Author: Richard

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Customer Service

You generally don’t find out how good a company is until things go wrong.

Marks & Spencer; they always come to mind.  We once made an error and when we tried to correct it, we not only had the problem easily corrected but got an apology and a bunch of flowers for my wife, now bear in mind this was our error not theirs, we got excellent service and their opinion was they should not have allowed us to make such an error.

Warehouse Express; is also a company I have had excellent service from.  On one occasion their courier let me down badly and I was having no satisfaction trying to resolve it with them.  As far as the courier was concerned they could not be wrong so it must all by my fault.  A quick phone to Warehouse Express and what the courier has said was impossible now became posible and I had my goods the next day.

Yesterday I was pleased to experience some more good customer service.  I had placed an order the week before for an AeroPress Coffee maker.  On the Monday I got an email informing me it had been shipped, just the day after the order was placed.  Well by Friday night nothing had arrived, so I dropped them a quick email that evening to chase it up.

Despite it being outside office hours I got a quick email back, apologising and saying they would look into it on Monday. Well, first thing Tuesday morning by 1st Class post I had my order, including some coffee that had been roasted that very Monday morning and a quick note explaining what had happened.

Thanks Sarah for sorting this and i’ll definitely be placing more orders with you at HasBean Coffee.

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Model’s and TF

TF, used to be called TFP now often TFCD.

It means Time For Print or Time For CD.

Basically the photographer and the model both work for free unpaid, each covering their own costs. Both work hard to get some great images that would benefit both their portfolios.

At the end both get copies of the final edited images for their own use.

Most weeks I get approached by models asking for TF, generally I turn them down. This is not cheap photography, my time, the studio and the editing afterwards, all costs me money. The model must either be something special or I want to test out something in the studio, and this saves me from having to book and pay for a models time.

So models, feel free to contact me for TF shoots, but please do not be disappointed if I turn you down, I only have time for one TF shoot every month or so, but please do contact me again in the future sometimes I might just need a model and you could save the day.

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Hospital Update2

Well were now both out of hospital and glad to be home.

Thanks again for everyones good wishes and a special thanks for Caroline’s Father and Alison, Caroline’s younger sister for helping and and running around for us.

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Hospital Update

Hi,

As most of the family know, I was admitted to hospital on Wednesday.  Once again I had collapsed at work.  Well I only had to stay in the one night until things stabilised, I am home now and feeling much better but have been told to rest for six weeks.

A few hours after I was admitted, Caroline was also admitted to hospital, she is doing fine but will be spending a few nights in.  Thanks for the support and best wishes.

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Unforeseen Break

Had a week’s break from work, blogging; everything actually. Been quite ill this last week.

No photography, no motorcycling, just complete rest after a surprise trip to the hospital. Still not completely well and whats worse I cannot ride the motorcycle, thats the worse of it.

Hopefully I’ll be fit again soon.

Also an apology to the model I was hoping to work with this weekend, hopefully we can reschedule soon, it was quite an exciting shoot planned, outdoors, models, horses and dynamic action.

There is also a top London model coming down in March, we have been hoping to work together for a while, lets hope I am well, and our schedules fit.

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Loading a Hassleblad 120 back

Film: Loading a camera.

A bit of a lost art now a days.  Most 35mm SLR users have now switched to digital, and most of the last 35mm SLR’s were auto loading.  For users of medium format, large format camera’s, film is still the medium of choice.

For Hasselblad users of the V system, loading a film for the first time can be tricky so heres a very useful youtube video to help you out.

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Superbowl

Sunday night was Superbowl night.

You might find it odd but as a British person I hate football, or soccer as it is called in the rest of the world. I do enjoy Tennis, Rugby and American Football.

Unfortunately I had an early meeting on Monday, so decided record the Superbowl. I had to spend today avoiding the news but managed, and now as I type this the half time show is on my TV.

Its not looking good for Pittsburgh as I watch, while enjoying a beer but they ended the first half with their first touch down, lets home for a close game in the second half. Its 21 – 10 with Green Bay winning. Time to open another beer!

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Wildlife and Early Mornings

An early start and I was at the location for just before dawn where I met Chris. Chris being the wildlife photographer while I am more a people and landscape photographer.

We set ourselves up near the lake and waited for the early morning sun to appear.

As far as the weather it started fine but a gentle drizzle soon started.

There was continuous over cast cloud overhead, and good light never appeared, so it was a no go for landscape photography.

As we setup a Heron appeared and settled on its nest on the island in the middle of the lake. More birds gradually appeared but with the heavy cloud cover the sun did little to improve the light levels.

With the cameras set to high ISO (ASA) we practiced our photography but with little hope.

A few Cormorants flew in as did some Canadian Geese, to join the Ducks and Cootes already on the lake.

We spend an hour photographing the wildlife before the rain started to get a little too heavy even for our weather sealed professional lens and bodies so we packed a way and headed for the nearest Starbucks to warm ourselves up with hot coffee.

A shame we did not get any good shots but wildlife photography is difficult and one should always practice when one can. You will never get that award winning shot if you stay home in your nice warm bed. At least thats what I keep telling myself.

If you want to see some better shots check out Chris photos from last week. His shots from this morning are here.