Owen Phillips

It’s been a good while since I put anything on here – especially anything photography-related. It’s, quite frankly, been a crap year for landscape photography. Too much weather, too much of the time.

However, the other day I did mange to take a brief wander around Dovestone with a small array of cameras and had a bit of an experiment shooting HDRs from single RAW images. My usual technique has been to shoot three exposures, at approximately +/-1.5 EV – then create the finished shots from these. However, due to my dislike of lugging a tripod around I do end up getting problems with ghosting, particulalry if I can’t find something to rest the camera on, or if another factor is preventing me holding it still enough between frames – such as strong wind, or a dog on a lead pulling at my arm!

For this reason I’ve been meaning to shoot RAW for a while, and see how they go. The post-processing workflow is a little more involved, but I’m pretty pleased with the results. The technique has resulted in much sharper shots than normal, and I don’t think the lack of range is particularly noticeable. If I can stomach the extra storage space required to hold RAW images then this might be my preferred technique from now on.

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It was a lovely hazy summer evening yesterday, so I wandered up to Langsett to have a wander around with the dog and a camera. I don’t go up there often – mainly due to the popularity of the place. It really can be heaving at times, with everyone-and-their mother taking a stroll through the woods around the reservoir.

Indeed there were a few people around initially, but by the time I started ascending up to the moors above the reservoir we had the place to ourselves save for the sheep and grouse. We ended up doing a big loop up onto Hingcliff common, down through North America (yes, we have our own North America here in Yorkshire – there’s not a lot there!), and back to the van via Upper Midhope and a march across the dam.

The dog practiced his usual trick of standing right in front of whatever I wanted to photograph, but despite his efforts I ended up with a nice bunch of pictures. Everything was tinted gold by the evening sun, and there was barely a breath of wind to disturb the waters. I will no-doubt be printing a few of these before too long…

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Silver Lining Piercing approached me the other day for a flyer design to stand out from the crowd, and to appeal to their target audience of 14-25 year olds. I created a bespoke illustration piece, and incorporated it into a retro poster-esque layout, ensuring something completely unique to sit apart from the thousands of other flyers that are thrown at students these days.

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I’ve just finished an Open Mic poster for the Blue Cat Cafe in Stockport. They got in touch with me out of the blue (sorry!) after finding the posters I produced for The Nook Open Mic online.

The cafe looks like a bohemian sort of place, with a focus on live music, and even has its own record label. It looks well worth a visit sometime, if I’m ever in the area!

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This post basically consists of a bunch of film I’ve shot over the last few months, and not got around to doing much with! There are some local views and some things I find interesting, mixed in with some lesser-known aspects of Holmfirth and some cataloguing of summer frivolities (if you can call it a summer so far!) I did have to conduct a little bit of trespass to capture a couple of these, but feel it’s all worthwhile in the name of Art… I hope you agree!

Reservoirs in the rain

As the weather hasn’t really let up recently, I decided to take a film camera up to Yateholme to capture the scenery. Usually all my landscape work is in colour, but when the whole landscape is painted various shades of grey, black and white film seems ideal to capture the textures and feel without making everything look grim. The following shots were taken at Brownhill, Riding Wood and Digley reservoirs, using an old russian Lubitell 166b TLR (you can see it on the Vintage Cameras page). This one is easily the best of the bunch:

Around and About

Some of the following prints were taken on the Lubitel 166b, some on the Yashica Mat 124, and some on an old 1930s Zeiss Ikon 515/2 bellows camera which I picked up recently for nothing on ebay and which is absolutely superb. I used it for the first time on my Dr Sketchys Burlesque shoot a few months ago, and love how it handles and the sharpness of the results.

Breaking and Entering

Okay, here’s where I may land myself in trouble. I was looking for a suitable subject to test out the Kodak No 1 Autographic Jr, after doing some remedial renovation work on the bellows. And to me there was only one ideal subject sitting on my doorstep for testing a 90-year-old camera. Bamforth’s old illustration studios and postcard factory has stood crumbling for as long as I can remember, which to me seems a monumental shame – both for the beauty of the building and its crucial role in the heritage of Holmfirth. It’s boarded up and fenced off and has warning signs all over the place telling you not to go in. With a little cunning and bit of clambering though, access was easy enough.

The floors in there look like a death trap – most of the roof has long-since departed and as a result the floorboards have rotted away. I was treading carefully, trying to put my weight over the beams. It appeared the local low-life had got in there before me though and left their graffiti tags in places. The only other occupants were a good quantity of pigeons who seemed to be doing their best to fill the place with excrement. I was a little disappointed not to find any old artefacts in there, but it is just a solitary, crumbling shell. Despite that  I took a roll of shots before it started to pour with rain and the water came sheeting in through the hole where the roof should be. Most of the shots are a little underexposed, but I hope you still find them as interesting as I do.

Holmfirth Subterranea

After being decimated by floods twice in a hundred years, it was decided Holmfirth needed some substantial flood defences. The resultant storm drain passes right under the centre of the village, and the other day I donned my wellies and went exploring. Again, it seems the chavs had got there first. Why they want to go and spay their graffiti in such grot-holes is beyond me – but then i suppose I bothered to go down there for some reason. These shots were taken on the Yashica Mat 124 and the Old Kodak No 1 – which by now is beginning to show signs of the bellows failing again. It looks like my repair work was unsuccessful.

People of the ‘Firth

Finally, what would Holmfirth be without its merry inhabitants? Here is an array of shots captured over the last few months on the Lubitel 166b, the Yashica Mat 124 and the Zeiss Ikon 515/2 – The square shots are from the Yashica and Lubitel, the rectangular ones from the Zeiss Ikon. I love the sharpness and clarity of them, particularly in bright sunlight. I have a feeling that camera is going to see many, many more films before it’s done!

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These pictures are a couple of months old now – I seem to have been too busy with serious work to get them uploaded. They hail from a weekend trip to the east coast, and an early morning wander around York with a camera. All are taken using the Yashica Mat 124 and The Kodak No 1 Autographic Jr (both of which feature on my Vintage Cameras page).

My favourite from whitby is the shot below of the lighthouse. It was a very windy day in Whitby (is it ever not!), and having made the effort to drag a weighty old TLR around all day, I managed to find a gap between the rain and spray while walking back from the edge of the harbour wall and caught this shot of the old lighthouse. I love the way the stonework is eroded by years of lashing wind and salt spray, standing stalwart and strong as a reminder to the crucial role it served guiding generations of mariners back home from the North Sea. I ignored all the rules in the book about composition and shoved the lighthouse right in the middle. I think it works! The rest of the shots are below…

Whitby & Robin Hood’s Bay – Yashica Mat 124

Robin Hood’s Bay – Kodak No. 1 Autographic Jr.

York – Yashica Mat 124

I have two favourite York shots from this selection. The first is the following image of the Shambles. I always loved York, and particularly the Shambles, from when my Grandparents used to take me there when I was small. The other day I drove Adele into York to start her shift early in the morning and had some time to kill. I wondered around the streets with a camera and happened to land on the Shambles at the only time I’ve ever encountered the street with no-one else on it. What is usually a hustling-bustling throng of people peering into windows is laid here as a deserted, winding, medieval street.

My second favourite is the following shot of the Minster, for which I’ve coined the tire From One Old Monument To Another. I was making my way slowly towards the railway station to get the train home. I took a detour along the walls and caught this low-angle view of the Minster in early summer haze, standing watchful over the city as it has done for generations. The shot makes me wonder how many years back folks have stood on the wall at this spot and seen this view of the Minster, while all around it changed. A genuine view from one old monument to another.

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Amazingly the other day it didn’t rain. A statistic which makes the day exceptional for the “summer” we are currently experiencing. I happened to wake up early and had a wander round the ‘firth with the dog, a cup of coffee and and an old 1930s Rolleicord TLR I picked up on ebay recently which needed testing out.

It was nice to be able to get a few shots of the empty streets without endless queues of traffic and heaving throngs of tourists getting in the way.

The resulting shots are below. These were taken on TMax 400 and developed in FD10 for 15 minutes at 1:14, for those who are interested. Some early morning sun would have added a nice bit of contrast, but at least it wasn’t pissing it down and I guess I can’t ask for more than that at the moment.

The camera performed really nicely, with the exception of one little hiccup with the film advance resulting in a double exposure. The mechanism shouldn’t allow this to happen, but it is over 70 years old so I can forgive that… Plus the fact the double image has actually come out rather nicely (see below). On the whole, It’s nice to use and the results seem to be pretty good – it’s certainly a camera I will be using more often!

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This was a great job because I bloody love cheese. Milk Street have a regular stall on Holmfirth Market and I was referred by another stallholder for whom I have done some design work.

I kind of knew what I was going for from the off on this job. The stall already has a “Milk Street” street sign hanging above it, so it went without saying that the sign element got incorporated into the design. Over and above that I thought a nice round design would lend itself well to little stickers for sealing up the greaseproof-paper wrapping around the cheese.

The I hand drew the milk churn and pile’o'cheese illustration to give a bit of a rustic feel to the finished design.

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Holmfirth Artweek 2012 has just passed, and as well as looking after my own fringe exhibition, I’ve had the pleasure of helping out Kate Thornton with hers. Entitled Birds Don’t Need Maps, The exhibition featured many of Kate’s stylish collage pieces which often incorporate cut-ous of old maps and postcards. The bold yet simple contemporary designs making use of reclaimed antique materials fitted perfectly with the theme and sentiment behind the exhibition venue: James Howard’s Lost & Found shop.

James asked me to come along and photograph the work for an article – and much as I enjoy everything in Lost & Found, I had to remember the focus of the job was Kate’s Work – with this in ming I had to compose and expose accordingly, allowing James’s carefully curated pieces to slip slightly into the background – complimenting yet not overpowering Kate’s subtle work.

Here are the snaps. If you like them I employe you to visit Lost & Found for a look around. You will find something you want. Then contact Kate and buy some of her stuff!

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I was recently invited back over to the Emerald Isle to work on various things including an updated theme for the Planet X Ireland site. This time it was much easier to create a tidy design from the outset – the site has now been up and running a good few months and all the things we tweaked and “levered in” subsequent to the initial build can now be more adequately placed.

The new theme is inspired by the Tour de France, and is much lighter, cleaner and more refreshing than before whilst holing all the site’s functionality in an easy to navigate layout.

Click here to visit the site…

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Fairandfunky is a local enterprise that delivers creative workshops to schools and community groups on recycling, the environment and Fairtrade issues, and also sells a range of fair and funky products which all have a positive impact on people and planet.

I was asked to produce a poster to promote their forthcoming “family fun day”, and was only too happy to oblige…

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I was contacted recently by a gentleman called Bill, a local musician, and member of a busy reggae band. The band – Jah-Maica, were looking for gig posters to promote themselves. I tried to create a unique style that conveyed the old reggae and ska feel, without resorting to the typical red, gold, green and black. Yes, I have incorporated all those colours but I feel the overall theme is lighter and more laid back than the oft-seen mainly heavy black artwork. Here’s the poster. They like it and I hope you do too.

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Holmfirth Art Week commences on the 1st of July and I’m proud to announce I will be hosting an exhibition of landscape photography in Carniceria as part of the fringe exhibition. The collection is entitled Holme: Landscapes of the Holme Valley, and encompasses over 20 of my photographs featuring the local Pennine landscape in all its glory. All pieces are for sale, with sales during Art Week including a 20% donation to Macmillan Cancer Support

Preview afternoon

I shall be hosting a preview event on the afternoon of Saturday 30th June, from 3pm. During this event guests are invited to come along and browse the photographs, enjoy a drink of two in Carniceria, and I shall be on hand to discuss the work, my methods, and answer any questions. Please come along and Join me in Carniceria from 3pm.

About the exhibition

Holme: Landscapes of the Holme Valley is my little nod to the wondrous local landscape in which we live.

Sales information

If you are interested in purchasing any pieces, please contact me, or speak to the staff at carniceria. We would prefer pieces to remain in place for the duration of the exhibition, so any sales will me marked as sold and may be collected or delivered by arrangement after the 7th of July.

If you are interested in a piece that has already sold, please contact me – further prints are available to order.

All photographs are available across different formats – please get in touch if you would like a particular picture at a size not on display. Standard formats and prices are listed below. All prints are limited, numbered and signed.

Prices:

12″ x 8″ Photographic print (mounted)  - £35

12″ x 8″ Photographic print (mounted and framed) - £45

24″ x 16″ Stretched canvas print - £95

For the duration of Artweek, 20% of all sales will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support

The Photographs

Below is a gallery of the photographs that make up the exhibition. If you would like to order any prints of these images, please contact me.

Pictures of the exhibition

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This year’s Holmfirth Film Festival is running a string of events based upon it being 50 years since 1962. One of the events being run is a 1962 themed open mic night, and I’ve just produced a couple of posters for it….

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On Friday night I was invited along to the Blacklight Gallery, in the Byram Arcade, Huddersfield, for their relaunch event. The gallery is run by a friend of mine and I wanted to go along and see what it was all about and show a bit of support.

The night was coupled with a launch event for Dr. Sketchy’s Huddersfield, who provided a fantastic evening of entertainment and made it a genuinely memorable night.

I ended up doing a photoshoot with several performing artists from Dr. Sketchy’s, using several old cameras I’d brought along. Thanks are due to Penny Sweets, Tahlullah Manhattan and Trixie Passion for having the patience to put up with old manual cameras that take ages to do anything with! Also to Morning Star and Daisy Cutter of Dr. Sketchy’s, and Ben Kafanke of the Blacklight Gallery for putting on the event.

The resulting photos are below. I managed to forget my light meter, so they were exposed by guesswork!

Polaroid SX-70

All shots taken using Impossible film; PX600 Silver Shade +UV Black Frame (Poor Pod) and PX680 Colour Shade (First Flush) – using an internal ND filter attached to the top of the film pack to ensure correct exposure on the SX-70.

Yashica Mat 124

I shot one roll of Fuji Superia Xtra 400 colour film and two rolls of Kodak T-Max 400, all shot at f-3.5 using speeds between 1/15 and 1/30, dependant on guesstimated light levels, and how still I thought I could hold the camera! They were processed in Ilfosol 3 – 7 mins at 1:9 for the Fuji, and 6 mins at 1:9 for the T-Max.

Zeiss Ikon 515/2

This is the first roll I’ve had through this lovely old 1937 camera – a single roll of Kodak T-Max 400, shot at f-4.5 / 1/25th and processed in Ilfosol 3 at 1:9 for 6 minutes.

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The Nook pub is something of an institution in Holmfirth. It’s a real-ale-swilling, slightly rough-around-the-edges proper locals’ local, where you can get a couple of pints of good ale and more food than you can eat and barely break out of a tenner. The pub is officially called The Rose And Crown, but only the front window seems to remember the fact. Every time you darken its doors you meet someone you know, and even if you don’t know anyone to talk to then you soon will.

The pub has been in the Roberts family for over 40 years now, and a couple of years ago the current generation, siblings Ian Roberts and Sheila Sutton, decided to diversify and build a brewery out the back. The new Nook Brewhouse has gone from strength to strength and now delivers good Yorkshire ale all over the country.

Collectively, the Nook Brewhouse umbrella now encompassed the Brewery, the Nook pub, and Carniceria – a bar and restaurant  next door which holds its own as the slightly-more-presentable sister to the Nook.

When Ian and Sheila approached me for a website, they wanted essentially to combine their current sites into one, and improve all of them at the same time. I delivered a WordPress based CMS, with three bespoke themes sitting on the front end, which display according to which “section” of the site you are in. Combined with three domains, the result is essentially like having three websites controlled from one place with no duplication of content or resources, and easy linking between the three.

The site also has an online shop for selling the wares of the Brewhouse. I took the liberty of suggesting that boring, ordinary packshots of the products weren’t really in keeping with the brand and suggested I conduct a photoshoot with the Nook Ales enjoying the spectacular countryside surrounding Digley Reservoir. Ian and sheila agreed enthusiastically so I spent a merry afternoon getting odd looks from walkers as I photographed bottles of beer balanced on fences.

Overall, the site is getting a warm reception, and It’s certainly something I’m proud to have my name on.

Please visit the site here: thenookbrewhouse.co.uk

Or here: thenookholmfirth.co.uk

Or here: carniceriaholmfirth.co.uk

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I’ve just finished a new website for the Holme Valley Mountain Rescue Team. The existing site was bingeing to look shabby, and being static meant keeping things updated was an arduous process. The new, WordPress based site carries a much more contemporary image and allows content to be changed and updated easily.

The site also allows user accounts, giving registered members of the team access to online resources and discussion forums to facilitate better transfer of information amongst team members.

It also integrates better with the team’s social media accounts – keeping content up to date and driving traffic to the site from multiple sources.

Mountain Rescue services in the UK are free to all, are run entirely by volunteers, and are maintained on a charitable basis by donations from the public. For this reason, PR is exceptionally important and the new website should be at the forefront of the team’s fundraising activities.

The Holme Valley MRT in particular now has more reason than ever to drive forward PR and fundraising efforts – having just been granted planning permission to build a new, dedicated headquarters building in Meltham, giving the team its first purpose-built and secure base of operations in its 47 year history.

As a member myself, it’s a cause that is close to my heart, so this one was a freebie….

Please visit the site here…

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A few weeks ago I was asked to come up with a design for the 2012 Holmfirth Festival of Folk programme cover. I’ve produced most of their other artwork the last couple of years (you may notice some familiar photographs sneaking in here and there), but for some reason on the morning when I sat down to produce this year’s cover I decided to completely abandon the “brand” we had and just go for something spectacular.

Yup, adherence to a brand is important, but it’s not totally necessary. Why should everything look the same? Uniformity doesn’t always reinforce your perception of an image – on the contrary it can make it sink into obscurity and mundanity.

I remember having a similar discussion when working for a previous employer, whose brand, incidentally, was all-over-the-place. I was trying to reiterate that it might not be something to shy away from. Look at Superdry. You see the name everywhere - but it always looks different. The name is the brand. It’s styled to fit in with the context of where it appears. And that philosophy seems to have been successful enough for them.

Anyway. Enough waffle. Here’s the cover. I reckon people will notice it far more than if it were the “standard brand”….

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In the market for a photoshoot? Something a bit different? I have the kit to do a unique shoot for your business that will deliver high quality and utterly unique vintage results. No pseudo-retro Instagram plugins or effects, this is the real thing. Vintage cameras, film and home development. I’ve already done a shoot for Emma’s Tea Parlour, and captured the grittiness of the Nook Beer Festival. I have another booking this week. If you’re interested, check out the selection of vintage cameras I can use to do your shoot, and give me a call!

Read about the cameras here…

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I picked up a Kodak No1 Autographic Jr in an antique shop the other day. It hails from about 1920, and for the time i suppose it was pretty advanced. It has a 4″ focal length, and focusses by moving the bellows in and out. Shutter has 1/20 and 1/50 speeds as well as a bulb mode and timed exposure mode. There are 5 aperture stops, using the old US system rather than f-stops, so I have to carry a little conversion table around to make use of a modern light meter. The lens somewhere in the region of f-8.

Anyway, after putting two rolls of 120 film through it and getting a sea of overexposure back, I had a closer look at the bellows and discovered a myriad of tiny holes. I guess fabric doesn’t fare as well over 90 years as the metal and wood (yes, wood!) from which the rest of the camera is constructed.

To seal the bellows I concocted a mixture of silicon gasket paste and black shoe polish, and painted it into all the creases and folds. The light leak situation now seemed vastly improved on inspection with a bright torch, so I tested using an expired roll of 35mm colour film… 120 film is a bit pricey to waste any more of it. I wedged the 35mm canister into the centre of the roll-film cavity using slices of wine bottle cork and made some film guides from black insulation tape to keep the film running centrally over onto the take-up spool. The result is the full width of the 35mm gets exposed, showing bits of image around the sproket-holes, which I think is quite a nice effect.

The shots are below – the camera now seems to be working much better – still a few leaks visible, and a few scratches on the surface of the negs, but not bad for a 90 year old camera….

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Emma’s is my second office. If I fancy a change of surroundings I nip round the corner and drink too much coffee whilst working in the Cafe.

I did a shoot for her last week to provide some pictures for promoting the business online, the results were appreciated, but after seeing the old-style shots of the Nook Beer Festival, she asked if I could do something a little more vintage.

The following shots were taken on a Yashica Mat 124, medium format TLR. I used Fuji Superia Xtra 400 colour film, and developed the negatives at home, cross processing the film in black and white chems. The results are soft and grainy, and Emma’s pretty happy with them!

If you’d like something similar doing for your business, please give me a call. I have a selection of old cameras of various types to give your shots the true vintage feel -giving so much more character than some phoney Instagram effect…

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The weekend just gone was the Nook’s Spring Beer Festival. I gave myself the unfortunately arduous task of documenting it on film. I felt the gritty nature of the occasion warranted a black and white film approach, as opposed to Digital.

I took a Pentax ME Super, using a 50mm f 1.7 Pentax lens, and shot using Kentmere 400 film in the ambient light available. The results are grainy, blurry, dark, scratched and mottled. I think they suit the venue and the atmosphere well!

The film was developed at home in Ilfosol 3, and the negatives scanned.

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Ska Wars are like a 12-legged bouncing machine. Honestly, if you want to put on a fun gig, get over to their website, give them a call and get ready to skank like an idiot.

In fact, they’ll be coming to play at my local very very soon. I can’t wait.

In other news, I’ve just done ‘em a new poster…

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Yet another web job completed. This is a single-page landing site for Coda Tuition. Coda provide music tuition for guitar, bass, drums and piano, and were looking to create an ‘umbrella’ page that linked to all their instrument-specific websites.

The page is static HTML, but incorporates a few crafty dynamic elements to parse a blog feed and incorporate social media content.

The design of the site was based strongly on Coda’s existing websites, but with a new all-encompasing logo and slightly updated feel.

You can visit the site here…

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…and here’s another one. To be honest, this went live ages ago and I really should have uploaded it then. However, better late than never eh.

Jon, a bike-riding, accordion-toting, camera-weilding friend and former colleague of mine (the only person I know who shares a bus with a piano) wanted a new website for his new business venture – Biking In Turkey.

It’s a pretty self-explanatory business – if you want to ride bikes, and want to ride them in Turkey, then give him a call. Biking In Turkey are offering a range of tours for both mountain bikers and road riders to explore what frankly looks like a totally captivating corner of the world. The site is there to promote the business, and make you want to grab your bike and head further afield than the nearest trail centre.

I hope it works…

Visit the site here…

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Ares Landscape Architects approached me a couple of weeks ago for a new website. They already had a static site, built by Ricardo – the owner of the business. However, their business was really taking off and the time he had to manage and update things was getting limited.

Static webpages need to be physically altered and uploaded, plus all the relevant links transposing across all the other pages.

What was needed was a dynamic solution, so I created them a bespoke WordPress build, matching their current style but easily uptatable and incorporating a few fancy menus and things.

It was, frankly, a pleasure to work for people who appreciate the fine points of aesthetics and attention to detail, and I’m glad I could deliver something that lived up to their exacting standards!

Visit the site here…

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I’ve just finished a new website for DK Print in Honley. I’ve used them for a good few years for my printing needs, the service is second to none, and I’m always greeted with smiles and an opportunity to raid the big bowl of toffees!

DK moved into a huge new unit at the very top of the mill building they reside in back in the New Year, and to go with their new premises (and their 9th Birthday), they wanted a fresh website.

I designed and built a bespoke, static website for them, did a bit of photography and copywriting too, and what you see here is the final result.

Happy 9th Birthday to DK Print, hope you like the website, and here’s to another 9 (or 90?) successful years.

Visit the site here…

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Well, this has been a big build – but the tweaks and amends are nearly all ironed out and it’s time to let on what I’ve been on with in the run up to Christmas….

Planet X Ireland got in touch with me as they weren’t really happy with their existing website. It was looking very dated, had limited functionality, and they were wanting something on which they could post news stories, manage stock, edit pages, and generally present themselves as a new force to be reckoned with for selling bikes and components in Ireland.

They wanted something to match Planet X’s website in the UK, but I reckoned I could make it look much better, and won the case with this layout.

I worked on the layout here in the sunny Pennines for a bit, before being shipped out to spend a few days with them in Athlone, Ireland to finish the build and guide them through how it all works. Morgan, David and the rest of the guys treated me like a rockstar with a swanky hotel and meals out, and their magnificent friendliness and hospitality shall not be forgotten!

If you’re after something similar, then I can build it for you too, simply get in touch. You don’t have to spoil me with loads of Guinness and massive steaks either… but I wouldn’t refuse if you offered!

Click here to visit the site…

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It was a beautiful day today. I had a few new spots lined up for taking photographs, so I had a bit of an expedition with the dog and the camera…

Lots of HDR shots to show off the autumnal colours, and a few vintagey black and whites. It was a bit difficult up at Winscar to avoid the throngs from getting in the way of shots – had to choose angles carefully, lest I end up with a beautiful scene incorporating a car park chock full of cars and vans. It seems there were plenty of other people out enjoying the break in the weather!

A really productive day though. Some of these will soon be making their way into print, adorning cards and canvasses – and perhaps making their way onto the new 2012 calendar I’m putting together. Keep an eye on the shop!

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This is my favourite job from On-One. Designing the livery for the new “Macinato” model – a super strong, urban fixie bike, with a classic, retro feel.

On-One Macinato Urban Fixie Bike - Side on

(more…)

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The Inbred is On-One’s classic steel hardtail cross-country frame. I updated the graphics for a more contemporary look, while keeping hold of icons such as the “inbred man” who has graced the frame since its inception.

On-One Inbred Blue Waffle - Frame side on

(more…)

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It was pretty exciting seeing the first shots of these come over from the factory in the east – then having them arrive and seeing them in the flesh.

The icing on the cake is seeing the people who’ve bought them, built them into their pride-and-joy bike, and have uploaded the shots of their bike back onto the company site to show them off to the world!

On-One 456 and 456 Summer Season

The On-One 456 is a classic steel MTB frame, designed for long travel forks. The Summer Season is it’s silly cousin – with slack frame angles for pointing even longer travel forks downhill…

The style was intended to evoke those now very retro-looking classic bikes of the 80s.

On-One 456 Summer Season Mint Sauce Green Frame Graphics - Frame side on

(more…)

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I’ve got hold of an old Polaroid 450 Land Camera – the kind with the peel-apart film – it’s really wonderful to see what it can do – especially since compatible film is still made by Fuji – at a not too extortionate price!

Interesting things happen if you keep hold of the throwaway part of the peel-apart film… It’s a bit sticky, and you have to transport it in a careful manner – but once you get it home you can tape it down onto a piece of glass and use ordinary household bleach to carefully remove all the black emulsion on the back of it… what results is basically a large format negative that can be scanned like any other.

The result of the bleaching and scrubbing leaves the edges dirty and mangled, and adds scratches, texture, and a generally rough effect that – to me anyway – looks rather wonderful.

I’m treating this like vintage digital camera! You get the small Polaroid print straight away and can use it as a preview to see how your shot will come out – then you take the negative home and work it up into something special.

Fun times! This selection were captured on holiday in Normandy this summer. More to come soon!

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Here’s a large collection of pictures from holidaying in France, and just bumbling  around locally. These are taken on an array of old cameras I’ve been collecting… The venerable SX-70, an old Lubitel 166b (cheapest of the cheap Russian made TLR), a Holga 120 TLR (even cheaper chinese toy-camera), and a nice old Yashica Mat 124.

Polaroid SX-70

Yashica Mat 124

Lubitel 166b

The Mighty Holga

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Some more images from my second pack of PX100 Silver Shade. A Mixed bag. Things are working much better indoors where the light is a lot more controllable, it seems. I’m going to continue posting all the results, good or bad. It’s a process of experimentation.

I’ve also just taken delivery of some PX600, which is faster (600 ASA as opposed to 100 ASA), and should provide some different results. The packs need customising to work with the SX-70, which is designed for the 100 speed film. Some scalpel-whittling to make them fit, and the addition of an ND filter to the top of the film pack to ensure correct exposure.

I’ve also got some of the Impossible Project’s TZ Artistic Paul Giambarba Edition colour film. Results of that to follow once I’ve finished this pack of PX100.

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The Sonic Happening poster

The brief for this one was “Something like the 1960s, San Francisco, Psychedelia scene”. That’s a bit of luck – it’s the kind of thing I like to do. So, this was the result. Actually designed and artworked while sitting in the local pub, and fueled by that great mind-altering substance – ale.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

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I’ve just received possibly one of the most exciting birthday gifts ever. Adele has hit the jackpot and spoiled me rotten with a beautiful 1974 Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera, complete with leather case, original box and instruction book, and original-boxed accessories including tripod mount and close-up lens.

The way the camera opens up, and then closes neatly back into an oversized zippo-esque oblong of brown leather and brushed chrome, together with the satisfying clunk of the reflex mirror and the reasurring mechanical whir of the motors as it ejects the resultant print make it a joy to use and an object of fascination. They certainly don’t make things quite like this anymore.

Unfortunately, the supply of available film is a little limited. Since Polaroid went to the wall a few years ago, supplies of film became scarce. It was only when a group of artists and ex-Polaroid employees stepped in to save the world’s only Polaroid instant film manufacturing plant from the receivers’ hammers that a future of any kind was preserved for the medium. The Impossible Project, as it became known, aims to reproduce the old film and allow the format to continue on.

These shots are taken using The Impossible Project’s PX100 Silver Shade film. It’s an unpredictable old Hector, highly sensitive to light, even for a few minutes after exposure, and with evolving colours and saturation, depending on temperature and storage conditions of the print… It’s nice to experiment with, but unfortunately at £2.50 a shot it’s going to cost me…

Each pack holds 8 shots. Here’s the first. More results to follow.

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World cup at the Wardrobe

I hate the world cup. Or, more accurately, I hate the rubbish that goes with it, and what it brings out in people.

However, The Wardrobe in Leeds asked me to do them a poster for the England matches they’ll be showing. Being a nice sort of place, they wanted something a bit classier than the usual football-fayre. Cue the monochrome and Helvetica.

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Hexa - Open mic

This month’s open mic was looming and I’d simply been too busy to do a poster. Thought I’d be honest, and let everybody know!

It’s really good to have HEXA back, and I didn’t want them to be un-billed. I think they liked the poster as it turned out… They stole a few away with them anyway, which is always a good sign!

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The next 3 months...

We were in need of another poster to bill the next few months of bands, and so James and I had a collaborative session over a couple of ales to come up with this. It’s good to get someone else’s input and bounce a few ideas around. The ‘Communist Propaganda Poster’ theme was chosen, and then embellished upon with progressively more bizarre ideas… Welly boots, dead birds and bananas. All good fun.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

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Open Mic Poster - Christmas Special

This one took a while. The guitar illustration mainly, which was inspired by the artwork at the Hand Drawn Creative. He’s done a series of guitars, and has a great vintage style. Thought I’d tribute my Fender Jag for Christmas…

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

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A few more shots taken recently, the landscape varying in the space of a few days between icy cold, grey and dreary, and beautiful crisp and clear sunshine.

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Having done a bit of reading up, and perusing through people’s flickr libraries, I’ve gone and got myself a grad ND filter, in an attempt to achieve the more realistic balance of exposure obtainable vie HDR, but for a single shot and without the intensive post-processing.

The weather here at the moment is spectacular – snow getting up to my armpits in places, and it’s hard going wandering around, but the landscapes are stunning. And I love breaking the pristine snow and being the first person to venture to a particular place.

Most of the following shots make use of the grad ND filter. It’s like putting sunglasses on the camera, and I love the shots where it creates massive contrast between the dark steely-blue sky, and the white of the hills.

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This year’s winter Lakes trip has been fruitful! The conditions were beautiful, and despite taking the compact camera for up in the hills, I decided it was a waste not to lug the SLR up there. I’m glad I did. The results, I think,  speak for themselves.

The weather was clear and cold while we were up there, but there was still a lot of snow on the tops. In some of the shots you can just see the top strand of a wire fence peeping above the snow, giving an indication as to the three feet or so of depth we were walking on top of.

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Not wanting to be put off by the lack of light at this time of year, I’ve been using evening dog-walks as an opportunity for light painting, suitably equipped with camera, tripod, torch and two flashguns with coloured filters.

The cemetery seems a little contrived for this sort of thing, but it was there, and added a different subject matter to woodland trees.

All these shots are taken by leaving the camera on a tripod, taking a long exposure, whilst running about lighting up things with the flashguns and waving a torch in the air. The dog seems to think it’s tremendous fun, and has nearly brought the whole thing crashing down on more than one occasion as he runs back to the camera after me…

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I’ve finally succumbed and bought myself a DSLR. Canon 450D, with the 18-55mm kit lens. The infuriating thing is that at this time of year it’s too dark in the evenings to play with it, and I’m at work all day, so can’t experiment then. Some of the following are shot on my morning dog walks, others are the result of weekend-wanderings. I’ll be mostly confined to weekend experimentation until Spring and the longer days.

Again, HDRs seem to be the order of the day. Being able to shoot in RAW mode allows me to create HDRs, to  a certain extent, from a single exposure. The shots here are a mixture of those taken from one RAW shot, and three bracketed exposures as before.

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Cow Town poster

This month’s band are Cow Town. For some reason in my had that translated into a Saul Bass-esque redition of cow-parts. Here it is….

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
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The Jam Room - This way

We want to make the Open Mic a bit more free and easy – allow people to relax and not have to stand up in the limelight if they don’t want to. Anything to encourage the music. With this in mind, it seemed like a sensible idea to host a Jam Room in the back room at the same time, where people can just sit and play together.

Obviously, we were in need of some serious signage. I had to get busy.

There are three posters in this series, I’ve only included one here because they’re all pretty much the same. One just says “Jam Room”, while the other two variants are a right-pointer, marked “this way”, and a left-pointer, marked “that way”.

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Briggs and Oliver Antiques - initial design

As a result of the Open Mic posters, they guys at Briggs and Oliver invited me to have a crack at designing them an Art Nouveau style flyer. To the left and below are an initial concept, in a couple of colour variations.

Briggs and Oliver Antiques - initial design - alternative colourway

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Open Mic Poster - May -October

With a bit of a departure from posters for individual bands – mainly due to not being able to find the time to produce them – I decided to go for a single poster to fill a few months of bookings. Here’s the result.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

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Open Mic No. 4 - Old Man Pie

Old Man Pie are are asking for a comedic poster design…

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
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Open Mic No. 3 - Breaking The Illusion

Band Number 3 is Breaking The Illusion, and here’s the next poster in the series…

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
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Open Mic No. 2 - Mi Mye

Another one in the series of open mic posters

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
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Open Mic No. 1 - Hexa

The first band-specific poster for the Open Mic Night

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
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Piestock Ad

After they saw their poster design for the Open Mic Night, Old Man Pie asked me to design a small space ad and poster for an event they were hosting called “Piestock”.

Typically, the old Woodstock poster had to feature somewhere, but was given a twist in this instance, based upon the theme.

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Nook Open Mic - Generic Poster

I’ve been putting on an event in a local pub recently which required some publicity. The event takes the form of an open mic night, with a different headline band each month.

To the left is the generic poster for the event, and in following posts you’ll find the individual designs for each guest band, as they are created.

The posters are designed at A3, but must also work when reduced to A6 for flyers.

To the left is the generic poster for the event, and below you’ll find the individual designs for each guest band.

NEW! Poster prints of this design are available from my online print shop!
Click here to buy…

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Just spent a few days in the Lake District, enjoying the mountains and the company. The weather was bitterly cold, but the conditions were fantastic. An opportunity for more HDRs…

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Over the last few months I’ve put some more HDRs together – making the most of the wintery conditions and how they shape the landscape. The colours and clarity of winter mornings and evenings have offered some lovely views to capture – together with a particularly still day up at Digley reservoir, where the reflections were unbelievable.

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I’ve been experimenting with a few HDR techniques recently – shooting local landscapes and basically trying to get the technique down. The shots are created from three exposures of the same scene, merged together digitally to retain detail throughout the shadows, highlights and midtones. This sort of detail could never be captured in one exposure using a camera, but is much more true to what your eye sees when taking in a scene.

Many of these shots do have a slight blurriness, due to my reluctance to lug around a tripod to ensure my separate exposures match up nicely. The processing software allows you to get away with quite a lot of movement – where it falls down is where the subject has moved between the exposures, such as when shooting water, or tree branches in the breeze.

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