I think I take photographs for the same reason I do graphic design – when I hit my mark, I mean, really hit that mark, manage to achieve something I’m just intrinsically happy with… there’s a certain endorphin rush that’s satisfying, exciting and particularly calming all at once. I can’t explain it better than that. It’s the achievement of that “j’ne sais quoi” that always seems to be just out of reach. But happening upon the design solution, evoking the atmosphere the shot was meant to have… even when you only get there a small percentage of the time and realise that everything else is somehow lacking… just hitting that perfect mark once in a while makes all the hard work, the constant unending hard work of everything else, seem perfectly worth it.

In my industry (graphic design), the old way of doing things is very en vogue right now. Computers advance, you can self-publish a book for a mere $75 (which I just did) and suddenly the days of yore take on that golden light of nostalgia. Not that we actually want to return to them, we’re quite comfortable with our air conditioned offices, Wacom graphics tablets, flat screen iMacs and polished wood floors thank you very much – but it is cool to ‘reference’ the old skool ways. And what better way to enjoy our industrial history than to make it a desktop Tchotchke? Relive the glory days without all the hard work it entailed, yours for just $29.95 a character. (No really, these were thirty bucks each from an antique shop! But they are kinda cool.)

My work moved to new premises a few weeks ago so that means it’s time for an office-warming, or launch if we’re grown up about it. As part of the design for the invite I took a few teaser shots around the office. Nothing ground-breaking perhaps, but they worked nicely with the whole black and red colour scheme of the invite.

There are always a few shots from a wedding that I remember well, and am quite happy with. This is one of them from L&S’s. There are likely to be more, I still have 1375 images to go through and distill down to the good ones.

It’s only a title, but how many people get my reference to The New Newlywed Game (or got it last time)? Not that it matters, just curious.

Oh, and this is L&S just outside the tiny church the got married in.

Nah, I’m not dead and I’ve not forgotten about Detour. Just been a bit short on any free time recently. Anyway, them’s the breaks.

Weddings always tend to have a couple of interesting people at them, and when I briefly spotted this guy after L&S’s ceremony I quickly grabbed a shot from afar. And then it turned out he was not only the bride’s brother but also the MC for the day, so he ended up being in quite a few shots later on. Still, this one’s my favourite, looking right into the camera.

L&S’s wedding ceremony was in quite a small church, and when I say small I mean the seating area for the congregation was about the same size as (if not smaller than) the chancel/sanctuary area. But it worked out nicely because they pretty much packed the place out, while elsewhere would have been a half-full church.

I photographed another friends wedding the other weekend, my second as an ‘official photographer’. This time it was a more standard wedding format, including the bride wanting some photos of her and the bridesmaids getting ready in the morning, which is the setting for this shot. That’s L, the bride, with her dad shortly before she jumped into the car to the ceremony.

And yes, I know there’s a mop in the right of frame. I might retouch it out later, but for now I kind of like the edge of reality it brings to the scene.

This is one slideshow I’ve been meaning to put together for a while. Just as with the Northern Lights, having the slideshow quickly fade between all the similar images makes it a lot easier to appreciate the differences and similarities.

I first described this art installation way back in March 2008. Seems like much longer ago!

I don’t know why I haven’t posted this one before, but looking at it now, and looking back over all the Amococo shots I’ve posted, I kind of think this one is the most typical of what you see inside the luminarium. And I suppose, the most typical of the photographs you can take.

Post-production wise, I’ve only applied a little bit of sharpening. The gradient of colours are just as you’d see them, the curves of the walls, the tunnel, etc, it’s all so Amococo.

Don’t forget to watch the video on the maker’s website here.

This shot shows the outer pods within Amococo – pods that were usually occupied by people just lounging around for a bit and taking it all in. It’s impossible to describe the luminarium (that’s the name given to the inflatable structure itself), so I found a video on the maker’s website that gives you a better sense of it all: http://www.architects-of-air.com/the-experience.html. It’s 10 minutes long, but definitely worth a watch, even for the first few minutes.

Same framing issues here as in yesterdays shot. Better framing over on Minaret Fisheye. Hey, ya win some ya lose some.

I think I shot this scene this scene before I shot Minaret Fisheye, because the framing here is a bit shit whilst Minaret Fisheye is spot on. Oh well, least the colours are still pretty.

This particular car has appeared on Detour a few times before so this is probably the last angle I’ll bother to post. From this POV I think it looks like a spaceship – a great big PINK spaceship. But that’s okay.