Alcohol is alcohol

is what Diageo's Chief Executive Paul Walsh says when it comes to market share and the products his giant company sells.

Given the location and time availale, I wish he'd given me a bottle of Black Label after the shoot. A tiny, featureless meeting room with two glass walls, clutter and horrible flourescent lighting were the aspects greeting me when I turned up for my five minutes with the big man. Paul Walsh was actually very nice and felt comfortable, which may have persuaded him to allow me to sit in on the interview and shoot a more lively picture than the posed portraits.

Homeless Photographer

...it's that time of year - the days are short, darkness sets quickly, the dread of Christmas consumerism is in the air and photographers generally tend to feel broke and exposed as work quietens down during the festive period. It just so happened that I went 'round a friend's house (who also happens to be a photographer), and his hallway was clogged with a huge cardboard box, discarded packaging for a piece of furniture or something.

We joked that this would soon become his new domicile if things continue to slide the way they have done for years - i.e. if more clients start demanding 'all rights' or ask for reduced fees, refuse to pay post-production, or simply go to cheaper photographers who will shoot any job for £ 150.00 'all in'.

There was a good deal of black humour in our reasoning (more like, lamenting the same story year-in, year-out) until I said that I have a little Powershot S70 on me, and so why don't we go outside and shoot a few pictures with it and the cardboard box?

My friend gladly obliged, insisting that he didn't want to be recognised, pulled a hat over his face and duly laid down on the pavement and made himself at home in his new-found portable budget-residence. It was predictably dark and cold, and my little gizmo being limited to low ISO settings and long shutter speeds produced fairly smudgy pictures. Those that were usable from our five-minute madness appear here, and they are worth more to me than the last few portrait sessions taken together.

Weapons Inspectors anyone?

One of the funnier protests I've covered over the years.
Greenpeace and other activists dress as UN Weapons Inspectors and go on the rampage outside AWE Aldermaston, the UK's nuclear weapons facility where allegedly preparations are underway to build a new nuclear deterrent once the Trident system expires. The job required a very early morning start and involved a lot of walking around the perimeter.

What surprised me was how non-confrontational the police and demonstrators were - no scuffles, no arrests, no violence or nastyness - a good day was had by all. Ho-hum.

Meet Mr Paparazzi

Darryn Lyons, founder of celeb and paparazzi photo agency Big Pictures finally stood in front of my camera. Although at the beginning of the interview he stated that he doesn't 'give a shit' about what other people thought of him, I found him rather eager to participate and look 'good' in the portraits.

F8 and be there...

... is what I thought when I glanced out of the windows from the 41st floor of the HSBC building in the docklands. Just while setting up for a portrait shoot with Stephen Green, chairman of HSBC Group plc, I had a few minutes to enjoy the view and catch a frame or two of Canary Wharf, the Docklands, the Thames and a fabulous London skyline.

More images from the actual Stephen Green shoot are below: