Portrait Photography: John Bramwell

Portrait Photography: John Bramwell
Location: The Train Station, Crewe
Photographer: Simon J. Newbury


 Portrait Photography: John Bramwell

We were commissioned by John Bramwell of I Am Kloot to get a set of promotional portrait photos. John wanted a set of images to use for publicity purposes for his latest solo tour. John decided on the location and we met up on the platform at Crewe Station. Complete with winter hat and guitar in it’s travel case we made a set of images for John to use.

Although John is well known for I Am Kloot, he is embarking on a solo tour in the first few months of 2014. He also has a live CD out to compliment the tour.

Music Photography: James Porter

Client: James Porter
Photographer: Simon J. Newbury

We met James a few years ago through Boxjam, the charity event we organise every year at The Box in Crewe. When we ran over 2 days James’ then band travelled over from Anglesey to play both stages over 2 days. We have remained in touch ever since and James got in touch to get some new publicity photos for publicising his new material as a solo musician.

James was very interested in the Urban Portrait style of photography so we did some photography in that style as well as some great black and white photos. It was great to work with such an enthusiastic musician who had travelled some way to work with us. We listened to James’ newest recordings in advance of the shoot to help get some inspiration.

We had a really good Sunday afternoon of music photography in Crewe and here are some of the results:

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Cheshire Music Photography Music Photographer

James Porter

Our Music Promo Photography gallery!

Portrait Photography: Portraits of Cambodia

Photographer: Simon J. Newbury

As many of you are aware, I travelled to Cambodia in July on a photographic trip. I wanted to photograph as many portraits as possible as well as visiting Cambodia’s capital city, Phnom Penh and travelling north to Siem Reap to visit the temples. I was fortunate to meet and photograph a huge range of Khmer people. My final collection includes fisherman, market traders, water buffalo farmers, arable farmers, children, Buddhist monks and beggars.

Obviously there was a language barrier. My Khmer is non existent so I worked with an interpreter on some days and relied on candid shots and expressions on other days. You can tell if someone minds or not if you are photographing them! Although the poverty is often easy to see I found the Khmer people to be a friendly and happy people.

With only two exceptions the portraits from the collection are all made with natural ambient light. This was something of a departure to my usual style. The Urban Portrait project, for instance, was all shot using mobile lighting. Clearly such apparatus doesn’t lend itself to this project and travel so it was an interesting project technically as well as thematically.

Portrait photography has always been a strong passion of mine. To get to meet so many diverse people in the space of time that I was in Cambodia as well as managing to make so many portraits has been an amazing experience.

There are many stories to be told from the faces of the people in the collection. One of my highlights is the beggar I met on the journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh. It is a very enduring portrait and it was only after I had taken the shot and thanked him (and made a small donation) I noticed that he was wearing a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. That alone tells a story. Another highlight was the visit to the Buddhist Academy in Phnom Penh. It’s not open to the public but our interpreter explained that I wanted to do some portraits of some monks. We were given access to see the classes in action and made a set of portraits of some young monks!

I have made a slideshow (complete with traditional Khmer music).

There is also a gallery on the main website!

Cambodia Portraits by Simon J. Newbury Photography

New Website Launch

We have been working on a brand new website behind the scenes and are now very pleased to announce that our main photography website is now live.

We recently launched a brand new dedicated website for our wedding photography and we also have a dedicated site for our Urban Portraits. All sites are now live and all part of the Simon J. Newbury online family!

The new site has all the galleries that our old site had as well as a new offers page where we will be running regular photography special offers. We have also added some share buttons for Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus so you can share your favourite photos with your friends!

We really hope you enjoy the new site!

Simon J. Newbury Photography

Simon J. Newbury Wedding Photography

Urban Portraits by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Portrait Photography: George Borowski

Portrait Photography: George Borowski
Location: Northwich, Cheshire
Photographer: Simon J. Newbury


Portrait Photography: George Borowski

You may recall that last month we had the pleasure of doing some Urban Portrait photography with George Borowski. As well as the portrait photograph for my Urban Portrait series I did a selection of other portraits for George to use for promotional purposes!

Urban Portrait Photography by Night

Since the summer of 2012 I have been shooting the Urban Portrait series. I had always been interested in photographing the urban landscape and as an accomplished portrait photographer the series has become a huge passion.

I was really moved to get a foreword to the series from the hugely talented rock photographer Ian Tilton. Ian has just released his new book on the Stone Roses and is famous for his iconic images of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and the Manchester music scene.

The ongoing project is hopefully destined to become a book and I am currently looking for partners. These partners will get an advert within the book as well as  package of goodies! Please do get in touch if you would like to be involved!

As a slight side project I undertook a few Urban Portraits with a difference. These are Urban Portraits by Night. I had two volunteers, Max and Connor and we hooked up in Crewe to do some portraits under the yellow/ orange glow of street lighting. My flash lighting needed to be slightly different to the day Urban Portraits as I wanted to maintain that colour cast. The experiment worked very well and the two images work very well as part of the overall Urban Portrait series!

I am also available for private commissions. If you fancy your own shoot then make a booking and you can select a location. Its just £49 and the price includes an 18×12 inch print of your favourite image!

 

Urban, portrait, Crewe, Cheshire, Simon J. Newbury Photography

Night Urban Portrait by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Urban, portrait, Crewe, Cheshire, Simon J. Newbury Photography

Night Urban Portrait by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Aimee Winter Portraits

Although the snow meant problems on the roads it is always a good opportunity for us photographers to get some special photos. I had planned to work with Aimee on an Urban Portrait and we had agreed to wait until there was some snow about. It was certainly worth the wait!

As well as the planned Urban Portrait we wanted to do some winter portraits out in the snow in Alsager. The results were very pleasing. It was certainly a chilly shoot but worth braving the cold!!

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

Winter Portrait of Aimee in Alsager, Cheshire

IMG_9414 ed tag_Low Res

 

Urban Portrait Private Commissions

You may have noticed a few changes on our homepage! We now have direct links to our three main sites! As well as the main photography site: www.simonjnewburyphotography.co.uk which covers all our aspects of photography we have direct links to the dedicated wedding site: www.yourweddingphotographercheshire.co.uk and our page dedicated to the Urban Portrait Series: www.urbanportrait.co.uk

We really hope you like the extended new sites and would really welcome your thoughts and comments!

With regards to the Urban Portrait series we have made a package available to anyone wishing to privately commission us. For just £49 you can book a shoot at a location of your choice (in the Crewe area) and get a large 18×12 print of your favourite portrait from the shoot.

Urban Portraits private commissions by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Urban Portraits private commissions by Simon J. Newbury Photography

The Urban Portrait project has proved to be very popular indeed. After a very successful exhibition last year we still have plans to turn the project into a limited edition book run. The book is open to book advertisers priced at just £50 which includes a discount voucher, a signed copy of the book and a print! If you would be interested in being involved, please get in touch!

Meanwhile if you would like your own personal Urban Portrait then please get in touch to make arrangements! We are also available for band/ musician Urban Photoshoots!

Review of the Year – The Dabbers & Gridiron UK Photography

A few other notable things we have been up to this year include the stills photography commission for Gridiron UK and the ongoing rollercoaster of photographing Nantwich Town FC.

Gridiron UK Film Cast by Simon J. Newbury Photography

Gridiron UK Film Cast by Simon J. Newbury Photography in Crewe, Cheshire

Gridiron UK was filmed in and around Crewe. It was a very exhausting but rewarding 4 weeks. It was really interesting to see the behind the scenes work that goes into making a motion picture. The film is based on the true story of the formation of the Crewe Railroaders in the 80s by writer and director Gary Delaney. My main role was to photograph the behind the scenes work, create the official stills for the film publicity and appear briefly as an extra! Although I haven’t yet seen the final cut I have been informed by the director that my main scene, while slightly cut, is still part of the film!! I appeared briefly behind lead character Derek (Michael Dixon) in a scene filmed at the Market Centre in Crewe. I also appear behind Derek’s parents at a fixture at the Cumberland Arena. I’ll be sure to let you all know exactly where to pause your dvds when the film is released! The next stage for the photos will be an exhibition planned. Again, we’ll keep you posted!

Nantwich Town FC Cheshire Senior Cup Winners

Nantwich Town FC Cheshire Senior Cup Winners at Chester FC

We are now well into our second season as official photographers to Nantwich Town FC. Last year saw the club reached the first round proper of the FA Cup for the very first time in the history of the club. Last season was finished by a visit to Chester City’s Deva Stadium to take on Stalybridge Celtic in the Cheshire Senior Cup Final. The Dabbers ran out 1-0 winners and it was a great way to end such a great season for the club! This season has seen the Dabbers stronger in the league. Home form has been fairly indifferent but the Dabbers have been far stronger away from the Weaver. All being well the Dabbers will be involved in the playoffs come the end of the season!

Portraits & Weddings – Review of the Year

Well its been a good year on both the wedding and portrait photography fronts. It’s great getting to meet well known people and quite often celebrities make for good portraits because they must be posing all the time!

Portrait Photography, celebrity portraits

Main Image: Jonny Brain (Goalkeeper). Top Left: Chris Ramsey (Comedian). Bottom Left: Michael Dixon (Actor). Top Right: Beth Tweddle (Gymnast). Bottom Right: Dorsey Levins (American Footballer).

Among some of the faces we have made portraits of this year are: Tim Wonnacott (BBC Bargain Hunt), Richard O’Brien (Crystal Maze), Chris Ramsey (Hebburn), Perry Fenwick (Eastenders), Daniel Ilabaca (Freerunner), Right Said Fred, Dorsey Levens (Green Bay Packers Superbowl Winner), Beth Tweddle (GB Olympic medalist), Eddie Izzard, Dion Dublin, Steve Claridge, Tony Christie, Guy Garvey (Elbow), Darren Fletcher (Man Utd), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Painter (Darts), Steve Beaton, Colin Lloyd, Michael Dixon (actor), Rebecca Pitkin (Actress), Jonny Brain (goalkeeper), Charlotte Bradbury (swimmer), Ed Miliband, Yvette Cooper MP and Alan Johnson MP.

But, as I always say, I love making portraits of non celebrities far more. An example of this is the Urban Portrait project. Other than the Sherborne Regeneration Project I undertook with Cruden and Wulvern the Urban Portrait has become my biggest project to date. It never really started as a project but which I did the first portrait and showed it to people the popularity was immense. Before I knew it I had a raft of volunteers wanting to be in an Urban Portrait, and the project was born! I am really loving working on the project and held a successful exhibition back in July. I was really flattered to get a foreword to the project from renowned rock photographer Ian Tilton. Talks are currently underway to turn the project into a book of 53 portraits. We also have a dedicated site www.urbanportrait.co.uk

It has also been a busy year of wedding photography. Tina and I have been lucky to attend a wonderful array of weddings and get to some new venues as well as a few we have photographed at before. We were really pleased to get all our bespoke wedding books over from Italy and delivered to our clients in good time for Christmas. A few of the new venues we photographed at this year include: Wincham Hall, Northwich, Soughton Hall, Flintshire, Old Hall, Madeley, Haslington Hall, Cheshire, Bangor-On-Dee Racecourse, Reaseheath, Nantwich, and St. Oswalds Church, Bickley. We’ve got quite a few weddings booked in for next year and room for more!!

We have plans to launch a dedicated website to our wedding photography in early 2013! We’ll keep you posted!