Mackie's turn on the heat at the Highland Show

Scottish ice cream family Mackie's were blowing hot and cold on the opening day of the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh. The ice cream manufacturers launched a new limited edition flavour to their potato crisp range - Scotch Bonnet Chilli Pepper alongside the chance to cool off with a sample of Mackie's new 'Extra Posh' range of ice creams.

Many thanks to Flora, the prize winning Jersey cow for her patience.

More information on Mackie's here

Musselburgh couple scoop £2m lottery win

LIFELONG Hearts fans Brian and Ann Sharp won on each of their seven lottery lines on Saturday night, with one line scooping them a share of the Lotto jackpot.

The Musselburgh couple, who have two daughters and a son, won a £2,033,705 share of the jackpot.

The couple received their winnings at Tynecastle Stadium yesterday. Coverage of the story appeared in BBC online, Scottish Daily Express, Scottish Daily Mail, Scottish Sun, Daily Record, The Scotsman, The Herald, Press & Journal, Dundee Courier, Metro, Scottish Daily Mirror and even The Times of Malta!

James VI Heads for London

An early start up at Edinburgh Castle on Friday morning to capture the departure of James VI. A rare early portrait of the Royal monarch - thought to have been used as part of marital negotiations with the Danish court - is leaving the castle this week to appear in an exhibition of Stuart and Tudor art at London's Weiss Gallery.

The painting, which has been attributed to Flemish artist Adrian Vanson is one of the few remaining portraits of James and certainly one of the most significant covering the period prior to the union of the crowns.

More information from www.weissgallery.com

Burns in Space

The mission has landed - at the Scottish Parliament! NASA astronaut Nicholas Patrick touched down at the office of the First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday to present him with a miniature book of Burns poetry which was on board the latest space mission to the International Space Station.

The project was the idea of the Scottish Space School which is a programme delivered by the University of Strathclyde. The book, which also contains a fragment of Jean Armour's wedding dress will be put on display at the new Burns museum which opens later this year.

Corporate Portraits

I was recently commissioned by TC Young Solicitors to provide portraits of their law staff for use on their website and also for inclusion in tenders.

We agreed to shoot the portraits against a white background to give the images a clean, fresh modern look. This also complimented the new look of the website.

I took along a portable studio to their offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh and set up in the board room, allowing for staff to pop in for a portrait session and importantly cutting down on the time away from their desk.

A bit different from a mugshot using the office camera against a door!

To find out how I can help you show your employees in a good light, please get in touch for a consultation.

Time for Tea

Sarah Boyack MSP joined Marie Curie nurse Valerie Hepburn and Myra Colville for the Blooming Great Tea Party at the Scottish Parliament to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Willie Nelson

Country music legend Willie Nelson performing at the Edinburgh Playhouse last night.

A Year of Celebration

Event Scotland recently published its report 'A Year of Celebration' on Homecoming Scotland 2009 which features a collection of photographs I took in my role as one of the official photographers.

The key findings for Homecoming Scotland 2009 are;

• £53.7 million of additional tourism revenue was generated for Scotland, representing a return on investment of nearly 1:10 and 22% above the target set for the year.

• 95,000 visitors to Scotland were influenced to travel to Scotland as a result of Homecoming. 72,000 were exclusively drawn by the celebrations, with a further 23,000 citing the year as a factor in making their decision to visit in 2009.

• £154 million of positive global media coverage for Homecoming and Scotland was generated by the multi-award winning PR campaign.

Download a copy of the report here.

Tony Robinson's Perfect Day

Tony Robinson, one of Britain’s best loved TV personalities, archaeology enthusiast and presenter of Channel 4’s Time Team, launches VisitScotland’s new Archaeological Treasures Trail which features some of the Scottish islands, including Inchcolm Island on the Firth of Forth.

More info from www.visitscotland.com/perfect