Joust The Job

Photographs to promote Historic Scotland's Jousting Spectacular which took place this weekend and continues next weekend (10th & 11th July). More details here.

Coverage was achieved in The Scotsman, Metro, BBC and other outlets.

Food for Thought

Tempted? Continuing my work with the Dakota Hotel just outside Edinburgh, I was commissioned to photograph a range of dishes prepared by Executive Chef Marc Robertson. These images, along with others will be published in various magazines and also used to market the hotel.

Visit the Dakota

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

Costa Coffee Academy

Training is on the menu as Costa opens Scotland's first Coffee Academy in Edinburgh. The new Costa Training Academy on Hanover Street aims to train approximately 600 Scottish baristas per year.

Photographs appeared in The Scotsman, Press and Journal and other publications over the weekend.

Make Your Own History

Historic Scotland has launched a Family Challenge to encourage Scottish families to see how many of its outstanding heritage attractions they can visit by 11th July.

The Family Challenge is part of the current 'Make Your Own History' campaign which promotes the opportunities for great family days out at Historic Scotland attractions throughout the country, including Edinburgh, Stirling and Bothwell Castle which is pictured above.

More info here.

Linlithgow Rose

Nice spread of images in this week's Spectrum Magazine from a documentary shoot I did a couple of weeks ago during the semi-final of the Scottish Junior Cup. I was commissioned by Scotland on Sunday to capture the excitiement of the game between Linlithgow Rose and Lochee United. Linlithgow Rose won and went of to lift the cup in the final yesterday.

Noisettes

The Noisettes set the tone at HMV Picture House in Edinburgh last night for the first of two Russian Standard Vodka Originals gigs where fans enjoyed a free concert.

Albert Roux

Legendary French chef Albert Roux at the opening of Chez Roux, his new restaurant situated within Greywalls Hotel near Gullane. More info here.

Back to School

Thousands of young people across Scotland are to benefit from an extension to a scheme which makes school trips to Scottish heritage sites more accessible.

Trips to the New Lanark World Heritage Site are to be included in the educational travel scheme for the first time, helping schools deliver heritage education through active and outdoor learning - all in the context of Curriculum for Excellence.

School visits to all Historic Scotland properties and three iconic National Trust for Scotland sites (Bannockburn, Culloden and the Robert Burns’ Birthplace Museum) are also covered by the travel scheme, which is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Historic Scotland. Pictured is Fiona Hyslop MSP.

Stirling Castle Decorators

Specialist decorator John Nevin photographed in the Royal Palace at Stirling Castle. This portrait was taken to be used for a feature in a French magazine. John and his son Mark are part of a team working at the castle using traditional painting techniques. More info here.

All The World's a Stage

This photograph was shot back in March for the launch of the Scottish Drama Training Network which is a collaboration between RSAMD, Queen Margaret University and Napier University.

Delighted to see it has been used on the cover Teaching Drama magazine.

Every Boy's Dream

14 year old Billy Leonard fulfilled his dreams at the weekend when he visited Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade's Museum of Fire. The museum held an open weekend as past of Show Scotland which is Museums Galleries Scotland's show case of the best of their collections.

More information on how you can visit the museum here.

And the winner is...

Kenya's Florence Kiplagat takes first place at the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run on Sunday with a personal best time of 32:10. Kiplagat was one of 10,000 runners taking part in the 10k race which this year had a new starting venue of Holyrood Park with part of the course going through the grounds of the Palace of Holyroodhouse.

More coverage and a slideshow on the BUPA Great Edinburgh Run 2010 website.

And also here:

• Athletics Weekly
• The Sun
• BBC
  

BUPA Great Edinburgh Run Press Call

Elite athletes Kipligat, Soi and Tulu share a joke at The Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh at the press launch of the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run which took place over the weekend. Kipligat went on to won the womens elite race in Sunday. More info here.

Easy Riderz

Cycling Scotlands' stunt cycling team The Riderz landed at Duddingtson Primary School in Edinburgh yesterday as part of a campaign to encourage 9-12 year olds to cycle to school.

Find out more about Cycling Scotland here.

New Look for Ollie and Forbes

Edinburgh based on line toy retailer Ollie & Forbes have recently relaunched their website which features may new product shots. Expect soon to see a new luxury range arriving which I recently photographed.

Visit Ollie & Forbes

Innis & Gunn Queen's Award

Dougal Sharp from Edinburgh brewers Innis & Gunn who have been awarded the Queen's Award for enterprise. It's been over two decades since a brewer has won the award.

Photographed on Calton Hill.

A Drunk Man Looks Up at the Thistle

Publicity shots for Red Note Ensemble's production of A Drunk Man Looks Up at the Thistle.

Scottish composer Bill Sweeney's 90 minute version of Hugh MacDiarmid's poem is a brilliant, multi-faceted setting of one of the landmark Scots poems of the twentieth century.

Red Note Emsemble are touring from the 3rd - 9th June. More information here.

"These are completely fab! They're really great. Thank you!'

John Harris
Red Note Emsemble

RoadKill Milliner

James Faulkener, Edinburgh based milliner who makes head wear from roadkill.

"I was walking with my friend and we saw a dead magpie on the road. She jokingly said I should use it and I thought, that's not a bad idea".

Photographed for Scotland on Sunday's Spectrum Magazine.

Ali and Sue's Big Bike Ride

On May 23rd, Sue & Ali McKichan will set off to cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats covering a total distance of over 1000 miles. During this 2 week epic, they will average 60 miles a day, climb the equivalent of twice the height of Everest, whilst hopefully discovering some tasty scone shops along the way. They don’t have the benefit of a support team, so will be carrying all their kit in panniers and will be overnighting in bunkhouses, B&Bs and with friends and family where possible.

The Edinburgh sisters are embarking on this challenge to cycle the length of Britain to raise much needed funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, who provide such fantastic practical, medical and financial support for anyone affected by cancer.

They are pedalling from south to north in the hope that the prevailing South Westerly winds will help them on their way. Their route takes them up through Cornwall and Devon to Bristol, then north hugging the Welsh border, through the Midlands and the Lake District.

The Scottish half of the trip sees them heading up through Glasgow, Loch Lomond, Glencoe, the Great Glen and on up to John O’Groats.

If you wish to support them, then you can donate via: http://www.justgiving.com/aliandsuemckichan

And they’ll be tweeting and blogging as they go – so check out the weblinks below:

Ali & Sue's Big Bike Ride
Twitter