Happy Christmas

Seasons Greetings, Joyeux Noel, Buon Natale and a very Happy Christmas!

LIFT

Set of shots that I think work really well together from a commission for NTA at LIFT in London. Amazingly positive, welcoming group of people.

Shot up North

Love this pic from recent trip to Bradford for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Trains...

I rarely use trains to get to shoots, too much gear, too many changes.  However I've spent way too much time in the car recently and decided to head into town for a relatively straight forward job last night via Waterloo.  Caught sight of this Macmillan poster I shot in the entrance to a carriage; think that the silhouette images are working really well.  Return trip rather marred by the drunken guy who got on at Woking, sat in the seats in front of me and 2 minutes later threw up.  Thursday is obviously the new Friday...

Dartmoor

Friends, Dartmoor, banjos and jazz funk at the first Blues and Jazz festival in Calstock, Devon.  Only a flying visit after a manic week with shoots in Bremerhaven and Birmingham but great to walk in sunshine on the moor.

Bruges

Latest in the 'car park' series. Although it looks grungy here, it had just been completed but was already leaking what appeared to be liquid green kryptonite from the roof.

Bembridge IOW

Sailing across to Bembridge, assuming that you find space in the harbour once you've arrived, is usually a treat.  Especially when you get one last, glorious weekend before the gloom descends for the winter and also end up moored alongside.

three legged friend

Every so often , I'm really glad I put up with dragging a seldom used tripod all over town...

Sound system

Recent shoot for a private client of Berry Place Ltd who had commissioned this custom shelving system for his amazing hi-fi.  Treated to the best sounding version of A Forest by The Cure, seminal song from 6th form years...we were roughly the same age.

Arbor Yachts Promo Film

Recent film made for Jesse Loynes at Arbor Yachts explaining the concept behind the new Arbor 26 designed by Rogers Yacht Design.

arbor yachts promotional film from michael austen on Vimeo.

EBU - London Olympics

A couple of images from a reportage shoot for the European Broadcast Union at the IBC in the Olympic Park this week. I thought that photographers had a lot of kit but this was ridiculous.  4 floors of TV studios, 20,000 media at the games and a lot of cable.

Olympic Volleyball

A knock around game with a few mates in the park or on a campsite will never be the same again. GBR tried hard against Argentina but were soundly beaten, despite the deafening noise from a largely patriotic crowd.  The Bulgarian team were the stars of the session seeing off the challenge from Italy.  Brilliant event, fantastic atmosphere and incredibly well organised.

Dawn

A quiet moment before the Olympics begin today as dawn breaks over Chichester Harbour.

Arbor Yachts

Jesse Loynes from Arbor Yachts hard at work on the first Arbor 26 high performance cruiser.  The yacht should debut at the Southampton Boat Show in September.

Vassiliki

Just back from a trip to Vassiliki, windsurfing at home is nothing like this!

Are you sure...

Seen recently on Pall Mall!

Dyslexic snapper?

Brewin Dolphin Metre Regatta - Day 2

Action from the second day of the Brewin Dolphin Metre Regatta run by the Royal Southern Yacht Club.  The seven 6m yachts encountered every wind strength from 0-28 knots during the racing in the central Solent. More images here: http://www.royal-southern.co.uk/Media/Image-Galleries

Brewin Dolphin Metre Regatta - Day 1

Light winds and grey skies for the opening day of the Brewin Dolphin Metre Regatta but some close racing.

Strike

Empty waiting room at the Lawson Practice in N1.  Alternative view shot on location for Pulse. 

Royal Southern 175 Regatta

Unsettled weather on the last day of the Royal Southern 175 Regatta sponsored by Brewin Dolphin led to some dramatic racing!

Stormy weather

Editing some images from The Boat Project for possible inclusion in the global Harken brochure,  I came across this one which seems to reflect the current weather.

Cowes-Deauville race start

Shooting the start of the Cowes- Deauville race for the Royal Southern Yacht Club as part of their 175 Anniversary Regatta. Light breezes meant that drama was hard to find but the crew of this Class 3 Figaro II certainly wanted to get noticed.

The Boat Project - launch video

An extremely wet day to be out shooting but such a fantastic event.  Filmed with  Toby Adamson on a combination of Sony NX-70 (waterproof!), Canon 5D2 and GoPro2 and edited by Toby.

A Champagne Job

Berry Place made this superbly crafted glass crown on a cork cushion; commissioned by Dom Perignon for the Harrods window display marking the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.