Merchant City Festival 2024

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DOCUMENTING GLASGOW’S MERCHANT CITY FESTIVAL 2024

The Merchant City Festival 2025 is just around the corner and I’ll be photographing it again this year so I thought now would be the perfect time to share some of last year’s images.

The 2024 outing took place from Friday 19 to Sunday 21 July in Glasgow’s Merchant City district. Over the weekend, around 35,000 people enjoyed free outdoor arts and circus performances, interactive theatre, family ceilidhs, puppet shows, and science activities. There were daily markets, international street food, and evening live music. It was all very colourful and a joy to photograph. See some of the 2024 images below:

GEAR:
Nikon Z8 x 2
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters

Waterfront Private Hospital

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Lifestyle Photography for Waterfront Private Hospital

Waterfront Private Hospital is a modern, consultant-led private healthcare facility located in Granton, Edinburgh, overlooking the Firth of Forth. Established in September 2023 by renowned plastic surgeons Dr. Awf and Dr. Omar Quaba, the hospital specializes in aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery, dermatology, hand surgery, urology, and non-surgical cosmetic treatments.

I was approached by Holyrood PR last year to produce a series of lifestyle image for the hospital, showcasing their facilities as well as staff. The brief asked for warm, friendly, bright, professional. We shot over 2 days in Edinburgh and you can see a selection of these images below:

GEAR
Nikon Z8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z MC 105mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Nikkor Z 35mm f1.8
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters
Tripod
Reflector

Horse on the Roof

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Photographing Horse McDonald on the roof of the Pavilion Theatre in Glasgow

I’ve worked with Horse for many years now and photographed her in all sorts of venues and locations, from Strachur to St. Cyrus Beach, from the Panopticon to Theatre Royal, the Barrowlands Ballroom to Scottish National Portrait Gallery. I could go on. However, I’d never had the pleasure of photographing her singing live on the rooftop of one of Glasgow’s most iconic venues. To be fair, nobody has ever been allowed to perform on the roof of the Pavilion Theatre before, and given the amount of health and safety-related paperwork involved, I doubt anyone will ever again. The stunt took place earlier this month and was promoting Horse’s live gig at the Pavilion Theatre (the proper seated bit this time). The concert took place last Friday, and you can find a few images from both events below.

GEAR
DJI Air 2S
Nikon Z8
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters

Cara Rose

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Portrait session with singer/songwriter Cara Rose

A friend of mine took me to see Cara Rose live at Cottiers in December 2023. She’s a brilliant young singer/songwriter, but I didn’t know much about her or her music. The moment she came on stage, however, I thought I needed to work with her at some point. We chatted briefly after the gig (which was fantastic, by the way) and reconnected in early 2024 to talk about a possible collaboration. Cara loves analog photography, so I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to do a fully analog shoot, something I don’t do often these days. We set a date in February, had a studio, assembled a great team of people, and… well, I fucked it. I messed up the shutter speed settings on my Nikon FM, and every single frame came out half black. It’s quite embarrassing for someone who’s been shooting film long before digital was even an option. Rookie mistake, but what can you do? I had to own up to it. Luckily, everyone involved suggested a reshoot, and we managed to get together again a couple of months later. And yes, we were still determined to use film, although there might be one or two digital shots that sneaked in below - can you tell which ones are which?

Styling & Make Up: Michelle Watson Creative
Assistance: Jock Thomson
Studio: Basement49

GEAR
Nikon D850 + Nikkor 85mm f1.4
Nikon Z8 + Nikkor Z MC 105mm f2.8
Nikon FM + Nikkor 100mm f1.8
Kodak Portra 400 + Kodak 400 TX
Profoto A10
Profoto B10
Profoto OCF Magnum Reflector
Profoto OCF Softbox 3' Octa
Umbrellas

Celtic Connections 2025

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PHOTOGRAPHING THE 2025 CELTIC CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL

1,500 artists, 40 nationalities, 300 events, 24 venues and 18 days… That’s just some of the stats for this year’s Celtic Connections festival which wrapped up on Sunday. I wrote about working on last year’s outing and how much I enjoyed being a part of it, so you can imagine my delight at being asked to document it again this year. It was a very intense 3 weeks and I’m still catching up on sleep but my heart is full. You can find some of my favourite shots from the past few weeks below:

GEAR
Nikon Z8 x 2
Nikkor Z 70-200 f2.8
Nikkor Z 14-24mm f2.8
Nikkor Z 85mm f1.2
Tiffen Black Pro-mist 1/4 Filters