Brittany and I met for sushi on Saturday, although it didn’t really go to plan as Shilla have stopped serving their amazing sushi platters. Still, we enjoyed some Korean food and quickly followed it up with a scone at The Hidden Lane Tearoom.
I really enjoy taking people to The Hidden Lane Tearoom who haven’t been before. It’s always a nice surprise for them walking down the misleading alley and being met by such a cute cafe. In Glasgow, alleys are generally used for men to urinate in.
Yesterday evening was interesting as I went for dinner with Emma, who I haven’t seen for a couple of years. We caught up over a burger at Black Sparrow (we both had the, well, Black Sparrow – cheddar and jalapeños). Afterwards, Mark joined us, and him and I partook in the Black Sparrow music quiz. We came joint last with another team. This doesn’t bother me too much, but Mark is a music producer!
Also… ISO 6,400!
I don’t photograph live music much; I don’t find it particularly interesting to shoot (I’d rather dance), and the lighting is terrible 99% of the time. But Gary, my friend who plays piano, asked if I’d spend 10 minutes shooting one of the bands he plays for, The Real Easy All Stars, during a charity gig. And I’m a good friend, so I did.
Today I spent a bit of time with Gary. He carried my new guitar home (thanks, Gary) and hung in my apartment while I edited wedding photos. He’s playing a gig at the hotel next door to my house, so I popped over and took some photographs of The Real Easy All Stars, which I’ll share later in the week. It’s been a good Sunday, but it’s been mostly work and no play. I want to play.
It’s been a while since I took my camera with me when I haven’t needed to. This disappoints me as taking my camera everywhere was how I found my feet with photography, and I often got good, candid portraits as a result (I even took my camera to the dentist). Last night was Glasgow’s Refresh. I’m making more of an effort to socialise with people who work on the web as I enjoy picking their brains and often find I learn something new (last night, for example, I learned the opposite of agile – waterfall!), and it also happens to be a good laugh.
Having spoken to some of the folk at Refresh, it seems there’s some interest in learning photography. I’m thinking of putting together a photo walk in Glasgow, so if this is something you’d like, leave a comment so I can gauge interest.
Yesterday – after spending the weekend in England for a wedding I was shooting – I had the pleasure of trying my first Krispy Kreme doughnut and meeting Kym Ellis. Kym and I have tried to meet on a few occasions, but something always gets in the way (like January’s crazy blizzard). It was great to finally meet as we both love cameras, coffee and – now that I’ve finally tasted ’em – Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I want to try them all. ALL OF THEM, I TELL YOU.
I had mentioned to Ayden a while back it would be fun to photograph her getting tattooed, and so – after a weights session at the gym and before I headed back to work – I popped into Timeless Tattoo for 20 minutes and did just that. I’ve never seen anyone get a tattoo before. I’m not interested in having one myself, but I generally quite like them on others. It struck me how much pain poor Ayden was in. She’s a bit of a veteran when it comes to tattoos, and I had gathered some people even like the pain. I like Ayden’s new tattoo because it reminds me of Bioshock.
Road tripping to Arrochar in March is becoming a bit of a tradition. And every time I do so the weather happens to be beautiful. Brittany and I (and Indie) felt inspired to spend the day outdoors. I want to shift the excess weight kicking about due to OD’ing on waffles in Bruges, and – next month – Brittany will be spending 2 months in Thailand, so we’re both on a bit of a health kick. It was good to get away from the ol’ ball and chain for the weekend i.e. my computer.
Earlier this week I was in London for business. Despite staying in Chelsea, which was pretty to look at, and being treated to a 3 course meal at The Fifth Floor (I would have loved to photograph my dessert, “Doughnut Funfair”), this was the only frame I snapped. Mark came with me as he’s pretty good at front-end development and procrastinating (only kidding, Mark). This was taken when we camped in Cafe Nero in Chelsea to get some work done.
On an unrelated note, head over to Kickstarter and check out Safelight, an app for photographers to proof and sell their work. It’s the fist Kickstarter project I’ve backed, and I really want to see it come to life.…
I can’t believe that, of all locations in Glasgow, I opted to shoot Abigail in Govan. Govan isn’t exactly the prettiest part of Glasgow, nor does it have the best reputation. In fact, within 10 minutes of starting to shoot in a disused patch of land, we were approached by two, inquisitive neds with Buckfast. It was 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon! Still, its grungy and – in some places – barren look is great for photos. Plenty of contrast to be had, which is just what I like.
