Friday 29 April 2011

Art and Contemporary Designer Fair in Surrey

It's a lovely day down here at RHS Wisley. We have a stand at the art and contemporary craft show in the grounds. It's open 9am to 6pm Friday to Monday. Over 150 top quality exhibitors so lots to see and buy!
More info at www.craftinfocus.com

We have lots of new prints and photographs in small to very large sizes up to 70 x 70 cm and 100 x 50 cm.

My 3 books are on offer this weekend too. If you are interested in a course come by for a chat, we may be able to help you make your mind up!

Meeting good friends tonight for dinner so looking forward to that. Hope the beer is good!

No sign of the Royal Wedding here!

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Cobbles and Broads

I made it home from Norfolk about 7.15pm tonight, almost 5h from Wroxham as delayed near Newark and had to divert.

Took some more photos around Norwich this morning on a very warm blue sky day. It was back to the Castle as the light was different to that in those I took yesterday evening.

Then on to Cathedral, followed by a stroll along the river bank to Elm Hill, an old narrow cobbled street with some old buildings. Finished about 11.45am with a shot of the Forum, a very modern building.

Then it was east and a bit north to Thurne for some windmills and boats on the Norfolk Broads. I also stopped in Horning and tried to stop in Wroxham but both were overrun with people so I didn't take a single shot.

Running private darkroom courses on the next 2 days. Will try and fit in a walk or two over Easter break as well as preparing for retail show at RHS Wisley next weekend.

Tuesday 19 April 2011

Trip to the Flat Lands

I'm in Norwich tonight. Didn't need to worry about journey, no hold-ups so here in time to take some photos of castle in evening light and the old Royal Arcade shopping mall.

Then it was straight over to give a lecture to the Norwich Photo Society. Very friendly, large, chatty audience, including people from neighbouring clubs too, so the evening flew by. Sold lots of books too which makes it more worthwhile travelling this distance.

Hoping for good weather tomorrow and more photos around the city before taking the long way round so that I can take some Norfolk Broads photos to fill a gap in my picture library.

Lecture in Norwich Tuesday 19th April

I am giving a lecture in Norwich tomorrow, Tuesday 19th April. Hope the roads are clear otherwise it could be a 5 hour drive from here.

Felt awful today, I have a cough and cold. Fingers crossed I'm better later on.

Caught up with printing, including all of the contact prints of the new London negatives that I took in March. Will try and scan for adding to web in next week or so.

Will take camera and tripod to Norwich and take some photos on Wednesday if the weather is good. May also drive across to the Norfolk Broads as I don't have any shots of these.

My Blackberry is still not letting me blog reliably. It loses all of the text sometimes so for some time I have been writing the blog in a memo and copying and pasting the text across when it is deleted by the software. It also no longer synchronises with my pc Outlook diary. The last Blackberry desktop software update deleted all of my configuration settings for the 3rd time. The last 2 occasions it either deleted my diary data or duplicated every entry so I'm not going through that again. Roll on August when the contract ends and I can change it!

Saturday 2 April 2011

Striptease at Wetherspoons

All set up at the British Craft Trade Fair here in Harrogate.

Had a bit of a walk around the town centre and ended up at the Wetherspoons pub, which happened to still have a beer festival running. Choice of 3 dark beers, bliss. Also had ringside seats for an impromptu striptease, part of a hen party. Seemed to be included in the price of a pint. Made mental note to visit Wetherspoons more often!

Looking forward to a busy 3 days at the show.

Trade Fair Weekend Fast Approaching

We are doing the British Craft Trade Fair, for the first time, starting Sunday until Tuesday.

Spent most of today pulling things together for it. Looking for some galleries and other outlets at the show.

Unfortunately, I had arranged a couple of lectures for Monday and Tuesday evenings (Derby and Nantwich) before considering booking the show. That means Jan will do the show alone Monday afternoon and Tuesday. The stand walls are 2.5m so not sure Jan is tall enough to reach fixings to take everything down and our steps are too low for her. Hope someone tall stops by to help!

Friday 1 April 2011

Great day in the Lake District

Forgot to finish the report on Lakes photo course last week.

The 3rd and final day (Tuesday) was great for photos. Lots of scope for big views with interesting skies.

Found a new viewpoint for Great Gable from near track up Black Sail Pass. Spotted it from below as we walked up from lunch at Wasdale Head Hotel. Nice shapely tree for foreground.

Probably best conditions I've seen in Wasdale for many years. Lots of lake, waterfalls and tree shots but it was the big views of Wasdale and the surrounding big peaks, biggest in England, that made it a stunning day.

Our next Lakes course is at the end of September. Looking forward to it already!