Merry Christmas from aberdeenphoto.com

I would like to wish all our customers a merry Christmas and a happy new year. David and I are currently spending all our time phoning couriers and on-line tracking the orders we are still waiting for. The weather has delayed delivery of several orders although we have had deliveries today of albums, acrylic prints, framed prints, and canvasses. Everything we are waiting is despatched but we cannot guarantee everything will get here. We have 4 orders in the UPS depot in Tamworth and the UPS website is stating delivery is due tomorrow so we can only hope that the weather does not cause any further delays. As a back up, we are preparing full colour vouchers showing what has been ordered and explaining what is to follow. Although it is far from ideal, at least there will be something to hand over.

These are the icicles at our front door and despite the beautiful sunshine, there is no sign of them melting.

They look beautiful and I could not resist getting my camera out although it was too cold to venture very far from the door. They would have looked better using a longer lens and a shallower depth of field but at minus 8, I took these very quickly.

At night, these look great looking out the window, with the lights on them. I might take them at dusk on a tripod if it is not too cold but Christmas shopping will probably take priority.

Although the weather has resulted in some cancellations, the studio has been busy and David has taken some stunning images. We have also sold a lot of portrait vouchers so we should be busy when we come back in the New Year.

We are open today and tomorrow and then I will be back to work on the 28th and we are photographing Cheryl and David’s wedding at Belhelvie on the 29th. I am then on holiday from the 30th to the 6th January, if we can get our flights.

I would like to thank all past and all future clients for your business and we look forward to dealing with you in 2011.

New Macbook Air

I have just taken delivery of the new 13 inch Macbook Air with 256gb flash memory, the upgraded processor and 4gb ram. I had sold my previous Air as I thought the iPad was a replacement for it but much as I love the iPad and use it a great deal, I realised that I missed the Air. My main machine is a very high spec. 17 inch Macbook Pro connected to a 30 inch Cinema Display. It is a great machine and is portable enough to take on an assignment or trip but if I am out during the day, I tend not to take it with me.

The Macbook Air (MBA) is so light, it is very easy to have it with you always and where I prefer the iPad for viewing photographs, reading books or magazines, or browsing the web, the Air is much better for email and documents. The iPad is fine for reviewing  e-mail and I am much more likely to reply than I am on my iPhone, but I would not sit down and deal with a large volume of Mail on the iPad and this is where the MBA comes into it’s own.

The other use for me is for tethering to my camera and using it with Lightroom connected to my D3s is a great way to work especially if the client is with you. Being so  small and light, it can be in my camera bag and the option is always there.

The new one is not a huge change from the previous model but the increase to 256gb allows me to copy everything from my main SSD drive on the 17inch MBP as it is also a 256 SSD (it also has a 500gb internal drive and I can copy this to an external if I need this but generally this is not the case). The increase in speed is noticeable but not a huge improvement. The second USB port is a big plus. However there is one big drawback – no illuminated keyboard. This is a real inconvenience as a lot of the places I use my Air – on the sofa watching TV, dimly lit coffee shops etc., it is a real miss – so much so I have ordered a USB keyboard light. I do not often criticise Apple but I think this is a big mistake on a machine that is likely to be used in a lot of dimly lit places.

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.

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…