The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle — Anais Nin
An artist, designer and photographer raised in Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides, now living & working in the picturesque village of Inverkip on the Clyde coast in Scotland.
http://www.colinjcampbell.co.uk
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Catriona & Derek: The Wedding
Myself and Peigi had the pleasure of being asked to photograph our cousin Catriona's wedding in Edinburgh. It was a fairly challenging job given that the Bride wanted as few formal or posed shots as possible, being more comfortable with more low key candid coverage of the event. I hope we pulled it off to her satisfaction in the end. We certainly kept a low profile and even when getting intentional portrait shots with the couple I let them move around at their own pace, kept myself moving and not plant myself in front of their faces with the camera for too long. The weather was rainy but that only served to provide for a moody backdrop and a lovely dark, cool contrast with the beautiful bride as she walked the historic cobbled streets between The Priory Church and Orocco Pier Hotel on the main street in South Queensferry.
So it was much more of a documentary/magazine type shoot with more realism and a subtler styling than the traditional wedding stint which suited me just fine. I was in my element just capturing the atmosphere and details of the day as it happened to get a set of photographs that were as much about the event and everyone involved as the wedding couple, which fits with their characters very much as well. Derek & Catriona are a lovely Christian couple, humble and giving and shy of self aggrandizement so I hope this set of photographs reflects the experience: the happiness of personal and family joy shared with friends and colleagues on their special day.
It was great to meet various relatives we hadn't met before including Catriona's sisters Donna, Fiona, Sandra & Joan and those I knew but hadn't seen in years - sisters Maryanne, Kate & Aileen - were a hoot just like I remember. Look out of the Bridesmaids' dresses which were all unique designs in Harris Tweed specially for the girls.
I have uploaded photos of the wedding morning prep. and wedding service here. Pretty much all the black and white shots are Peigi's handiwork as well as a few of the colour shots too. The reception photos will follow in part 2.
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Saol na nGael~Life of the Gael photo competition awards in Donegal
Well, the photo competition I have been administering for Irish~Scottish Gaelic organisation Colmcille for the last 7 months culminated in a prize giving event this weekend at the Oireachtas music festival in Letterkenny, Donegal.
The Oireachtas is Ireland's equivalent of our National Mòd in Scotland and, in keeping with last year's prize-giving format, Colmcille arranged a celebration of music, dance and song from the Irish and Scottish gaeldoms to accompany the awarding of prizes to the winners of this year's Saol na nGael photography competition.
I flew out to Derry on Friday morning and was driven down to Letterkenny, a small town about 40 minutes away in lovely County Donegal. I met up with Colmcille's project officer Mairi Murray after checking into my hotel room. Mairi has been in charge of the Saol na nGael competition project since its inception in 2006 when I won 2nd prize and she hired me to help run the successive competitions knowing I was knowledgeable in photography and online social media.
After getting various supplies in preparation for setting up the exhibition of photos, which would be my primary task ahead of the event, we took a wee tour of a very soggy Donegal north of Buncranna and through the Pass of Mamore. Despite the horrendous weather the whole weekend I can tell that Donegal would be a very beautiful locale in the summer, much like the Scottish Highlands.
After nine on Saturday we were down at the venue to unpack pictures, decide on room layout and put up exhibition materials. This was not without its last minute stresses when we discovered some things had gone awol in the post but we improvised and everything was ready just in time. The event was held after midday on Saturday in the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny as various other Oireachtas events were taking place as well so there was a suitably festive atmosphere as people gathered for the buffet and entertainment. Various musicians, singers and dancers performed including Allan MacDonald (singing & pipes), Brendan Beaglaoich, Lillis O'Laoire & Mairi Smith. Afterwards the photo competition prizes were awarded by Éamon Ó Cuív, the Irish Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. The event finished with everyone being given complimentary Colmcille calendars featuring some of the photographs from the competition.
After tidying up the exhibition and various administration bits and pieces I got back to the hotel and had dinner of Kangaroo steak (very nice, like beef steak) with prize winner Tim Riches before retiring to my room to sleep before flying back to Glasgow on Sunday morning.
All in all, it was very enjoyable, well attended and even better than last year's event in my opinion. The people we met in Letterkenny were just lovely and all the prize winners were great folk who came from the North of Scotland to Southernmost Ireland and places in between.
You can see all the photos from my trip on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc/sets/72157622716745728/
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Yay! I've got NEW 2010 Calendars available for sale
I have updated my range of calendars for 2010, adding new images to the four themes of Islandscapes, Cityscapes, Inverkip and The Ancient Isle. These calendars have generous A3 size pages in a contemporary design with gorgeous full colour print and finish and can be shipped worldwide. A great Christmas gift because, after all; who doesn't like beautiful scenery?
I have also added new photos to my RedBubble shop including new photographs of Glencoe which would make superb canvas prints or framed prints.
My photographs can be purchased as prints, greeting cards, canvases and more. Come and visit my shop here and have a browse.
My photographs can be purchased as prints, greeting cards, canvases and more. Come and visit my shop here and have a browse.
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Portfolio shots of some Blurb books I've designed
A portfolio book for car photographer Alisdair Cusick and a personal collection of New York photographs which is for sale on Blurb.
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Queen Mary 2 Publicity
With this local press advert for Inverclyde Council I created a slightly more formal and understated design taking cues from the classic Cunard styling and colours.
The world's biggest cruise liner is making her first visit to the Clyde as part of a special British Isles voyage marking the introduction of the Queen Mary 2 in 2004. She will berth on Monday 19th October at Greenock's Ocean Terminal.
From Inverclyde Now:
The biggest cruise ships to come to the Clyde so far are the Princess Cruises vessels Grand Princess, Star Princess and Golden Princess, which are all about 108,000-tonnnes. Queen Mary 2 is described as the largest, longest, widest, tallest and most expensive ocean liner built.
Thousands are expected to turn out and greet the largest vessel ever to call at Greenock.
More info: http://www.inverclydenow.com/news-detail2.asp?ID=3450
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I have canvas prints for sale!
I have made some tweaks to colinjcampbell.co.uk to include 2010 calendars for sale and 2 canvas prints I have in stock for sale at this moment.
Check out http://www.colinjcampbell.co.uk
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Mine and Graham's photos in New Dawn Bookshop
Myself and another local photographer Graham McKenzie-Smith gifted some photographs to decorate the new wing of the New Dawn Coffeeshop in Greenock. We finally managed to get them up this afternoon with a little (a LOT of) help from joiner brother Seoras, fresh (or not so) from completing another kitchen fitting. The pictures look great and go really well in that lovely airy dining space. Pop in for a nice lunch by Johanna and her crew and see them for yourself.
The pictures I put up were Heather & Cotton and The Lonely Tree.
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Saol na nGael ~ Life of the Gael photo competition 2009 - The Shortlist
Saol na nGael 2009 says:
We are pleased to announce the photos shortlisted by the invited judges from the 995 entered in the Saol na nGael Flickr Group.
The photos were judged by Michael Russell MSP and Sean O Donaile, Presenter of TG4’s photography programme i bhFócas.
Prize winners from the shortlist have now been notified by telephone and the specific awards in the Adult and Junior categories will be announced at the prize giving on 31st October during the Oireactas na Gaeilge 2009 in Letterkenny, Ireland.
More info: flickr.com
This is what I have been working on all week (in fact for the last 6 months!) for Colmcille and finally the shortlist of the Saol na nGael photo competition is out.
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This week in pictures: hither and thither
I was contacted this week by someone researching a book about the Covenanters who had come across a reference to a landowner whose mansion sat in a plain near Inverkip and was cursed by the minister Alexander Peden with the prophecy that one day a road would be built through the place and it would be a ruin. Being a total sucker for both local history and the Covenanters I was more than happy to try and locate and take a photo of the spot, if it still existed. My research suggests it was around Chrisswell Farm which is a very old farmstead in Spango Valley and if any building was divided by the road through Spango it will be long gone as said road has become a dual carriageway and been redeveloped around the IBM factory hard by it. I may update with more details on what I have found about this aspect of locality later on. I am totally fascinated by the fact that this area has thousands of years of history and characters and events running through it and is still largely rural and unchanged.
I have been pretty busy with work the last few weeks, trying to keep pace with various projects and meetings. Part of this flurry is the deadline of the Saol na nGael (Life of the Gael) photo competition which I was hired to administer by Irish-Scottish Gaelic organisation Colmcille again this year. We had almost 1000 photos entered into the competition on the public competition pool at http://www.flickr.com/groups/saolnangael/, double last year's entries so I think it was a success. People entered from all over the world submitting their snapshots of life in the Irish or Scottish Gaeldom and I flew up to Stornoway for a meeting today with Colmcille project officer Mairi Murray and the invited judges of this year's competition: Michael Russell MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Culture, and Sean O Donaile, presenter of Irish language channel TG4’s photography programme i bhFócas.
As a result I've had some lovely family time too. Me and Mum & Peigi watched Marley & Me last night which was good (although Peigi says the book is better). While I was at Stornoway airport all afternoon for my meeting (they have a business room for hire in the airport - who knew?) they were all taking the peats home finally and I came home to find Mum looking like she'd been sobbing her eyes out all afternoon but it was some peat dust that had got into her eye and irritated it so badly that it had began to swell and we insisted on taking her in to the hospital to get it checked out. So I found myself on Saturday evening sitting in an empty (thankfully! No queue!) waiting room in the Western Isles Hospital. Mum was duly examined in a manner that would make your eyes water just hearing about it and sent home with antibiotic cream to apply every 4 hours and orders to take painkillers and come back if it hadn't improved tomorrow. So mum was supine in the living room while Peigi took control on the kitchen and I helped her with breaded garlic chicken and a honey fruit crumble for dinner which I think mum enjoyed all the more for having it made for her. I was delighted to discover that it was the Last Night of the Proms on the BBC tonight too so we got to see the usual raucous renditions of Rule Britannia, Jerusalem & Pomp & Circumstance etc. - some to beautifully different arrangements this year I noticed. *sigh* I must get to a 'Last Night' in person before I die. Love it.
I'll be back down to Greenock on Monday so am enjoying the home time while it lasts…roast pork tomorrow for Sunday lunch :o]
As always all photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cjc/
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