More From The Shoot

Below are a few more shots from the shoot yesterday.

Tender, originally uploaded by BenGoode.

, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

A Gift

A Gift, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

I only had the one photoshoot in the end today, the one with my Niece has been put back.

The shoot with Dani at Dida Photography was good fun. It turned out they didn't want anything formal, it was nice and relaxed and natural. It wasn't easy directing 6 of them, but we got some great results. Really need to get my sensor cleaned, it's all of a sudden got quite bad. Nothing that Photoshop won't be able to sort out though.

I've just had a quick look through the shots, this one stood out. A proud Dad with his baby girl.

Thanks again for Dani! :)

Busy Day Tomorrow

I've got two portrait sessions tomorrow. The first booking is for my 18 month year old Niece Millie and her Cousin Charlie, the shoot will be shot in their Nannies playroom, so should be lots of fun.

The second will be in Poole. A friend and photographer of Dida Photography has asked me to shoot a family of six in her home studio. The family are looking for something formal, not my style but should be a good experience.

I'll let you all know when the shots are ready to view in the client area.

From Me To You

Have you seen the latest John Lewis adverts? The one with the Beatles cover in the background. That song has been playing over and over in my head. It took me ages to work out what the cover was. I found a link on the John Lewis website for a free download of the track. If like me it has been going round and round your head, right click here and 'Save Target As' to download the mp3 file.

Introducing Roxie

Introducing Roxie, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

Introducing Roxie, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

This is little Roxie, my Sister's 8 week old Staffy. She came with us on the walk on Sunday. She's lots of fun! I played around with a new action in this shot. I recently got the Melissa Webb photo actions, they're pretty good! The day was so cold and bleak, the action just seemed to inject some warmth into the shot.

On another note, Blogger puts a border around any shot you upload. I have always edited this out. I'm now not sure whether to leave it in. What do you think?

Family

Family, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

We have come home. Things just didn't work out in Northern Ireland. It's a long story I will not bore you all with. Unfortunately the change in accommodation meant we were not as welcome as had previously hoped.

With the prospect of no roof over our head and my work not yet confirmed, we decided to head back to England.

The day we returned I had an email confirming my work. I would have been based in Ballymena, about 45 minutes from Belfast and a lot more rural. We may have been able to hang on a few more days and move that way, but in hindsight we would have been quite isolated and lonely without our family and friends just down the road. Sometimes you have to loose something to realise what you had.

Yesterday afternoon Jen, Micah and I went for a Winters afternoon walk with my Brother, Sister, Brother-in-Law and Niece to the Southampton Common. It felt good to be home. The picture above is of my Sister yesterday on the walk.

Capital of Culture

Capital of Culture, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

This morning I caught the ferry from Birkenhead, Liverpool to Belfast. I was there to see the sunrise, it rose from the right of this shot. I couldn't get a decent shot until I was on the deck of the Ferry, by then the orange haze in the sky had almost gone.

This was shot from the Ferry looking across the Mersey to the Liverpool city skyline.

It was fantastic driving my VW Golf up this time, instead of the van. I filled it up with £50 in Southampton, the fuel needle didn't move until I got onto the M40. It only used quarter of a tank to go from Southampton to Liverpool.

Just Clear

Just Clear, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

The images from the Just Clear IT Solutions shoot are now available to view. This was shot on Cambs Hill, Portsmouth looking away from the sea. The shot is a little ironic considering the business name.

The Journey

Lagan Viking, originally uploaded by Ben Goode.

We have made our move over to Northern Ireland! Accommodation plans were changed last minute which caused Jen and I to question our decision to move over there. But with just a few days left in our house and both of us having left our jobs, we went ahead with our original plans.

We were due to get the Ferry on Sunday night at 10.30 from Birkenhead, Liverpool. But when we got there we were told the Ferry had been delayed until 6.30 the following morning. It was a long drive in our hired Ford Luton van, it was so loud and I'm sure it had square wheels. Jen had the great idea of getting ear plugs at our first Motorway Services stop. The moment they went in it was like someone had sound proofed the doors, and lined the floor with plush carpet. Had it not been for the bumpy ride, I would have forgotten altogether that I was driving the van, oh and the fact I could turn the steering wheel 10 degrees clockwise or anti-clockwise without the van moving an inch.

At the docks we were now faced with a long and very cold night spent in a tiny departure lounge. A departure lounge with no heating and a TV stuck on ITV1.

We boarded the NorfolkLine ferry 'The Lagan Viking' at half 4 on Monday morning. We headed straight to our cabin to get some sleep. I awoke to what I thought was an earthquake at 6.30 a few hours after boarding, to just find we were leaving port. It took 10 hours to get to Belfast!

I am currently in England as I type this, I have returned the Van and now waiting for tomorrow night to drive my car to Birkenhead, Liverpool and get back over to Belfast. It has only been a few days, but I'm missing Jen and Micah loads!

Jen has already found us a house, we'll have a few spare bedrooms which means we can have visitors come out and stay with us :).

Today I did the photo shoot for Just Clear IT Solutions. It had been canceled from a few weeks back due to bad weather, luckily today the weather was pretty good by the afternoon. The shoot went really well, the shots will soon be available in the client area.