Sarah and Dougie at Gilcomston South and Ardoe House on the 20th November

I have been neglecting the blog but intend to rectify this even although we are exceptionally busy at the moment. Although traditionally a quiet month, we have been fortunate to have eight weddings in November with three of them at Ardoe House (and a 60th birthday), which is a great setting for a wedding.

On Friday 20th we were lucky to have a cold crisp winter’s day. Gilcomston South is on Union Street at the corner of Summer Street and as it was a 1.00pm service, Union Street was very busy but generally people are very considerate and do not walk between the camera and the people being photographed. more…

A new hotel opens its doors in aberdeen

A brand new city centre hotel with a difference opened to the public last week.

The 40-bedroom Bauhaus hotel and Yatai Japanese kitchen, the brainchild of local businessman Nick Garrett, is situated in Langstane Place, while poignantly, the inspiration who was behind the design of the concept was architect Bob Fitzgerald, who sadly passed away earlier this month. I worked with Bob and Nick on the artwork for the walls and have supplied around 80 canvasses and acrylic displays in sizes from 400×400 to 2 metres and larger done in canvasses split into sections. Some of this has been from artwork we created in Photoshop and Illustrator.

This is one of many jobs where I worked closely with Bob, who has been a friend for over 25 years. Click here to see some of Bob’s projects.

To learn more about Bauhaus, go to their website here. I have taken the photographs while the building was in progress but now that it is open, I will be taking more shots of the hotel including Yatai and the two bars, and I will post them in the Blog next week. Bauhaus is a unique concept: -

As general manager Sylvia Simpson explains, the bauhaus offers something unique at affordable prices.

“the five levels above the ground are each colour co-ordinated in yellow, red, blue, grey and black, an effect that continues through to the exterior lighting which results in a spectacular appearance at night.

“we are also absolutely delighted to have persuaded renowned chef John Jones to relocate the extremely popular Yatai Japanese kitchen to within the hotel complex right in the heart of the city and of course the restaurant, now double the capacity compared to its previous location, will be available to non-residents.”

Once all the artwork I have supplied is delivered and fitted, I will add a separate post to this blog featuring this.

Marcliffe at Pitfodels

Simpsons, Queens Road, Aberdeen

Soul Bar, Union Street, Aberdeen

Bob Fitzgerald

On the 10th November, Bob Fitzgerald sadly died a very short time after being diagnosed with cancer. Last Tuesday (17th November) his funeral took place at Rubislaw Church. It was a good send off for Bob with the Church struggling to accomodate the huge number of people who wanted to pay their respects to a very well liked and admired man.  His talent and flair was legendary and many of the best known venues in Aberdeen were designed by Bob – The Marcliffe, Simpsons, Soul, Dizzys, the Albyn, and many many  more. Recent notable jobs have included The City Bar and 6 Queens Road, both of which earned him Civic Awards. Very sadly he did not get to see his last big job, The Bauhaus Hotel (click here to see Bauhaus) but one of his colleagues did show him photographs while he was in hospital, and it is a great design and demonstrates Bob’s unique talent.

I will really miss Bob – for the last 2 years, I have worked a  lot with him and spoke to him nearly every day. I had known him for over 25 years and always thought he had a great talent but working closely with him, totally convinced me that he was a very creative special guy and these plaudits are not because he is not here, as I said the same many times over the years. My thoughts are with his wife Kate, and his two daughters, Emily, and Chloe.

His work speaks for itself and I prepared a slideshow of a small selection of his work to show at the wake at Simpsons last Tuesday. Click here to see this presentation.

I have several Blog posts planned showing digital wallpaper and other display assignments, and as most of them were done with Bob, his name will feature many times in this blog.

Super Fast Delivery

Last Thursday Dave Ogston called us to see if we could take a family portrait of a group of 7 and a small dog, which is not an unusual type of enquiry. However he went on to ask if he could have a framed print to present for a 70th birthday on the Saturday. Greig discussed it with me and he got Dave to a pre-agree to a 20×16 and also chose a black frame.

The portrait was booked for Friday evening at 7.30pm and Andy took a good range of shots, and Greig stayed back to create the files and select the best one.

There was one where everyone except one of the younger sitters had a good expression so Lukas (our Photoshop expert) exchanged the head from another photograph and the file was ready and the print was made, dry mounted, and framed, ready for collection at 10.00am on Saturday morning when 3 of the family collected it from me, and were delighted with the print, and the service.

Delivering this quickly where we have to choose the image is not reccomended but this story highlights what is possible if neccessary.

If you want to find out more about our portrait service, click here, or email Greig, or phone us on 01224 877 499.

Canvas prints for the Bauhauss Hotel

Last week we took delivery of 60 canvas bonded wall prints from artwork we had created for the stunning new Bauhauss hotel in Langstane Place which is due to open in November. The photographs above show all the canvasses for the bedrooms and corridors stacked up in our studio. They were in a range of sizes from 400mm square to over 2 metres.

I am currently preparing visuals of more canvasses, acrylics, and digital wallpaper for the public areas of the hotel and I am really looking forward to seeing them on display in the hotel and this will be featured in a future post after I have photogrgraphed the hotel.

A great spin off for all our clients is that we can offer great prices on canvas prints as we are getting a much better price from our supplier as we have bought sever hundred canvasses this year for other commercial projects.

Click here for details of our canvas print promotion.

Torrential rain does not dampen Alan and Kathleen’s wedding day

Last Saturday (24th October) the torrential rain did not spoil the wedding of Kathleen and Alan at Manofield Church and the Tree Tops. The 160 guests all arrived clutching brollies trying to avoid getting soaked in the downpour. Lukas and I managed to photograph everyone as they arrived and were ready and waiting when the 5 bridesmaids arrived. After the service, we took the majority of the photographs at the altar and a few more back at the Tree Tops more…

We have just finished the designing of pages for Lisa and Dave who got married at Kings College on the 15th August. We regularly produce these designs to be approved before being printed in one of many different formats  – slim bound A3 size books, as A4 or A3 pages to be presented in more traditional leather albums, or as large book bound coffe table style books by Graphistudio. Once the design is done, the pages are uploaded to our website for our client to approve. We make the changes and keep doing this until the client is satisfied – see below.

Fortunately Lisa and Dave loved the design and only had a few small changes – see Lisa’s email below

Hi Neil

Love the album just a few changes………..

The changes were made on the same day and the next stage is for Lisa and Dave to have a final viewing of the pages on my 30 inch screen when we will present it to the music of their choice. As well as viewing it like this, they will get this presentation on CD, and we will soon be offering this on a Blu-Ray DVD.

Click here to see a small web version of this presentation.

Once the final approval is made by Lisa and Dave, and the cover chosen, the book for themselves and for the parents are printed in one of the options detailed above. There are many different sizes, upright, and landscape options, different types of pages and printing, and a huge range of covers to choose from to ensure they get a beautiful album to treasure forever.

Tito and Nicole Jackson and Gladys Knight at the AECC, 20th October, 2009

Last night (Tuesday 20th October), Sandra and I went to see Gladys Knight at the AECC. The support act was Tito Jackson. Tito’s set included Blues, Motown, and a tribute to the Jacksons where he enlisted the assistance of 3 great female singers including Nicole Jackson, a cousin of the famous brothers. This opening was so good and entertaining that I was not sure if Gladys could match them.

I should not have worried – from the time she stepped on the stage to the closing number – Midnight Train to Georgia, she was amazing. Her voice is incredible and the audience was in awe of her talent. She was also a great entertainer, and had a superb 19 piece Vegas band backing her. Her brother Merald “Bubba” Knight was a special guest and he joined in a great medley of Motown tracks. She sang all her hits – including Help me make it through the Night, Thats What Friends are For, The Way We Were, and the Bond movie theme – License to Kill. more…

Lukas, our photoshop genius has just had his amazing skills certified. On Monday this week he went to Edinburgh to sit an exam for the Expert certification for Photoshop CS4. He said it was very tough but knowing his incredible skill and knowledge of Photoshop, I was not surprised that he passed with flying colours.

Photoshop is a key element for every photographer and although nothing can replace the skill behind the camera, we can correct, enhance, and create stunning images with Photoshop, and there is very little Lukas cannot do.

What is an Adobe Certifed Expert?

“An Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) is a person who has demonstrated proficiency with one or more Adobe software products. ACE is recognized as a worldwide standard of excellence in Adobe software knowledge.”

Lukas working on his high spec Macpro with 30 inch screen (and 22 inch Lacie screen) and a recently added A4 Wacom tablet which has made editing more efficient and accurate.

more…

Chancellor Alistair Darling with Catriona McPhee-Smith, Chief Executive of Inspire

Last Friday (16th October), Chancellor Alistair Darling was in Aberdeen and visited Inspire at the Beach Boulevard. We were asked to take photographs but were sworn to secrecy for security reasons. Greig took a series of photographs of the Chancellor while he was there – click here to see the images. These images are for Inspire to use in promotional material and their website.

Inspire is a charity that aims to offer opportunities for an excellent quality of life to people with learning disabilities in North East Scotland. The Chancellor met with the team at Inspire’s new multi-resource centre on the Beach Boulevard, Aberdeen. Included at the new centre is Café Coast, a social enterprise operating under Inspire Ventures Ltd. They provide training and employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities within Café Coast and its partner enterprise, Inspire Conferences.

Click here to visit the Inspire website.

The Chancellor is no stranger to Aberdeen. He was educated in Kircaldy and the private Loretto School in Musselburgh , then attended the University of Aberdeen where he was awarded a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B). He became the head of Aberdeen University Students Union. He entered Parliament at the 1987 General Election in Edinburgh Central defeating the sitting Conservative MP Sir Alexander Fletcher by 2,262 votes, and has remained an MP since.

In June 2007, the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, appointed Darling Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Wikipedia entry for Alistair Darling here.