This image was my winning entry in the “People and Portrait” category of the Microsoft Future Pro global competition. The image is of break dancers posing on the side of the Students Union in Cardiff. Two off camera flashes were used to light the dancers, freeze their motion and separate them from the background.

You can download a press release about my winning of the competition here. You can also see more on the Microsoft Pro Photo site.

The following post is a collection of images during my 5 day visit to Seattle.

Looking up at people in the Bellevue Art Museum

Part of the prize was flights and accommodation for the Microsoft Pro Photo Summit in Seattle, Washington USA. Despite having been to Canada numerous times, it was my first stop off in the States. The first night was a party for all the people at the conference, held in Bellevue Art Museum. The party was on the roof terrace and you could look up from below and see people’s feet! There was more crab than I could eat, total bliss.

Playing pool with the other winners of the competition

Drinks at Joe's bar, Bellevue

Entrance to the Westin Hotel, Bellevue

Local strimmer guy

Because of jet lag I was waking up at silly times in the morning, so deceided to walk around and see what I could find. I bumped into this guy doing some strimming. Or least trying to get the thing to work.

A local stacking chairs

Bainbridge seen from the ferry and a telephoto

One of the guys I met at the conference, Harris, recommened to go out on the ferry to Bainbridge island. It was well worth doing and there were some stunning views to be seen.

The City Line again as seeen from the ferry

There’s no better way to see the city scape

Mount Rainier seen from the Bainbridge Ferry

Happened upon a wedding

One of the buskers outside the public market, playing some good blues riffs

Back into Seattle with a fisheye

I managed to get to see a couple of galleries whilst there too, including Benham , Photographic Centre North West and the Seattle Art museum for a talk. I got talking to a bunch of people out there, and I hope some of them see this post.

I was lucky enough to catch a beautiful sunset at the airport, a perfect end to a great trip. The planes framed the sky nicely

I had a really good trip, met some really interesting and inspiring people. Many thanks to Microsoft, in particular for Jeff Green for sorting everything out! Seattle is deffintley a city I would like to go back to and spend a bit more time in.

Next week I will spending a week at The Times in London taking photos, looking forward to that a lot. Again here is a link to the press release about my winning of the event.

I am very proud/excited/happy to say that I have won a category of the Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Contest and I will, courtesy of MS, be flying  out the the Microsoft HQ in Redmond, Washington USA to attend the ceremony and find out what I have won. The competition is part of their Pro Photo Summit which looks like a really useful event in itself with lots of big name photographers and industry people there. I am going tomorrow (Tuesday) until Sunday next week and I am super excited!

I will do a write up of the event and no doubt have loads of pictures from Remond and Seattle too. Just got to go pack for it now.

I spent a week working at SWNS (South West News Service) taking photos and learning loads from the guys there. We did a huge variety of photos during the week and I had a great time.

Funeral march for three males and the first female to die in the current conflicts

I got the chance to go up in a helicopter over Glastonbury and got a bird’s eye view of the festival. It was really quite a spectacle to see 180,000 people all concentrated in one area.

On our way to Glastonbury I spotted this fire, this picture appeared in the Western Daily and on the Sun online.

Home coming parade in Trowbridge for the 1 Mechanised Battalion

These are just a small selection of the photos I took during my week, there are some more below. A big thanks again to SWNS and particularly Adam Gasson for being so accommodating.

I had heard of Duffy’s name, but not her music so was quite excited to see if she lived up to the hype! I wasn’t disapointed, I was truly wowed by it. Only got to do two songs in the pit instead of the usual three, there was a lot of blue light too!

It was amazing to see such a small dainty girl produce such a rich rounded voice, well worth seeing even if it’s not your usual cup of tea. She had a cool dress too! It is great to go and see acts who I wouldn’t normally consider seeing, and finding something new.

Still at SWNS in Bristol having a good time chasing after various people and hanging out on the beach… Will put some of them up in the next week or so I expect. Adam Gasson is now the king of all papers, having conqured even the Guardian double page spread, well done Adam!

Last week had a fun shoot with Jim to photograph 19 different types of leather jackets for Black Scissor tailoring. I have put a couple of my favorites up here, each jacket was shot from 3 different angles.

Leather jackets are not an item of clothing which I normally wear but there were some really nice designs in the collection.

The client had asked for an urban look for the shoot, and found a great location, a dis-used housing estate just outside of Cardiff.

There were so many cool places to shoot, it made the whole process really fun. A big thanks to Jim for modeling at short notice and doing a stellar job!

I always forget to get setup shots, but here is one for once! Each jacket had quite different features which needed to be captured. I used a mixture of natural sunlight and strobe for the shoot, depending on the particular location. Here two flashes are being used.

If you would like to purchase a jacket, you can go on Black Scissor tailoring’s website.

Next week I will be in Bristol taking photos, looking forward to that.

Friday 13th June was the Cardiff University Summer Ball in Coopers field, Cardiff. Thousands of students turned up to enjoy massive tents featuring artists such as Pendulum, Scouting for Girls and Kids in Glass Houses.

Galleries

For ease of viewing the photos have been split into into three galleries:

• Groups of students

• Students around the site

• Overview of site and acts etc

Prints

Prints are available of all the photos, the photos shown in the gallery are of reduced size and quality. For a small charge additional correction work such as removal of bottles etc can be done. If you would like a print, please contact me quoting the image number from the galleries above.

Prices for high quality lusture (matt) or gloss finish are:

• 6×4″ (one copy) £6
• 6×4″ (two copies) £10
• 9×6″ (one copy) £10
• 12×8″ (one copy) £14

To order please send me an e-mail quoting the image number displayed in the gallery below the photo, I can post them to you for a small charge or I am based in Cardiff where you can pick the photos up from locally.

Overview of the massive tent where Pendulum among others played

I have put a couple of samples on the site here, there are several hundred more in galleries listed further down the page.

There were fairground rides to enjoy alongside the music

If you have another request such as poster sized prints, or want framed photos feel free to e-mail for a quote. I am also available for future events of this kind, again please contact me.

Once again here are the list of galleries:

• Groups of students photos
• People around the site
• Overview of site photos, and acts etc

I had a great time, I hope you enjoy the photos

Some of the finely dressed students enjoying themselves

Overview of the main tent

I was recently fortunate enough to place in the final six of the Times Young Photographer of year competition. It was a great experience and I hope to try again next year, hopefully when I am not in the middle of my University finals! Here are two of the images I entered:

This picture of Mike Vine was the one published in The Times (UK). It was taken at Dinas Powys skatepark and I used 3 flashes to light the skater and freeze his motion. Mike took some nasty slams on this one, but I think it was worth it!

This photo was taken looking into the crowd at a Sum41 gig in the students union in Cardiff. The kids worshiping their heroes. No flash was used in this photo, just the light coming from the stage.

You can read more about the competition on the Times site. You can also view the images on Flickr by clicking on the images.

I took photos at the Cardiff University Summer ball last night, I will be putting galleries up in the next few days. There are a lot of photos so bare with me.