Highlights 2015
Happy New Year (or is it too late for that now?)! There seems to be a tradition in my blogs that I must start by telling you just how busy I've been recently and lamenting the fact that my blog has been somewhat neglected. Well, guess what - nothing seems to have changed for 2016!
Last year was truly fantastic for me in every sense so I thought it only right to share some of my highlights. This piece orignally started as my "Top 10 Favourite Moments of the Year" but, having shot tens of thousands of photos in 2015, it soon crept up to my "Top 20" then "Top 25" as I found it hard to whittle them down. I haven't included any wedding photos as that will be in a separate post but here you go: These are my "Top 31 Moments of 2015" in chronological order - you can pick which ones you like best and let me know...
I kicked off the year with a trip to Kenya in Janaury. It was a country that I'd never visited before and I'm so glad I went. I planned the trip primarily for the wildlife opportunities but I was also fascinated by the people and their culture. You can read more in my previous blogs from the trip but here is a quick glimpse...
Young male lion staring down my lens with almost human-like features (Masai mara)
Peek-a-boo Hippos (Naivasha)
Mother and Foal Zebra (Nakuru)
Pied Kingfisher having caught lunch (Naivasha)
Masai Boys milking a goat in their village (Masai Mara)
"Sunbirds on Tap" - this image made it into the final round of judging for Wildlife Photographer of the Year (roughly the top 1000 images of about 52,000 entries worldwide) and was actually shot in the carpark of a museum in Nairobi (despite the week-long safari I'd just been on).
Over the last 12 months I've developed an excellent relationship with Young's pubs and have been asked on various promo shoots for their newly refurbished establishments around London. One aspect of this includes snapping food for their new menus. For those of you who know me and my appetite, you'll realise what a challenge this is to my professional discipline. The pics speak for themselves...
Dessert at the Spring Grove, Kingston
Bangers and mash at the Nine Elms, Battersea
I've done a lot of work with performers, actors and models over the years as they are constantly in need of high quality photos to update ever-evolving portfolios. Shireen Jathoonia booked me for a shoot in April for exactly that purpose. When she's not dancing around, breathing fire, she scrubs up pretty well as a model! You can see more from the shoot here.
At the end of April, I was fortunate to be in Barbados celebrating both my parents' birthdays and was able to tie in a bit of photography between rum punches. My trip coincided with England's cricket tour to the West Indies. The test match I photographed was genuinely thrilling and more akin to Twenty Twenty cricket than the usual 5 day, ploddy dirge...
"Catch it!"
Jimmy Anderson flying down the wicket
You can see more cricket shots here.
As you might have guessed, I spent quite a bit of time with my lens pointed at the local wildlife. I went all round the island trying to get decent shots of hummingbirds but, ironically, the best ones were taken while sitting on my hotel balcony...
Green-throated Carib
Green Turtle
You can see more photos from my trip to Barbados here.
The month of May saw me back in London in time for the Aircraft Circus Student Cabaret. It amazes me to see how the company has developed over the years that I've worked with them - their students just seem to get better and better. This shot is far from being the most dramatic from the night but I really like the lighting - it almost could have been taken in a studio...
2016 has also seen me build a nice relationship with the London School of Economics who have invited me in to photograph several lectures and seminars. Below is an image of Jack Lew, current United States Secretary of the treasury and one of the most influential figures in the world economy today.
In July I had a beautiful wedding in Parma, Italy, and also managed to tag on a few days' break afterwards, further North on lake Iseo. I'll be covering weddings in another blog but I wanted to share this image of Riva di Solto, a stunningly picturesque fishing village on the shore of the lake...
Many of you will know that, before becoming a photographer, I made a living as a rugby player. Somebody who has enjoyed a similarly successful transition out of pro sport into the real world is my old flatmate, Sacha Harding. Sacha has built a great reputation as a personal trainer in Bedford and is seeing phenomenal results from his clients. I had the pleasure of doing several promo shoots for him in 2015 with more booked in the very near future...
I did a lot of headshot work in 2016, both from an arts and a more corporate perspective. This is probably my favourite of the year: actor, Peter Revel-Walsh, shot with natural light in a shadowy area of the Southbank, London...
More cricket! This time an exciting action shot from the T20 championship match between Worcestershire and Durham for NatWest in July (on behalf of Red Photographic).
No, it's not a self-portrait taken 40 years in the future - it is, in fact, Seasick Steve performing at Ramblin' Man Fair festival in Kent. You can see all the pics here.
July contained more circusy antics, this time in the guise of an aerial shoot in Bushy park with 4 performers - we certainly got a few funny looks from the passing dog-walkers! See a full range of the photos here.
The UK has seen a huge rise in the popularity of cycling in recent years, epitomised by the "Ride London" event which sees thousands of lycra-clad velophiles whizzing through the streets of the capital and down into Surrey. I watched from Kingston upon Thames where the Animal Display team were also putting on a show for the crowds...
I spent the majority of August at Edinburgh festival, attempting to make people laugh. If you've never been, I can highly recommend the experience - there's such a diversity of entertainment that you'll find something incredible to watch, whatever your taste. Fortunately, I took my camera equipment with me and was able to fit in some photo bookings around my own show commitments. This is my favourite pic form Lili La Scala's AFVS and you can see more here. Sword-swallower, Heather Holliday...
September's World Cup may have conveniently slipped out of the memory of many an English fan but I look back fondly at the pre-match events I covered for Stokes and Moncrieff pub in Twickenham. There were some very amusing Q&A sessions, exemplified by the rivalrous banter from internationals, Chris Ashton and Ryan Jones...
Maggie's Cultural Crawl was a definite highlight from September: swarms of orange-shirted fundraisers marching the streets of London at night, visiting the capitals most famous points of cultural interest. Here's a shot from inside the V&A museum...
About 18 months ago, I was lucky to meet and become friends with Darren Kenny OBE, Britain's most successful paralympic cyclist. Darren recently set up his own bike brand, Estrella, and got me in to take some photos. The photography was split between studio-based product pics for his catalogue and outdoorsy action shots for marketing purposes like this one in Windsor...
Despite no longer being involved in professional sport, I still try to keep in shape and often train at Locker 27 in Weybrige. They had a huge refurbishment in October, making it one of the best training facilities in South-East England. They asked me to come in and take some shots of the new gym so they could update their website. This is my favourite from the day: Jade Hill working on her weightlifting technique...
November always means "Movember" for me. As per usual, I was rushed off my feet on moustache related duty. One task involved making a video with a host of French Top 14 rugby players to encourage mortals to sign-up to the cause. The shot below is of ex-international and current Toulouse weapon of mass destruction, Imanol Harinordoquy, and made it into a full page feature in Men's Health magazine...
In 2015, Movember launched its "Move" campaign to encourage people to lead a more active and healthy lifestyle. The shot below was taken just after sunrise on the Millenium Bridge at an event coordinated by project Awesome. The photo made it into several national publications, including the Telegraph, Evening Standard and Metro as well as featuring on the big screen in Piccadilly Circus!
Many of you will recognise the face below but find it strange seeing him without shorts on. It is, of course, England rugby legend, Nick Easter speaking at his testimonial dinner to celebrate his long and illustrious career at Harlequins...
In December, I really finished the year on a high, trekking up Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain. The blizzard and minimal visibility at the top didn't really lend itself to photography but the views on the way back down, once below the cloud line, were truly awe-inspiring...
CONGRATULATIONS - you've finally made it to the end of the longest blogs in the history of blogs! Thanks again for stopping by. I will try to update you with my adventures with blogs more frequently in future but if you want to see what I'm getting up to on a more day-to-day basis, you can follow me:
On Instagram: @robinbootphoto
On Twitter: @robinboot
And on Facebook: Robin Boot Photography
If you want to book me for photography or videography or even purchase prints of the shots you've seen, please get in touch at info@robinboot.com or 07810407673
2016 is shaping up to be another exciting year with trips already planned for India (February) and the USA (May) so please keep your eye open for more blogs coming soon(ish)!
Until next time.
R
