Libby and Wills

Last Monday I was wrestling for a good hour with Will, but he didn't want to co-operate with my intentions of taking some nice photographs for his Grandmother. She had booked a session with Libby and Will for me to capture some fantastic photographs as a present for her daughter and son in-law's Wedding Anniversary.

Libby was very shy to begin with, but after talking about stuff for 5 minutes with her, she soon lightened up and was a willing subject. But Will on the other hand (who called me Man throughout the session, very cute) was very happy in front of the camera, but just didnt do what I asked of him (he is after all only 18 months), but I still managed to capture some magical shots of the both.

Grandma had a hard time selecting the 4 9x6in prints that are given with the Summer Offer, but here they are..


She also selected another for herself.

Pete Christie - Frank, Album

So its finally in my hands! The eagerly awaited album from Pete Christie!


The Album wasn't without troubles, the first run of covers (thankfully Pete only had a run of 20 made) was terrible, the detail from the photographs disappeared because the printer just didn't have a wide enough gamut to cope with the tones in Petes' face while keeping a solid black..

This problem was cured using an offset lytho print press..

Contact Pete today for your copy!

Birmingham Wedding Photography | 2nd Shooting for Boundless Photo

Friday saw me once again 2nd shooting for Boundless Photo in Sutton Coldfield, nr Birmingham. I started by taking photographs of Major Nick and his guard of honour at New Hall Hotel which came complete with its own moat! Meanwhile Nick was taking photographs of Suzy at her parents.

The wedding was held at St Peters Church in Little Aston, the weather held until we arrived back at New Hall Hotel. But Suzy and the Major were great and didn't let the rain dampen their spirits, and let us get some shots of them in the Hotels Garden.













The guard must have done this 5 times to Major Nick..

Nick has my shots from the dancing, so I'll update with some of those shots when I get the cards back in the post.
Apparently I've now shot more weddings this year with Nick, than Jon has!
You can see more of the photographs from the wedding on the Boundless Blog

Graphi Studio Book - 20x20

After much anticipation, Alison and Marks Graphi Studio Wedding Album came in the post! An extra 4 sides ontop of the 20 given in our standard book package. I took some photographs before it was wrapped up ready to be given.

The Crystal Glance cover is our favorite finish.

Metallic paper was used, but any of the papers can be mixed and matched through out.











And the Book totally wrapped

Moo Cards

I attended a Strobist Meet a couple of weeks ago, and after shooting each model the photographers were handing out their business cards.. not ordinary cards mind, but Moo Minicards. I'd seen a few people over on POTN with them and always thought "yeah those look good", but never done anything about it..

After seeing them in the flesh, I knew I just had to have them as well! so the other day I sat through my collection of photographs looking for the most striking. Tuesday I uploaded the images and ordered my Moo Minicards!

They arrived today! great service if you ask me!

Some images >

The plastic box the cards come in is made from recycled plastic, I love the little decal

Robert Whetton Dorset Photographer - Moo Minicards

Robert Whetton Dorset Photographer - Moo Minicards

Robert Whetton Dorset Photographer - Moo Minicards

Robert Whetton Dorset Photographer - Moo Minicards

I'm very happy with the quality of the cards, and I'm sure they'll be well received by those asking for my card.

Mallory Court Wedding - 2nd Shooting for Boundless Photos

Saturday saw me again up with Boundless in Warwick shooting Helen and Steve's wedding day. With the weather the way it is at the moment we were all praying that the weather would hold. John was again in the US, but this time enjoying himself on his honeymoon and 2nd reception!

No church this time, the ceremony and reception was held at Mallory Court. We had rain in the morning, but the time all the proceedings were over, the sun peaked out to say hello long enough for us to get out into the grounds and get some great shots of everyone and some awesome photographs of just Helen and Steve!

The boys started off the day well, George (best man) cooking everyone a bacon sandwich (even offered to make me one!)

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Next was the age old tradition of trying to tie a cravat, I ended up tying Steve and George's for them..

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Followed by a quick drink before leaving the house!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

The guys hanging out in the drizzle at Mallory Court

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Pre-wedding nerves Steve?

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Bride and Father walk down the isle

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

One very happy Helen!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Nick got his fish eye out and managed to lay himself on the floor with all the women leaning over him! can see his shot on the Boundless Blog

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Hold on! thats our job..

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

The day wasnt without some drama, one of the guests was attacked by a wasp!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Lets see some leg ladies!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Nick showed the guys an example jump for the jump shot

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

And several attempts later, the guys finally (well sort of) got it!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

The slideshow from the mornings events went down a storm!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

The weather finally broke, and the heavens opened, but that didn't stop everyone from enjoying the fireworks! we got soaked, camera's got soaked, but after drying everything off it all still works!

Warwickshire Wedding at Mallory Court by Robert Whetton for Boundless

Nick has the Crazy Booth shots we got and will be posting them later in the week, so make sure you check out the Boundless Blog!

Thanks again for letting me come up and 2nd shoot with you Nick, it was a blast!

Why oh why!? Laptop Hood / Screen pt 4

Did I listen to my mum! (mom for those outside the UK)

What a project! would I do it again? possibly with the right motivation, actually mum has asked if ill help her make one for her little Sony Vaio..

It does look good though, which kinda offsets the time that this has taken, over 5 hours of sewing, which for someone who hasn't sewn anything more than a button since first school (thats... err a long time ago..) is too much sewing!


So I'm guessing you're all wondering how its made? Alight then onwards..

First I cut the 3 pieces needed to form the hood. I used the dimensions as laid out below from the foam board left over from the hood I built for my 24in Screen.


Next I needed to use some of the black material I had left over when I blacked out the windows in my office. Mum took over for this and the first attempt at showing off and ripping the material failed! she was ripping the wrong way? I have no clue when it comes to such matters, but the 2nd attempt worked.


Having cut the strip into lengths the same as the height of the hood, I began sticking the fabric to the foamboard, I left a gap the same width as the thickness as the board.
The glue used, PVA.

Using a coarse brush I applied glue along the edge of the first side for the hinge.


After gluing both sides mum then suggested I stuck pins in to stop any slippage.

After I had both stuck it was left for 30-40 minutes for the glue to dry.


So with the hinges glued and dry, the next step was to put a covering "To tidy up the look" as mum put it. I would have happily finished at gluing the hinges on.. But mum thought it looked untidy. If I'd known it would take me 5 hours to sew it, I would have left it!


Again the glued edge was pinned to prevent slippage.

30-40 minutes later I returned and glued the bottom edge.


Then it was a waiting game again.. I was questioning myself again for listening to mum and her ideas.. but figured it was going to be worth it.

I returned 40 minutes later and cut the corners into the fabric (my scissor skills improving all the time) and then every 3/4 of an inch I cut a 1/2 inch deep slit into the corners to allow the fabric to follow the contour of the curve.

Then it was a matter of sticking it all down.. easy right!


After that was all finished I left the whole thing for a good couple of hours, and went and washed my hands.


Nearly forgot! the hinged section of fabric is cut away allowing free movement of the hinge. It is glued (to stop fraying) and cut at the glue.


Now comes the fun part. Another bit of fabric was cut nearly the same size as the last (a touch smaller). I am now a ninja proficient master at scissors..

And the sewing begins! (I forgot to take photographs once I was in the zone of sewing)

A curved needle is preferable as this makes it easier to sew close to the edge of the fabric and board.

3 hours in and I had completed the top and bottom edges and just the tricky curved sides were left. Pinning the fabric to the board in the shape was the easiest way of sewing the 2 pieces together.

So an hour or so later and I'd finished sewing the 2 sections of fabric together and I was pretty damn pleased with the finished product!

I was pondering the best way / easiest way to attach the hood to the laptop screen, I liked my original idea of using some more foamboard to make tabs to attach to the back. But mum was, "why don't you cover the whole back with fabric?". Wooah hold on here! im trying to make this useful and yet portable at the same time, mum just doesn't get stuff sometimes. So after a good 20 minutes of arguing back and forth she finally decided that my way was probably best..

With the hood on the screen, it stayed on with little effort needed at the top, so I decided to do away with the top strip. And just went with the 2 side strips instead.
Cutting the foamboard into two 3x2 inch strips, I used the same steps as with the hood itself to cover it with fabric. Each strip was then attached to the back of the sides, again with a ladder stitch (I doubled up the thread, and also doubled back for added strength)

The final step was to add the Velco (or Velcros as mum calls it, hehe). Placing the hood on the laptop, it was just a case of pulling the strip off the sticky and placing it on the back of the laptop and holding it firmly for a bit.

And that's it.. finished.. no more.. It gets a test run tomorrow morning, I'm going out for a shoot, and I'm going to shoot tethered.

LOL, oh yeah, don't forget to wash the brush off after gluing, or you'll end up with a useless brush!

Hood / Screen Shield pt 3

Ok, so after discussing this idea with my mum (she's a craft guru) because of the use of fabric. She's suggested a totally different approach to this.. So stay tuned!

Hood / Screen Shield pt 2

Ok so I've had a tinker, and this is what I think will work..

Instead of using the card for the hinge units, I've gone with fabric, because its for a laptop, its going to have a lot of bending about because of being put up and taken down. I figured the card wouldn't last..

I've also added tabs at the back to attach to the laptop outer case with velcro strips. I'm going to do some artwork to cover the laptop and the shield, I may as well put advertising stuff on it as its going to be out in public..

Laptop Hood

So I've been thinking, on Facebook a few people were complaining that they couldn't see the screen on their laptop outside, and I have to admit that last year I was thinking the same thing about mine. I shoot tethered to my Laptop from time to time, but not outside because I can't really see what's on the screen if its too sunny..

I have some materials left from when I made my monitor hood and the one for the competition, I think it will be just enough for doing this project, but i need to think about how to construct it a little more, unlike the hood on the monitor, this hood is going to need to colapse for portability..

Stay tuned folks, I'll be back with some concept drawings soon :)

Oh No Broken Laptop Screen!

"EEEK!" I shouted as I tripped and fell on my laptop.. (well actually the words used where too extreme to put here). 1 call to the insurance company and I thought, £150.00 excess?! so after trawling ebay (my Dell is the D820 with a 15.4 WUXGA 1920x1200 pixels) there are plenty of WXGA+ (1280x800) screens - i found MCS Technology Ltd who are actually pretty close and cheaper than my insurance excess, that supply spare parts from broken machines..

So ordered yesterday, arrived today. Cant beat that kind of service!

Onwards with the repair.. This is what my laptop displayed after I fell on it..

So after removing the battery, use a knife to prise the rubber bungs (also attached with sticky glue) out of the holes to reveal cross head screws (thank you Dell for not using star headed screws)

After all the screws are taken out, its just a case of carefully prising the front of the screen away from the back.

..To reveal more screws! another 8 need to be taken out before the LCD panel will come away from the back.

Once all the screws are out, carefully manoeuvre the panel so you can see the back, there are 2 cables attached that require a little dexterity to take off.

The larger flat cable has a couple of locking clips that require a firm grip to enable you to disconnect it from the screen.

The smaller cable just needs a little tug, while holding onto the PCB.

Then its to the bin with the busted screen, and giving the new (used screen) a little TLC to clean it. and reverse the above to put the screen in place..

Then replace battery, and power on, hopefully everything is ok.. I hadnt done anything with the settings for my screen, when I took this shot of my screen now back in working condition.

So happy to have my laptop back up and running again!