It's the end of a long day photographing a live training event for a client in Budapest, Hungary. The client and I are walking down the street to do a bit of street photography when we notice a man using an iPad to take photos of the outside of a new restaurant. So we strike up a conversation about camera's (I've got a 5D with a 50mm prime lens hanging off me) and it turns out that he's the owner of this new place and tonight is their first opening! It also turns out they do a mean selection of veggie dishes which is great news if you're a veggie like me!

Rafi is the bosses name and we get chatting. We're introduced to his staff and they recommend the best dishes on the menu. Rafi is also a keen photographer so I spend some time looking at his pictures and giving him a few hints and tips on camera techniques. I also get out my camera and offer to do a few promo shots of his place.

I love the way the camera is a universal ice breaker. Once you tell people you're a pro then it's instant rapport and a great way of finding common ground. I'm doing more and more oversees photoshoots and, as I discovered in Peru, even if language is a complete barrier all you have to do is hold the camera smile and those barriers just fall away!

The nicest part was the food was on the house and we made new friends in a Budapest!

As a professional photographer, I sometimes find myself in "interesting" situations... It's York, Yorkshire, there's about 30 mins till sunset and I'm in the car with a client at the end of a long day of shooting inside and outside various properties in and around Yorkshire.

"Let's just get a quick photo of this property we're renovating, it would be a great promotional image for our website."

"OK" I say and so we get the owners permission and setup the shoot.

Normally I'd have my step ladder on me but this is an impromptu shoot and so I have to think out the box. Luckily there was a pallet of bricks that my clients team had on the drive way... perfect! You see when photographing buildings it helps to get elevation.

The images above were taken by the client who was entertained by my enthusiasm to clamber up the bricks. Well for me it's all about getting the right shot!

I recently did a studio photo shoot for one of my long-standing clients Nick Kemp, an internationally recognised trainer and therapist. He has already used the images for his website, posters, DVD artwork and numerous other ways. So when he was contacted by Changes Magazine, about an article he was able to provide digital copies of some of his portfolio head shots. I also supplied the images used on his Provocative Change Works DVD boxset which is shown on the front cover and in his article.

It's always great to see the different ways that my clients get great return on investment for thier images. Just another example of why many professionals choose to work with me to develop their professional promotional image portfolio.

I've done a lot of photography for my clients helping them to build their commercial brand image identity. This picture shows just a few of the ways the images I've taken have been used:

• Magazine Articles in the UK, US and Poland
• DVD album artwork
• DVD and CD disk images
• Flyers
• Postcarts
• Leaflets

Happy new year! I've been using photoshop to digitally retouch images from my digital camera shoots for the past 5 years and because a number of people have asked me, I've decided to add it as a service that I offer.

What is digital retouching?

Digital retouching is a process where I use professional Adobe Photoshop products to alter an image to make it and the object or people in it look even better. As well as altering the colour, white balance, contrast and other aspects of the image digital retouching, which is also known as "photoshoping a picture" can be used  for removing blemishes, hiding bags under the eyes, loosing acne spots, masking scars, changing the shape of a persons face and body and also to remove people or objects from an image.

Digital Retouching Service

I work very efficiently and clients usually visit me so they can sit and describe exactly what they want on their important images. I use the latest large wacom touchpads with seriously large high quality NEC professional screens to ensure the highest quality. And with 18Gb of RAM and 8 processors I can work extremely quickly to deliver great value for money.

Get in touch today for a friendly chat to find out more about the professional and cost effective digital retouching service I offer.