MGEITF 2010 Saturday Highlights

Highlights from Saturday at the Festival included The Bill and Eastenders star Scott Malsden, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Shameless creator Paul Abbot with Mariella Frostrop and Coronation Street creator Tony Warren.

MGEITF 2010 Friday Highlights

The UK's TV industry descended on Scotland's capital city last weekend for the annual MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.

For the second year I was commissioned to provide photography services for the three day festival which involved supplying press images, covering delegate sessions, lectures and parties.

Friday's highlights included the McTaggart lecture by BBC Director General Mark Thompson, TV's Got To Dance competition, hosted by Vernon Kay, an appearance by Louis Spence and Radio 2's Jeremy Vine.

Striking the right (Harpsi)Chord

Culture Minister Fiona Hyslop marked the announcement of more than £200,000 of funding for Recognised Collections of National Significance with a visit to University of Edinburgh's Collection of Historic Musical Instruments.

Fort George Colossal Event

In Historic Scotland’s largest event of 2010, hundreds of performers travelled from all over Britain to the impressive military fortification of Fort George.

Commencing with a grand parade into the central arena, the day unfolded with a series of exciting, informative, impressive and interactive shows, displays and presentations covering everything from the marching soldiers of the Roman period to the fighting troops of the twentieth century.

More images here on the BBC site.

Radio Forth on the Fringe

Radio Forth on the Fringe played to a sell out Playhouse Theatre on Saturday night - bringing together the very best the Edinburgh Festival Fringe has to offer.

This is the third year I have photographed the show for Radio Forth and the new venue added to the fantastic atmosphere.

Scottish singer KT Tunstall topped the bill which featured comedians such as Craig Hill, Phil Kay, Stephen K Amos and Reginal D Hunter. Britain's Got Talent dancers Flawless joined Drags Aloud and The Boy With Tape on his Face in the 3 and a half hour show hosted by Forth One DJ's Boogie and Arlene.

See the HIGHLIGHTS on my FACEBOOK PAGE or all the photos on the Forth One site here.

Strictly Mark Foster

Olympic gold medalist and Strictly Come Dancing star Mark Foster dipped in to Glasgow recently to launch the British Gas Great Scottish Swim. Scotland's biggest swim takes place at Strathclyde Country Park on the 21st August. Still time to enter. More info here.

Racewall - Cowdenbeath

I was recently commissioned by Scotland on Sunday's Spectrum Magazine to photograph an afternoon and evening at the Racewall in Cowdenbeath - home of Scotland's Stock Car Racing. The photographs appeared in last Sunday's magazine.

Click here to read Peter Ross's Spectrum Feature

Wickerman Festival

Last weekend I was commissioned by 3x1 to provide press and event images from the Wickerman Festival which takes place near Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway. The festival is now in it's ninth year and this year attracted bands such as The Charlatans, Ocean Colour Scene and Tony Christie. Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos also made a surprise appearance.

I spent Saturday afternoon and evening capturing the atmosphere around the festival and wiring out photographs to the national and regional press. The highlight of the weekend was the burning of the Wickerman which took place at midnight on Saturday.

It was touch and go for a while as the mist rolled in from the sea and threatened to obscure the effigy. In the end the mist added to the feel of the magical event and fireworks provided a backlight to the sculpture, picking out its shape though the mist resulting in a great image.

Achieved good coverage in, amongst others, the Sunday Herald, The Scotsman, Metro and on the BBC website.

More pics on Facebook.

Starbucks Edinburgh Re-design

I have been working with Starbucks over the last couple of months to provide photography services for the redesign of their flagship store on Edinburgh's Royal Mile which has been completely renovated.

I was commissioned to photograph the store before and after renovation and also to provide press images (above) on the opening day. The press photographs show customers enjoying the new store and include portraits of Darcy Willson-Rymer, managing director of Starbucks UK and Ireland.

The press day also included an illustrated talk by Tim Pfeiffer, senior VP Global Design, coffee masterclasses by Alan Hartney, Starbucks UK Coffee Ambassador and specially created canapes by Edinburgh chef Tony Singh.

Into battle

I was up at Stirling Castle last week to carry out some photography of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum which is situated within the castle walls. Stirling Castle is home to the regiment which gave us 'The Thin Red Line' and which also boasts 16 Victoria Crosses (which are on display).

The photography is to be used to enhance the Stirling Castle website.

Well worth a visit and worth the admission price to the castle alone.

Games For Scotland

EVENTSCOTLAND AND THE SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT RECENTLY LAUNCHED THE £329K GAMES FOR SCOTLAND PROGRAMME DESIGNED TO ENGAGE COMMUNITIES THROUGHOUT SCOTLAND IN THE LEAD UP TO GLASGOW 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES.

View the full set of images on my Facebook Page here.

That's Magic

Ian Kendall, Magician, Edinburgh.
Commissioned by Spectrum Magazine.

Scotland's Shops

Fiona Hyslop, Minister for Culture, at the launch of “Scotland’s Shops”, a new Historic Scotland book examining the architectural history of shops in Scotland.

The book, written by Dr Lindsay Lennie, and funded through a three year Research fellowship with Historic Scotland, was launched in one of Scotland’s most iconic shops, Jenners Department Store, Princes Street, Edinburgh.

More information here.

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