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Northern Stove Log Burner Photography
Who’s feeling chilly? ME!
This January was exceptionally cold, in fact it was the coldest January in ten years, I really felt it! This February is much the same and more snow is on its way. It’s been so cold I have even discovered usb chargeable hand warmers which have been life changing, especially on early morning dog walks. But it’s not hand warmers of the pocket variety I’m wanting to shout about, it’s something much more exciting than that. Here is a ‘before’ shot to keep you guessing!
This winter we welcomed into our home a new friend, a working-from-home treat and an absolute saviour in fact! All this in the form of an amazing Woodpecker Log Burning Multi-Fuel Stove installed in our living room last month. This warmed our hands, toes and our heat greedy pooch dog who is currently living her best life! Her face looks sad, but she’s happy as Larry! (btw.. does anyone know who Larry is?)
The wonderful Newcastle based Northern Stove did a fantastic job of installation, they were friendly, extremely tidy and respectful with noise, important when working from home. Jonny came initially to measure up, gave great advice on approach and finishes followed up later by Jonny’s Business Partner Scott and Andy coming to install the Log Burner.
They kindly checked in with us for decisions on intricate design details like the size of the opening in relation to the stove size, brickwork and hearth width. They even added a bird guard on our chimney top as having never been on our roof, we didn’t realise it was missing.
The chimney breast was to be knocked out to expose the brick work, which has a 90 year history having being laid in 1930! A slab of rough cut limestone was to be our hearth so I braced myself for the dust but there was none! This was due to fab gizmo which sucked it all out and shot it out the window. Bingo! Here is Northern Stove’s Scott discussing the preferred height of the opening during installation for you to see their slick operation.
The brickwork was intact and worthy of a clean up and just look at the great job Northern Stove’s Scott and Andy did! The whole job of knocking out, cleaning up, stove installation to current regs including chimney lining and alarms fitted took less than two days. We were so happy with the work I thought it worth shouting about the team on here.
Once the painstaking job of sitting watching plaster dry for a week was over, (visually unfinished things like this drive me potty) the final touches of paintwork could be completed in this newly refurbished room.
The theme was traditional materials reflected by the main focus, our cast iron and steel Wood Burning Stove together with colours green and gold. For soft furnishings I wanted natural materials such as leather, cotton, sheepskin and wool adding comfort and texture. Having grown up on dairy farms I have a great sentiment for cattle so my cow skin is absolute fakery from Wayfair!
I’ve included a few before and after pictures as we replaced the carpet with a wood floor oak finish and painted the walls with Little Green’s calming Sage Green on recommendation from a friend (thanks Paula) who is also bonkers for interior design.
I’d really gone to town with the design details selecting woven fabrics, mat ceramics and check out my gold pot with bird feet below (thanks Lisa) with the intension of capturing Interior Design Photography incorporating the burner too. This felt particularly relevant as currently I’m splitting my time between studio and home during this pesky pandemic.
I bargain hunted, scouring the internet finding vases, sheepskins, baskets and cushions from Dunelm, (check them out and you too will find the nuggets) floor lamp from Next Home (this was the big spend), leather butterfly chair from Ebay, a second hand chair (an upholstery project draped in a sheepskin for now) from St Oswald’s Charity shop, wool rug from Benuta and 4 old wooden fruit boxes from a skip in Newcastle (I have absolutely no shame) which all were ace pieces to capture. Our 1950-60’s chandelier I bartered and bought in an antique shop in Hexham.
Along with many things old and recycled, I added a brand spanking new piece of art, a shiny new Heart Break Mirror that was designed by Patrick Schmidt who is a friend and a London based illustrator so feel free to click on his name to whizz over to his website where you can see the work he creates along with his online shop. I am a big fan!
The black pen drawn illustrations in frames are non other than Jim Moir’s portraits of Bob Mortimer drawn for FHM many years back before it went into administration, they make me smile daily at their silliness!
The theme for this room was natural materials, comfort and warmth so hopefully when you look at these images you’ll feel the glow from within! It’s now time for my tea break so fitting with the theme of traditional and natural materials such as glass, cast iron and timber, I’m adding porcelain to the list with this tea set from Oliver Bonas. Tea, a big softie (my Frenchie pup) and a cosy wood burner what’s not to love with this incredible comforting combo?
Newcastle Photography Charity Face Masks
One of the first photography commissions I was asked to do after lockdown eased was so perfectly fitting for current times! A face mask product shoot for local Newcastle based charity Clothe & Feed, no less! Rob Turnbull the charity’s founder got in touch and needed various portrait photos of their new handmade mask range on models ranging in age, cultural diversity, sex, size and height.
It was a particularly fun and interesting shoot as Rob handed over a good deal of creative direction of the portrait and product photos to me, so I made it all about the colour! The brief was to create eye-catching block colour backdrops ie boxes of colour with a masked model within and we agreed the shots should show a little character to add personality to the product. We wanted a ‘something for everybody’ vibe!
Having chosen a colour scheme for the Colorama backdrops, (pumpkin, leaf, forget-me-not, buttercup-all the plant colours!) when the models arrived dressed with a box of beautifully made masks, I paired mask fabrics to their clothing and a background colour. It was fab to get the creative juices flowing! A particular favourite colour combo of mine is orange and blue (opposites on the colour wheel therefore perfectly matched) and so this was to be the strongest theme for the photography throughout. Particularly as Charity Masks logo is blue and all the funds go to North East not for profit charity Clothe and Feed, which has an orange logo. Just perrrfick!
The models Rob organised were absolutely incredible for many reasons, 1- they weren’t professional but performed as such, 2- they were giving up their time for a Face Mask charity that helps underprivileged parents and vulnerable children in Newcastle, 3- they looked fantastic, posed well and presented themselves beautifully in their own well thought out clothing and accessories. There is even a FOUR! They were all SO up for it! Such fun to work with and everyone left with a smile on their face. Big shout to the amazing Joan who was 91 and this was her first trip out of home in 4 months!
I was thrilled with the results and so here some some faves from the photography taken in my studio that day! To find out more, to support the charity or simply to stock up on what I’ve found to be the most breathable and comfy masks out of all I have tried, use the links above! Oh and…watch out for vending machines in Intu shopping centres coming soon!
Oktra Interior Design Photography
Okra London designs and fits up North
During the tumble weed times of frozen lockdown I was commissioned for an exciting interiors photography job that fitted the ‘safe shooting’ requirements perfectly. Essentially a soon to be occupied office building in Newcastle’s NE12. It was a brand new beautiful office design and fit by Okra Design in London for their expanding client (who wants to remain private) with an HQ in London. They had worked to a really tight schedule with design and fit then the timescale shrank on the job drastically as COVID struck. All was completed smoothly on time and the finished results were crisp, professional, light and airy, a positive environment for the new Northern team. Oktra got in touch with me having viewed my website’s Office Interiors Photography (link here) and felt my Newcastle location and photography style was a good fit for their brand and so asked me to capture the office on handover day last month. I was so keen to shoot again, I could have actually kissed them (although strictly I couldn’t in the middle of a pandemic….. and they are 280 miles away, but I am sure you can imagine my joy)!
So the brief was to capture clean descriptive photos of the office’s full height windowed perimeter, the space, light and enormity of the building to create an interior photography portfolio for this design. The photography was briefed to cover the layout planning and details like wall graphics, bespoke brand coloured furniture and organised open planned spaces within the huge expanse of space. There was a fabulous interior living wall in the breakout area that Oktra wanted photos of next to modern furniture and finishes. Images with perspective were important to show the scale and there also was a secure bullet proof area that had it’s own generator in the case of a power cut. It was pretty a impressive piece for Oktra’s portfolio so see what you think below. I have also placed some screen shots of the current Oktra website displaying my images and you can see their work here.
English Heritage’s Corbridge Hoard
Corbridge Hidden Treasures
You may know this already but until I was briefed for this shoot, I had no idea that Corbridge, just outside the pretty cobbled town centre, has an excavated Roman settlement managed by English Heritage. As well as the architectural remains to walk around there is a display of the largest of Hadrian’s Wall’s collections. Its exhibited together with a 2000 year old ‘hoard’ of buried treasure. The excavation here in 1964 found one of the most significant historical findings; a Roman soldier’s belongings including armour, tools, weaponry, wax writing tablets and papyrus, (an ancient writing paper). Essentially it was a Roman time capsule!
These discoveries were found buried in an iron-bound, leather-covered wooden chest which was likely to have been left by it’s owner to collect at a later date but never was. Instead the well preserved items are exhibited at the English Heritage Centre in Corbridge in a colourful, interesting and atmospheric exhibition.
Studio hb, a London based Graphic Designer, created the exhibition’s design concept using detailed spot lighting, careful symmetry, dramatically suspended heavy stone work and a colour scheme inspired by the orange and blue-green beads of the Roman jewellery exhibits. I was briefed by Studio hb’s Helen to capture the design detail of coloured lined timescales, debossed typography (echoing roman etchings in stone) and the story telling layouts of tiny and delicate artefacts.
For anyone interested in finding out more about Hardian’s Wall or the Corbridge Town Roman settlement information can be found on The English Heritage website here
