Yet another month is nearly over ....

Where is the time going? Before we know it it'll be Christmas again! So now is the time to really get to grips with having a good old clear out and starting afresh. Mind you, I've been trying to do that for the past year or so, but definitely am making a huge effort now.

Bookings have been coming in, and ironically with the exception of one, all of them have been clients that I've already photographed before and in some cases several times. Now for some new ones please. But I guess updating one or two of my slide shows should come first, so I'm going to spend the day concentrating on doing that, so let's hope that I don't get too distracted for the next few hours ... talking of which, Katie will be 6 months old on Sunday and on Monday she's going in to be neutered! As much as I love her, one puppy is more than enough for me to cope with, so although I'll be a wreck on Monday, I know it'll be for the best.

Will let you know when the first slide show is finished .....

... maybe you could be in one of my future ones ...

A very Happy and Prosperous 2013 to you all

Before I have the tax man breathing down my neck eager to fine me, I've got to get my form submitted and then I'm going to give my website a revamp and add more pictures, testimonials, etc.

Katie (the puppy) is now nearly 5 months old and isn't actually helping at the moment as she loves stealing anything she can get her teeth into - particularly any of my paperwork!!!

Incidentally I won £10 on last Saturday's lottery. Just managed to retrieve my ticket from her mouth before she did no more damage to it other than ripping it in half! Fortunately sellotape saved the day ....

I'm still reducing all my prices, so if you or any of your friends are in need of an update to your publicity shots, now would be a good time.

11.11.12 - A huge happy 6th birthday to my cat Susie and her twin sister Emma ....

and introducing the newest member of my family ... 12 week old puppy Katie ....

This is her first time in my studio. As with most puppies she can climb but not get down again, so I thought it best to put her onto this chair, knowing that she couldn't move!

What a poser!

Living with a photographer this is a room that she'll be spending a lot of time in, and I daresay that, like Nikki, this will become second nature to her. By the way, have you noticed a similarity?

Can't take her out yet as she's only just had her first injection, and apart from the occasional 'little accident' she's pretty good at locating the puppy training pads!

Susie, the cat, wasn't exactly overjoyed by her arrival, but they haven't come to blows, which is a good sign. I'm just hoping that I'll be able to get the two of them into my studio together eventually so that I can get them both onto my 2012 Christmas cards! Got my work cut out there, but heh I'm a professional ....

More pickies to follow eventually ....

 

Nikki (31.08.2000 - 17.10.2012)

As most of you know, I sadly lost my little dog Nikki recently. I feel very lost and empty without her, as she was with me every minute of the day. Besides being my little buddie, she was also a major part of my working life. She came with me to meet clients from the station, she had her own duvet in the studio, and even got into a number of photo sessions. When I bought new lights or a new camera she'd sit for hours posing for me whilst I tried them out. She is going to be sadly missed by so many people, as I've already found out from the numerous lovely messages that I've received from my friends on both Facebook and Twitter.

I couldn't let her passing go unnoticed, so this is my little tribute to her with some of my favourite photos of her. I hope you like them.

2005 Nikki with baby David / 2002 Nikki with actress Debra Stephenson

2005 Nikki with Presenter Gabrielle Bradshaw plus her sculptures / 2004 Nikki going on her hols!

2007 Sisterly Love - Nikki (7) with Susie (5 months) / 2008 Nikki with actor Michael Barber

2003 Nikki with actress Bella Emberg / 2009 Nikki with "Elvis" Gary King / 2011 Nikki's 11th birthday

2006 Nikki + Presenter/Jazz trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton / 2011 Christmas Card - Nikki with Susie

2006 Nikki glamming it up with drag artiste Ian / 2006 Nikki with singer/actor John Leyton

2005 Nikki in Christmas mood / 2007 Christmas card - Nikki and Susie

God bless you Smalldog. Rest in Peace XX

 

Where do I start?

I guess by apologising for not having written anything on this page except ‘will update later’, but I’ve been extremely busy.

Firstly on the work side … I’ve had some lovely new clients and several old ones coming back to update their pictures … which leads me neatly onto the subject of updating! I’ve not been happy with my Testimonial page for some time, as it meant that you had to scroll down and down and down to read each one, and the more I get the longer it takes. I decided that instead of keeping that layout I’d change it to a lightbox gallery with all the clients visible on the screen … ok so you have to scroll down a bit … I can’t help it if I’m so popular! … and then you can click on any of the faces and it’ll open up with a larger version + their testimonial. Simples as the meerkats would say!

No, not simples!!! Firstly I had to create a photoshop template enabling me to make the picture + testimonial as one photo …. after resizing them all, typing each separate testimonial into a word document template (I decided that white on black would be best …. after the first 20 or so I was beginning to regret it!) … then each testimonial had to be saved as a pdf file and then resized, etc so I could position it on the photoshop template next to the photo … and so it goes on and on …. took forever, but I was pleased with the result.

However, when after about 5 days I’d finished all the preparation and arranged the final layout on my webpage … the bloody thing didn’t work properly. There was no ‘Previous’ or ‘Next’ buttons and the ‘Close’ button simply looked like a broken record … albeit a square one! After many sleepless nights I decided to uninstall the lightbox software and remove every part from my system and reinstall is … still didn’t work. I then discovered an upgrade which I downloaded, but still the same problem … by the way it looked great when I tested it out, but not once it was uploaded. So I had to remove my website from view and keep at it until I’d got it working properly.

After hours and hours of checking through pages of code and trying to suss out what the problem was, a light came on in my head. The upgrade was trying to pick up the old files that no longer existed! If I hadn’t decided last year to teach myself from scratch how to create a website I honestly wouldn’t have had a clue what to do … but heh, I did it and once I’ve finished this page, it’ll all be up and running again.

I want to change the layout of the About Rosie page too and also update the slide show on the Home page, but sod it, that can all wait for now … I’m not going miss any more of this beautiful sunshine!

On a personal note … due to an abscess beneath a back tooth which for over 30 years has been supporting a bridge & crown, I had to have it all removed … the bridge & crown, the 2 supporting teeth and half a tooth which was still inside my gum, which even St Thomas’ Hospital failed to notice was there … the reason for my constant infections! For 6 months or so I will have a rather large gap on the left side of my mouth, but … wait for it … on February 14th next year will be the final fitting of my new teeth, after several other sessions, including a 3 hour surgery in October to place the implant posts in position … and I need to find the rest of the money to pay for them! Seriously, the first part which I had 2 weeks ago to remove the teeth wasn’t painful at all, even though I’d been petrified for weeks, knowing what had to be done. Today I’ve had my stitches out and now I have to wait until it all firms up before the next part, which apparently won’t be as bad as the first session … Bring it on!! I think I'm secretly in love with my new dentist!

Other than that I’ve been doing as much work as possible in my garden – putting decking all around my pond, building a waterfall, re-building a park bench after the wood from my old one had decided to disintegrate, and now I’m thinking about putting decking around my pool … pictures of all to follow ….

One last thing I’ve lost a stone in weight! A few years ago I noticed that I'd gained a few extra pounds and I just couldn’t shift them. A very good friend of mine came to see me 3 months ago and commented on how well I was looking. I remarked that I wanted to lose some weight and he said that he and his wife had both lost a lot through Weight Watchers. I’ve never been very big … probably why Suzi Quatro called me a ‘short shit’ back in the 70s, and at 61 I'd accepted that maybe ‘middle age spread’ was here to stay, but I thought I’d give WW a go, and in 12 weeks I’ve gone from 9st 5lbs down to 8st 5lbs and even the size 10 shorts that I used to wear a few years back are too big! It was the best thing I ever did and the WW chocolate bars are to die for!

Anyway, I’ve got to get this website on line again, so I’ll bugger off now and do that and then I’m going in my pool … that’s a point I need a new swimsuit … oh well I guess skinny-dipping will have to do for now ….

Don't forget to check out my Testimonial page to see if it was worth all the effort ...

 

12.04.12

Halfway through another month ... where does the time go? I seem to spend most of it apologising to people for not updating my blog, tweeting, facebooking, etc, but heh when you run a house and business single-handedly there's not much free time left ... well I do have to eat, drink and sleep sometime ... and take the dog out of course ... looks like rain, so she'll just have to wait.

As most of you know I'm into diy. I find it quite therapeutic and also it's a bloody sight cheaper than getting some other bugger to do it ... and generally not that well. In fact B&Q has become my best friend lately!

I've got a rather large pond with a (homemade) bridge across it and I put broken paving stones around the edge. But I noticed recently that several of them have started dive-bombing into the water and disappearing! So when I did my water-change last week (got in before the hosepipe ban) apart from discovering that I've got a lot of babies and some large brown fish that obviously prefer to spend their time at the bottom of the pool, I managed to rescue the paving and decided then that I would replace them all with decking. And guess what B&Q were selling theirs half price! YES!!

I don't need it too wide as it's just to make it look pretty and to cover the exposed lining, so I estimated that 20 planks of 2.4 metres (just under 8 foot to us oldies!) would be enough. I've got a Vauxhall Corsa and if I put the front seat flat and remove the back shelf I can get that length in easily, but I forgot that you have to take the width into consideration too, so after I managed to load up 15 of them I'd run out of space! Fortunately a friend lives locally and he came to my rescue and brought the others back for me. But before I could start on the decking I had to make a frame for them to go on ... back to B&Q. Fortunately the 12 lengths of 2x3 went in perfectly!

So on Friday I went out with my saw, drill, screws, cd player and bottle of wine, and with the help of Adele, Amy and Lady Gaga I made a start ... Saturday I did a bit more, but then the heavens opened and that was it. Fortunately I had just enough time before my first client arrived on Tuesday morning to stain it before it started rotting away to nothing, and now I can't wait for the weekend to carry on. I bet it rains!!!!

While I'm still on the subject of 'Rosie's Garden', years ago I used to be an avid fan of Ground Force ... I considered myself to be 'Charlie Dimmock with smaller ... well much smaller boobs' and like a large percentage of the national, painted every bit of wood in my garden blue! Well blue is my favourite colour, but now I've decided to go more Japanese and everything is turning black ash, with a bit of red thrown in .... I'm obviously getting more sophisticated in my old age.

Just to give you a sneak preview this is my bridge ... with the early stages of the decking framework .... oooh!

In case you were wondering, yes the knobs on the top of the bridge are wooden curtain pole brackets! The right size and a lot cheaper than buying real knobs!

The netting is a necessity as I have a daily visit from the heron and he takes great delight in standing on the bridge with his tongue hanging out! I assume that heron's do have tongues ...

 

Before I leave the subject of gardening and get on to more important matters, I thought I'd introduce you to my little log flowerpot man

Along with the garden bench, he's a recent gift from my pal Jackie. I told you that I was now painting everything black - it wasn't my fault that he happened to get in my way!

And now for something completely different: Some exciting news. My buddie Steve Huison (formally Eddie Windass in Coronation Street) is to star in a one man/woman stage show entitled Fat Brenda - My Flamin' Story (written by and about another of my chums - @fatbrenda - the person who makes Twitter worth while, and is the unseen but often mentioned switchboard operator in Weatherfield!) starting tomorrow night at Harrogate Theatre, before embarking on his UK tour ... sadly I have to wait until he brings it down South until I can get to see it, but I know it'll be F.A.B ... or should that be F.A.T. .... see what I did there?

Now on to my own business ... I can't leave without reminding everybody that I'm doing a special rate for all actors, performers of any kind, writers, business men and women, in fact anybody who needs new head shots.

Colour and black & white for just £100 ... just click on the star for all the details. Not sure how long it'll last, but it's proving to be a massive success at the moment.

 

 

See you all very soon ... hopefully in my studio

24.03.12

What a busy month I've been having ... not that I'm complaining.

Last Sunday we celebrated my brother's birthday plus Mother's Day with a delicious lunch at The Bella Vista in Blackheath. And I've even managed to spend a bit time in my garden between photo sessions.

Work-wise it's been great ... Spotlight time ... my favourite times of the year. As most of you know I love taking actors' head shots, and fortunately my clients seem to enjoy it too, as I'm receiving more and more glowing testimonials from them, which I'm gradually adding to my Testimonials page. If you have any actor friends who need to update their pictures, tell them to check out the special offers on my Acting page.

A lot of you are still asking when my on-line shop will be up and running. Let's just say it's getting there! I've got two options. I can open it today, with only a quarter of my products for sale and gradually add more pictures over the weeks, or I can put it on hold for another month and have a shop to be proud of. If you were opening a shop in your local High Street, would a small amount of stock be inviting enough for people to come back again? I don't think so ...

"So what's taking the time?" I hear you ask! I'm a Capricorn (well Capricorn-Aquarian cusp!) and we like to put 100% into everything we do. I'm not just putting the pictures onto my new site, I'm giving people the option of buying them with either a black or a white mount, which means each jpg has to be shown with both. Also when I first scanned my negatives and slides (which go right back to the early 70s) they had to be done in a rush for a talk that I was giving. Although they look fine and have filled a lot of pages on this website, for printing purposes (20"x16" / 50cmx40cm) the quality has to be perfect, so yet again I've been wading through boxes of negs & slides to find the originals to re-scan on a better quality scanner. Also it's not going to be restricted to just celebrity photos ... which means adding new shots along the way ... am I forgiven for keeping you all waiting?

Whether I'm doing photo shoots for my clients or supplying pictures to my customers, I believe in producing the best I can.

Hopefully now my Twitter and Facebook chums will forgive my absence, but trust me, it'll be well worth the wait!

Enjoy the sunshine ...

01.02.12

I hope you're all well and enjoying 2012. Can you believe that we're already into the second month of the new year .... where did last month disappear to?

I've had a birthday 2 weeks ago, but I'm continuing the celebrations through to this weekend!

I've had some exciting news too. BBC4 are making a documentary about the lovely actor Richard Briers and have asked if they can use my photo of him as the pantomime dame - Dame Gerty Goodlife - which I took in 1982 (30yrs ago!!!) whilst I was helping out as a dresser in Croydon during the performances of Babes in the Wood.

I mentioned last time that I'm currently creating an on-line shop to sell my work. People are asking me how soon it'll be up and running, as already I've had 3 orders before the site is operating.

I promise that it will be finished soon, but I don't want to upload it until I have enough material for you to see. With 39 years of work you can imagine how long it takes to go through the remaining negatives, slides and photos that aren't already on the pages of this website, but as I said to a friend recently "You wouldn't open a high street shop with only a quarter of your stock on view".

All the photos on sale will be supplied with either a black or white mount (you get to see what the picture looks like with both, so you can decide which one you'd prefer), ready to put into a 16" x 20" (40cm x 50cm) of your choice. The ones I use for exhibition purposes are in black frames with glass, and I really don't fancy the idea of sending these in the post, as when I had my initial delivery of 30 frames from their warehouse, half a dozen of them were cracked. At least I know my photos + mounts will arrive safely with no damage to them!

Keep warm and make the most of any sunshine you get .... won't be long before the Spring is here!

I'll keep you update about my shop. Hope you'll come and have a look. In the meantime, please feel free to browse through the different pages of this website and let me know which pictures you would like to see on sale in my store (by the way, all the ones on my Galleries page are already included), or if there are any celebrities that you'd like to see who aren't on this site ... who knows I may have some hidden away in my house somewhere!

See you soon ...

29.12.11

Apologies for being so lapse when it comes to writing this page, but heh we've had Christmas, so I hope I'm forgiven.

Well it's nearly 2012 - I can't wait. Just to let you know that in the new year I'm setting up an on-line store. After printing up several of my photos to include in an exhibition and discovering that people liked them enough to buy them I've now decided to include a lot more and sell them on line.

Click on this logo you can see the ones that I exhibited, to give you an idea of what's to come

Further details to follow.

In the meantime, a very Happy New Year to you all.

 

04.10.11

Apologies... I've just realised that it's been a whole month since I updated this page. Mind you, I was happy to leave my birthday girl (Nikki the dog!) to enjoy her fame for a bit longer.

Even though it's been a month I've not got a lot to report. Made the most of our sudden blast of summer and spent as much time as I could in my garden and pool. Suddenly today somebody has pulled a switch and it's gone back to the usual October British weather! Off have come the shorts and cossie and on have gone the winter gear!!

Apart from that I've created a new animated banner for one of the acting sites and already it's drawing attention and the bookings are coming in. Unlike the actors, the Kids (well their Mums) like to get their Spotlight sessions booked well in advance, so it looks as though the half term break is sorted!

I've got a fairly big garden, which was beginning to look like a jungle, so it was good to be able to spend time out there in the sun getting it cleared. However, using a B&D edge trimmer wasn't such a good idea as I nearly took off the top of my finger - now I know why in 20 years it's only the second time I've used it! Like a lot of people I became obsessed with "Ground Force" many years ago and ended up staining everything in the garden dark blue - from the bridge over the pond, to the garden furniture to the pergola. Well I've now decided to opt for a Japanese feel and have been painting them black with the odd bit of red. It's looking good and photos no doubt will appear on here when I've finally finished.

Not much more to report.... in studio, take pictures, do paperwork, have the occasional Tweet, drink plenty of wine and try and catch up on some TV....

Come back and join me soon.... who knows I may even have something exciting to tell you.

Have fun ...

02.09.11

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS!

Before you all start feeling guilty that you've forgotten my birthday and rush out to buy me expensive presents - although you can it you want! - it was actually my little dog Nikki who had the birthday. She was 11 on 31st August....

I got her from Battersea Dogs Home when she was about 8 months old. She'd already been in there for 4 months, having been thrown out as an unwanted Christmas present. I knew the minute I saw her that I had to have her, as she looked so much like my other dog that sadly had to be put to sleep 2 days before. Although there were several hours before I knew that she was definitely mine (bless her she'd been in rehab!) at last this little bundle was coming home with me.

I knew that for several weeks everyone would be calling her Ricky after my last dog, so Nikki was my obvious name choice. As I was a massive fan of Bad Girls and Nikki Wade was top dog, that's how the spelling came about ... and very occasionally she can be a bit of a bad girl!

By the way, she's asked me to thank all of my Twitter and Facebook chums who kindly sent her birthday greetings.

Enough of this sentimentality!

At last yesterday summer arrived in South East London - not before time - so I made the most of it and spent the day in my garden.

The lawn finally got mowed for the second time this year! And I made a wooden box!

I've got a cable running from my studio to a power block and the casing was starting to disintegrate, so I decided that it was time to make a proper one. With my jigsaw and drill at the ready I set to work and, even though I say it myself, it really looks the DBs - I even putt a little door on it! I knew I was wasted as a photographer!

Busy day today reminding the male actors that their new Spotlight pictures are due in 6 weeks.... why do they always leave it until the very last minute? ... 'because they are men!' I hear you shout.... I'm saying nothing!

Have a great weekend....

See you soon .......

21.08.11

THE PRESSURE'S ON!!!

Why is it that when you've got a day free and you decide exactly how you're going to spend it.... it never works out as planned?

I've not spent a lot of time in my garden this year ... the weather is a lot to blame ... but I noticed that I no longer have pale pink paving slabs (see how many times you can successfully repeat that!) outside the back of my house, along the side of my studio and on the patio ... no they are definitely not pink ... they're black and moss-ridden! So now was the time to give them a zapping.

The sun was shining (something we've not seen much of lately) and it was mild enough for shorts and a t-shirt ... plus the all important fashion accessory ... wellies ... now down to the shed for the pressure washer.

I hadn't used it for a few years, and I vaguely remembered that it was playing up a bit last time, but I'm sure all will be fine now. And it was. I did the first slab and it looked beautiful ... quick get the camera out to show the before and after effect, and then on to the next one and the next ... all going well until I'd done about 9 and suddenly it started making a kind of groaning noise. Get rid of kink in hose and all ok for another one.... but then another groan. Give it a rest for a while and start again. Suddenly the gun extension split and as I squeezed the trigger water started spurting out the side ...oops!

Rush round to friend Jackie to borrow hers. She did warn me that it was given to her, that she'd never used it and that it may not be complete.... it wasn’t.... the extensions were missing and the separate ones she gave me obviously came from a different machine ............... aaagh!!!

Onto the internet.... B&Q ... found one that was on special offer and exactly what I wanted. Checked to see if it was in the local store ... low stock but could be reserved for collection ... YES! ... great! NO!, not until after 10.00 am today and I needed it yesterday! I phoned them and no, they didn't have any. By now I was losing the will to live and contemplating opening the wine, but I knew I couldn't just leave it. I phoned the next local branch and yes they had one and would put is aside for me to collect.

Got it.... then had to put it all together ... it did have a LOT of accessories.... but I was now ready to rock. As I opened the back door the heavens opened and it rained and rained and rained...

After half an hour I decided that it wasn't going to stop so on went the wellies, on went my packamack and out I went. My new toy worked perfectly and in spite of the weather and the fact that rain had already got through to my clothes I wasn't going to be beaten.

I've been out this morning to look at my handiwork and I must admit that it looks fab.

So if anybody's got a patio that they want cleaning let me know cos I'm now an expert!!

By the way, if you missed it, you've still got another chance to see the interview I did with Pauline Barclay ...... http://paulinembarclay.blogspot.com .....(dated Monday 15th August .... and no, I hasten to add, mine's not the 'A Pain in the Bum' article!)

15.08.11

I'M A CELEBRITY ......

No I'm not going into the bloody jungle to eat animal wotsits, but I've become famous for a day or maybe two....

The lovely Pauline Barclay, author of great reads .... "Sometimes It Happens", "Magnolia House" and "Satchfield Hall" asked if she could interview me for her blog page ... and it's all there in black & white (plus the odd colour picture or two!) I've even ventured out from behind my camera ... just for her ... but I've now crept back again incase I get stalked!

So read it now .... but don't forget to come back here again .... http://paulinembarclay.blogspot.com .....

14.08.11

THE WONDERS OF TECHNOLOGY!

Hands up all of you who assumed that when you save a contact on your mobile phone that it's automatically saved on the sim card! Last weekend I found out that it didn’t... the hard way!

I switched on my mobile and a bit when I went to send a text message it was turned off.... and it didn't want to come on again. Although I only it for texting or in an emergency if I'm out, I knew that I couldn't do without my mobile. Also, it's hard enough remembering landline numbers, but at least the code is a help, but how many of us actually remember anybody's mobile number ... most of us have trouble remembering our own!

Reluctantly I went to Carphone Warehouse and bought another one, came back, put the sim card and discovered that there was nothing on it. In the past, when I've changed my phone, and on occasion the network, the guy in the shop has automatically transferred all the data across for me. So I jump in the car and go back to the store. "No problem. Give me your old phone and I'll do it for you". But my old phone won't switch on! "Then there's nothing I can do. You'll have to get it repaired." Having just spent £50 on a new one, I didn't want to spend out another £50 to get my old one up and running again.

I've spoken to quite a few of my friends and all agree that they too learnt the hard way. That they too didn't realise that the contacts, messages, etc were saved to the phone itself and that you had to manually save them to the sim card.... why don't they tell you this on the first page of your instruction manual in CAPITALS!!!!

Like most people, I've got hundreds of phone numbers on my mobile that I would never remember in a million years.

After a very despondent night I woke up on Monday and decided that I'd look up local mobile phone repairers and I came across one in Sidcup - Essex Cellular Telephones Ltd (ECT).... actually they'd moved to Welling, but it was still local enough and Michael, the guy in the shop said that if he could get it working it would cost me £15 and if he couldn't there'd be no charge. I should stress that they only do Nokias, but heh mine are Nokias, so it was well worth a try.

With dog, I drove to Welling and left my phone, hoping that he could perform miracles, whilst we walked around Footscray Meadows for the next hour or so. We'd just arrived back home when he called me with the good news. He'd not only got the phone working but had saved my 300+ contacts onto 2 sim cards. I won't be making that mistake again....

Not much more to report this week except that I sold a framed photograph of QUEEN to a client … oh and yes I got stung by a wasp or something equally vindictive. But I lived to tell another lie … Just wish it would stop stinging & itching!!!

See you soon .... have a good week

09.08.11

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Can you believe what's happen in the UK right now? I've never watched so much news in my entire life, but channel 80 (BBC 24hrs news) is on in the background all the time.

My Mum plays bridge in the local high street on a Tuesday afternoon and they were all told to go straight home as they were expecting trouble at any time from 2.00 pm. She said that all the shops were closing and the shutters were down .... at midday! And apparently our local Argos has already been hit. As she got on the bus to come home she saw all the police congregating, ready for another attack. As the bus continued through our local village she saw all the shutters down there, and a gang of 'hoodies' standing in a doorway. I love my hooded tops, but I don't put them up in the summer!!

My Mum, bless her, is 88 yrs old and she's phoning to warn me not to walk my dog through the village. It makes me sad to think that her and all her friends, who are very active ladies of a similar age and belong to all the local clubs, are now being forced back into their homes ......

That's it ... got it out of my system .... let's just hope that this 'war zone' that the UK is currently experiencing ends soon.

This is only my second ever blog, so I'm basically a 'blog virgin' so forgive me if it's taking me a bit of time to 'go with the flow' and really get into it. Having had 3 hours sleep doesn't really help, but I'm kinda getting used to that now!

I would like to thank everybody who has praised me for this new website, and apologise to all those who are still trying to open up links to the pages that I've deleted!

I'm glad you like the new layout & the new slideshows. The software I used to do the old ones reduced the pictures for download purposes & then stretched them to fit the frame so they looked out of focus .... really good for a professional photographer!!! I was really pleased with the new software, but once I started changing the slideshows I then decided that I wasn't happy with the layouts, the extra pages, the backgrounds .... and so it went on, which is why I closed it down for 3 weeks to do a total revamp... and now that I'm up and running again there's gonna be no stopping me ....

BTW (for those of you who are not twitter-ites that stand for By The Way!) as I had to put everything on hold for so long I'm extending my 'special offers' .... but they will have to go up eventually, so get on the blower to me and book your appointment now.

I'm still waiting for confirmation, but it looks as though I'll be having my first ever solo photographic exhibition ... can't say too much yet until I know more .... but suffice to say that I may have gone from sharing a converted barn to having my own exhibition in a Grade II listed building in just one step .....

Besides totally revamping this site I've also done the same to my studio, so those of you who've been here before will notice a big difference .... better go as my next client has just called to say that he's on his way and I'm off with the dog (Nikki) to meet him from the station .... he won't get lost & she gets an extra walk so everyone's happy ............... see you later ......

04.08.11

MY FIRST BLOG

This will be my first Blog .... but it won't be my last .....

If you can remember John Miles' MUSIC feel free to sing along! By they way, while I'm on the subject, check out what he and other celebrities thought of their photo sessions on my About Rosie page!

2 years ago I was asked to give a talk at the local Mottingham Festival - yes it sounds like Nottingham, but it's spelt with an 'M' and is a helluva lot smaller, but this was still a big thing for me! As a photographer, a talk would naturally include photos, but when you're expecting a room full of people you can hardly hold up a print or two, so I decided that if I was going to do it, I'd do it properly.

I bought a projector & a huge screen and then spent the next 6 months or so going through 31 years of negatives and slides to scan and add to the jpgs that I'd taken since I became digital in 2004, to get together enough material for an hour's talk. So why am I telling you all this?

Why restrict my newly scanned jpgs to just local talks when I could use them for my website, which is what I eventually did, but now a year later I decided it needed a total revamp and I've finally finished it.

At last it's up and running again. Hope you like the new look.

Before I forget, I must give a big apology to all my Twitter mates as I've been neglecting you all recently .... now you know why. Thanks for being so patient.

I've got lots to tell you, but that'll have to wait for now ...... so come back soon .... I'll be waiting for you!