrence.

Freud on Titian

Interesting report here from C4 on a Lucian Freud visit to view Titian's 'Diana and Actaeon'. Much in contrast to recent opinion pieces wondering if the appeal to save these masterpieces isn't at the expense of support for our contemporary grass roots arts scene. Now what's that rhyme about Titian up a ladder? Thanks to Conscientious.

It Support

I was shown this by another photographer on the Pro Imaging list and immediately thought of the gap between my perception of technology and that of my kids. And do you know YouTube used to be a derogatory remark here in Scotland?

Urban Angel

There's some new food photography coming soon to the Urban Angel website shot by yours truly. According to their mission statement 'urbanangel was created in 2004 to provide hungry city dwellers with the freshest, tastiest food possible. we love food and believe this means sourcing the best natural ingredients and paying a fair price to all of our suppliers. our customers can have confidence that we only use best local, organic, free-range and fairly traded produce available.' Branches at Hanover Street and Forth Street, Edinburgh.
And yes I did get to taste it all. For research purposes of course.
Still not hungry?

Evernote

Friday Coffee Morning and .... Ever wish you could just point your iPhone and capture a scene and it would be waiting for you when you next sat at your computer? Or an idea comes to you when you're on the top deck of the No10 and you want to save it to all the computers you access? You can now with Evernote. Shoot and save and your Text Note or Snapshot Note or Voice Note or Saved Photo Note will be stored on the Evernote server which you can access via a web browser. And it will even store the GPS details of where the note was created. Clever and free up to 40MB per month. And thanks to Mike Coulter at DigitalAgency for that.

Shot Up North

Shot Up North champions the non-London photographic industries here in the UK. Their annual competition was won by Robert Pogson from Scotland (correct me if I'm wrong here). The top 50 images can be seen here.
Nice one Rob.

Woman's nightmare wins prize

Lottie Davis has won this year's National Portrait Gallery Taylor Wessing Photo portrait Prize with a portrait illustrating a woman's nightmare about having quints. See the prize winning shots here and the finalists here.

DIY

I shot another story in Homes and Interiors Scotland, issue 62. Well 2 stories in fact. First off was a Sampler set (selected by Caroline Phipps-Urch) on wallpapers which we shot in an Edinburgh property that's very much in need of TLC. In fact the property is for sale through Rettie&Co so once you've created your perfect New Town home you could turn to the second Sampler story (selected by Gillian Welsh) and buy some cutlery.

LOOK AT ME

I came across this great site today and was struck by how much photography and particularly personal/family record shots have changed since the demise of film.

Duddingston House

Oh if only I was a young medallion clad dashing fashion snapper! (Notice please I didn't mention 'good looks' as these are still with me). Why? Because I've been and photographed what must be one of Scotland's most cutting edge but sexy re-inventions of a neo-classic Grecian mansion. Described in Homes and Interiors, Scotland (writer Emma Leask) as having an 'Alice in Wonderland' feel this is where the late Helmut Newton would have shot nudes if he were still with us. And indeed there are nudes by Vanessa Beecroft installed there within the fabric of the restored columns and plasterwork. 

Again contact me to see the full set and buy Homes and Interiors, Scotland, issue 62 for the full story.

West Coast retreat

Published in Homes and Interiors, Scotland (writer Jan Patience) is this story on a West Coast retreat that I shot in September. I was flown out to LA....... (I wish). Actually it's in Roshven, near Fort William, here in Scotland. Built by Helen Lucas Architects in collaboration with Malcolm Fraser Architects as a family retreat. It's caused lots of excitement and Helen is now working on several similar projects in the area.

Contact me to see the full set of images and buy the magazine for the story.

Great Panorama maker

Having just viewed Douglas Cape's pano for Seizure again I realize it may seem slightly esoteric to some of you. It certainly does for me. That's the featured art I mean. Douglas's work is much more accessible. See it here.

New Show Cards

Some of you may have already received one of these. If not and you fancy one or all please email me and I'll get them to you.

'Fish and Chips' was shot for Waitrose Food Illustrated, 'Dinner Lady' for East Lothian Council through MortonWard Design and 'Freemasons Hall' for Homes and Interiors Scotland. 'Old Boiler' is from a short series shot in a one hour period in a disused factory. More of that shoot later.

Interactive panos

Here's an email sent by my friend Douglas:

Hi Y'all

Latest Panoramic Tour!
"In SEIZURE, Roger Hiorns' most ambitious work to date, the artist precipitates an unexpected sculptural form within the fabric of a housing estate near London Bridge. SEIZURE continues Artangel's long tradition of transforming urban housing into large-scale immersive works of art."

Flash version (requires Flash 9, Broadband and a recent computer) on the front page of z360.com or directly at this URL:

http://www.z360.com/full/flashfull/seizure.htm

Hope you enjoy the blue show,
Yours Douglas