Last night was the launch of the RIBA book titled, Birmingham: Shaping the City
I was the Photo Editor for the book, and photographer for some of the projects, while Ben Flatman was the Author (a very nice man who spent years researching it).
Last year we had a limited run of photography books produced on Birmingham. They all sold out very fast, so if you missed those, you can now order direct from the publisher.
Essentially it is 142 pages of our best photographs from the Images of Birmingham Photo Library, covering all aspects of the city, from people to architecture.
There is also a PDF of the first 16 pages available to view, should you need persuading!
Taken whist photographing the interior of Colmore Plaza, Birmingham. A recently completed project by Abstract Land. Architects Aedas.
It turns out that I have been quoted on a piece of literature relating to Birmingham’s Big City Plan – essentially a City Centre Masterplan brochure.
After saying I was looking to do more work in black and white, I get a commission to photograph a ‘new’ area of Birmingham city centre in black and white for an ad campaign – it is basically a whole district of the centre. I’m not sure how ’secret’ the campaign is, so I’ll keep quiet!
The Crowded Gallery gets a three page spread in Exclusive Magazine. Highlighting some of my architectural and city photography.
I’m making 2008 the year of black and white photography. OK difficult with commissioned photography (although I am trying to persuade a magazine to let me do a shoot in black and white…), but a lot of my work could be done in black and white….and here is the first photo, of the Snow Hill redevelopment. It may end up in the next Birmingham book.
Speaking of which, a book I have been working on for the Royal Institute of British Architects on Birmingham architecture has reached the final proof stage. Fingers crossed, this means after four years work, the book will soon be published (start of March is planned). The city of Birmingham often gets knocked (not by me!), but love it or hate it, some of the architecture is cutting edge.
Carrying on the Birmingham theme – our ‘Images of Birmingham’ stock library has had a face-lift, bringing it a bit more up to date.
I decided after two of the networked PC’s both gave up over Christmas that I wouldn’t just replace them, but that I would upgrade all the software for photographic workflow. So, I purchased Photoshop CS3, Lightroom and some HDR software (which can potentially improve any architectural photography taken in challenging conditions), then I decided to upgrade all the screen calibrators. Although this has been one of the most challenging weeks of my life with regards to computers (mainly due to Microsoft Vista not mixing with professional photography), I can see how it is providing me a lot more opportunities when it comes to satisfying clients needs. Lightroom in particular looks as though it can cut hours off my post processing workload, whilst at the same time giving clients a ‘bit extra’, such as online proofing for example.
I have five copies of a Birmingham calendar produced by one of my clients, using images from the Images of Birmingham Photo Library. If anyone would like a copy posting, drop me a line.
