Historic Scotland Events Guide 2012

I took this cover shot which appears on the front of the 2012 Historic Scotland Events Guide at the Jousting Spectacular event at Linlithgow Palace last year. I spotted a couple of kids in the crowd who were dressed in medieval costume and after checking with their parents for permission, set up a shot where they were to be chased by one of the performers.

I love the look on the face of the wee boy who can't decide between screaming or laughing.

The full guide can be downloaded here.

There Goes the Bride

Blushing Bride Hayley Rooney fell head over heels as she helped launch the Scottish Wedding Show in Glasgow yesterday.

The photocall resulted in coverage in The Scotsman, The Herald, The Scottish Sun, Evening Times and The Metro.

The show runs from the 18th to the 19th February 2012.

More info from www.thescottishweddingshow.com

11 for 2011

Bell Rock Lighthouse
Client: Weber Shandwick



Festival of Museums Launch in Glasgow
Client: 3x1 Public Relations



First Minister Alex Salmond
Client: Holyrood Magazine



Wickerman Festival
Client: 3x1 Public Relations



Joanna Lumley launches the fund to save Moat House in Dumfries
Client: Jude Henderson PR



Ring of Brodgar, Orkney
Client: Historic Scotland



Dougie MacLean performs at Blair Castle during Perthshire Amber
Client: Butterstone Events



Virgin Money Edinburgh International Festival Fireworks
Client: Edinburgh International Festival



National Museum of Scotland reopens to the public
Client: National Museums of Scotland



Artist John Byrne
Client: Podge Publicity



The Pandas arrive at Edinburgh Zoo
Client: Weber Shandwick

Starbucks Drive-Thru to roll out across the Country

Starbucks Coffee U.K. recently announced its intent to create thousands of new jobs as it significantly steps up its drive-thru program following three years of development and strong customer response to the convenience of Starbucks coffee on-the-go.

The move will see 200 new drive-thru stores opened over the next five years and will establish Starbucks as the market leader in this area. Combined with openings of conventional stores over the same period, the company expects to create 5,000 new jobs.

I was commissioned to travel down to Manchester to shoot press images to accompany the release.

Portrait of the Artist

A £3.5m scheme by social enterprise Wasps Studios has regenerated a Merchant City warehouse as a new arts and creative industries hub for Glasgow.
The groundbreaking South Block studio complex, which will be shared by artists and creative businesses, is predicted to contribute multi-million pound benefits
to the local economy and jobs to an area which has been through tough times.

Some amazing amounts of creativity going on there.

IN PICTURES: Perthshire Amber 2011

The hills were alive with the sound of music recently as the 7th annual Perthshire Amber - The Dougie MacLean Festival took place across Perthshire. From it's new home in Dunkeld, the festival spread it's tentacles north to Pitlochry, south to Perth, west to Kenmore and east to Blairgowrie.

This year the festival attracted big names such as Eliza Smith, Jenna Reid, Canadian star Buddy MacDonald and music legends Archie Fisher, Phil Cunningham and Jamie MacGregor.

The ten day festival is a bit of a musical marathon but also great fun and it was a real pleasure working with Dougie, Jenny, Julia and Jamie MacLean. Also joining the team this year was lighting guru Gary Ebdy and PR supremo Jude Henderson who both made my job just that wee bit easier.

Next year's festival takes place 26 Oct - 4 Nov 2012.

Miss World comes to Stirling Caslte

Over 60 contestants from the Miss World competition recently dropped into Stirling Castle to brush up on etiquette before heading to London for the final of Miss World 2011 which was won by Miss Venezuella Ivian Sarcos.

Well done to them all.

Crowning Glory for Stirling Palace

A new, hand-woven tapestry depicting the Unicorn at Bay has been unveiled in the recently opened James V Palace at Stirling Castle.

The display of the tapestry also marks a funding milestone for the charitable foundation that made the project possible.

The 3.3m by 3.8m tapestry is the fifth in the series of seven to be specially commissioned to hang in the newly opened attraction within Stirling Castle.

The designs are based on a collection of original 16th century Flemish tapestries titled The Hunt of the Unicorn held in the Cloisters Museum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as research has shown that the Scottish royal collection also included a series depicting ‘the historie of the unicorne’.

Perth Racecourse Ladies Day

The photograph on the programme above was shot a couple of months ago for Perth Racecourse to promote their very successful Ladies Day which took place on the 12th May 2011. The photograph was used in the press, in print publications and on a huge billboard in Perth.


The shoot was less than straightforward. The first date for the shoot was cancelled due to atrocious weather at the course and the second date wasn't much better. It rained heavily for most of the time we were there and the sky was overcast and colourless.

The brief was to produce an image of a model dressed in pink, sipping pink champagne with a pink horse. The first part was relatively uncomplicated. We waited for a break in the rain and set up the shot, lighting the model to make it appear that the sun was shining on her.

The key to the shot was to get the horse facing in the right direction and also to make sure that it's ears were pointing upwards. Easier said than done. This took several attempts in between the model being stood on by the horse.


A great deal of post production was required to complete the image. Designer Adam Wilson from Four Colour Black did a great job making the horse pink and adding a pretty believable
blue sky.

All in all a fun job to work on. The client was delighted and Ladies Day was a great success I believe.

Stirling Heads Together for First Time in 200 Years

Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop yesterday unveiled the new gallery at Stirling Castle that will display the original collection of Renaissance sculptures known as the Stirling Heads.

A total of 34 Heads, some a metre across, have survived the centuries since their creation sometime after 1530. Many originally decorated the ceiling of the King’s Inner Hall at the heart of the Royal Palace and there is nothing quite like them anywhere else in the world.

Historic Scotland has 31 of the Heads in its care, and three original Heads from the National Museums of Scotland have now joined them in the new gallery.

Bit of a tricky shoot this one. The gallery is very dark (much darker than it looks in the photograph) with no natural daylight to protect the heads. An exposure of 1/6 of a second was required to capture the ambient light with a spot flash picking out the minister.