New Business Card Samples from Moo.

Hey everyone, after months of talking about new business cards I finally finished off the design and ordered the 10 free set from Moo.com last week and they actually arrived by that very weekend!
I'm extremely happy with them and the quality is unbelievable, especially in comparison to my previous set that were printed by another company who may have been a little cheaper but I would say it's definitely worth paying a little more if you're interested in setting a good example with appearance and aesthetics.
I also managed to choose the free sample pack, I'm not sure if that is always included with the 10 business cards as I actually clicked onto the sample pack first by mistake and never cleared the cart before ordering but hey...it was free aswell so I'm not too bothered, plus it gave me the chance to look at the other textures/designs/luxe business card options, which were all lovely aswell but I think I'm still happy with the classic matte look.





I decided to design the whole thing myself and chose large photos for the back to showcase my photography, I hadn't previously done this with my old set so I was super excited to try it out and I'm more than happy with the results. Each card has a different shot on the back and I didn't originally plan out exactly which 10 photos I wanted so I kind of just rolled with it at the time choosing a few favourites and some random ones for testing. Incase you're wondering the 'Moo.com' logo on the photos are only on the sample versions and aren't printed on the cards if you buy them which I think is pretty fair I would say.





Of course I'll be buying my first set of 50 very soon, and then I'll finally be able to hand them out instead of being super embarrassed about the old design I originally started out with, haha.
Let me know what you think about my new design and if you've updated your business card recently.
Nicola. x

Lights Out.

Hey everyone, long time no speak...I assure you all that I have been very busy indeed although not necessarily to do with anything photography related but it looks like I'm finally back to business!
First things first I thought I would write a general update post to get back into the swing of things, for starters you're probably all wondering about the photo above which is another shot of the wonderful Edinburgh Castle. I actually took this photo on my way out of Billy Talent's gig back in August last year around the time of the Edinburgh Fringe, I've just got around to editing it now but I'm glad to finally have the opportunity to use it in a post instead of letting the shot go to waste, I love night photography and I rarely tend to dabble in that sort of field but when I do I'm really happy with the photos and they become some of my favourites.
I'm hoping to have some new business cards sent very soon, I can't wait to update the design as the old one is a bit out of style these days shall we say so I'll be making a post about them when they arrive along with some poster prints that I've been meaning to get since Christmas.
Last but not least, I'll hopefully be back to the music circuit so be sure to expect some new shots!
Nicola. x

Purson, King Tuts, Glasgow, Live Photos.

Hey everyone,
It seems that I haven't posted on here for a couple of months, but I assure you I've been working away all the same. Recently I photographed a band called Purson at King Tuts in Glasgow, they were supporting an American group called Astra. Both bands are heavily inspired by the 1970's and psychedelia, which to be honest is totally different to the groups I usually photograph so it was a lot of fun. You may recognise the singer of Purson from some of my older photos, Rosalie was previously in a band called Ipso Facto who I have photographed back in 2009 just before they broke up so it was good to finally check out her new band and from what I have heard so far I am already fairly impressed, as were most of the crowd at the gig.

There's a few more shots over on my Flickr page so make sure to check them out aswell, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasharkeyphotography, and as always stay tuned for more updates.
Thanks,
Nicola. x

Kerrang Tour 2013, 02 Academy Glasgow, Live Photos.

Hey everyone,
Finally back with some live music shots for you all. I recently went along to photograph and review the Kerrang Tour 2013, it's infact my first gig of the year and it feels good to be photographing music again. It was an awesome show but if you want to check out what I had to say about it, go and have a read of my photoreview for Is This Music at, http://www.isthismusic.com/kerrang-tour (coming soon)
Onto the show's layout etc...firstly I must admit that the lighting was pretty horrible, most of the time it was red and many music photographers will agree with me that 99% of the time that's a bad thing and also means most of the photos go in the bin...however I was actually pleased with most of the red shots for once, and some of them have become my new favourites!

I've already posted a couple of the photos on Tumblr and it's fairly easy to see that Tonight Alive have the biggest fanbase, one of the shots of their singer has already managed to reach 151 notes, which is totally crazy considering I don't have many people added on my account over there, haha. Anyway, there's a few more than what I've posted on here so if you'd like to check out the whole set from the night, go over to my Flickr page, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicolasharkeyphotography, hopefully it won't be long before I'm photographing another gig again, and I'll be back with a blog post for you all very soon! I'll leave you now with one of my favourite shots of Chiodos from the Kerrang Tour.
Thanks,
Nicola. x

Sunshine On The East Coast.

Hey everyone,
I thought I would post another set of landscape photos that I have been working on recently. These shots are once again from last year, roughly around late Autumn. It's actually one of my favourite seasons of the year to photograph subjects and particularly locations with the gorgeous Autumnal colours of fallen leaves on the ground, there's no doubt that a lot of my landscape and scenery shots transpire a little more rapidly around that time.
I've actually taken photos at this location before so you may or may not recognise some of the areas. I'm not sure if it's apparent but I'm in constant awe of certain places that I have visited so sometimes I return to them a while later and photograph them again to see the changes, in both the location and even my photography. It's actually quite good to do things like that every once in a while, mainly to see the progression in your work.
The last couple of shots I added in purely for a little bit of fun. They certainly made me laugh when I bypassed them on my journey anyway, haha!

Nicola. x

Revisiting Edward Scissorhands Mansion.

Hey everyone,
Surprisingly enough, I've actually been working on this blog post for some time now...well it was roughly around November last year! Yes I know, that's a long time isn't it?! However I had a lot of other commitments at the time so the photos ended up taking the backseat, but I'm glad to say that I have finally managed to find the time to finish editing the shots as I've really been wanting to post them for a while now.
Some of you may remember that I have previously taken photos of this derelict building already, it was actually back in the summer of 2011, however with my new kit on the go I really wanted to go back and shoot some more photos, and especially with the addition of the crisp winter weather we are having...any photographer should agree with me that it adds a little extra touch to a photograph.

You'll also probably notice that I keep calling this place the 'Edward Scissorhands' mansion, really it just seems like the best possible title because the building really reminds me of the house/mansion you see early on in the film. It's gorgeous, creepy and beautiful all at the same time...and it even reminds me of many other buildings in films by Tim Burton, such as Alice in Wonderland. I am completely in love with places like this, I could spend ages looking at them and this one is by far the most beautiful. It's ornate white sculptures and skillfully carved topiary bushes in the garden conclude it to be one of the most unique sites I have seen in Scotland yet.

I think the mansion was built back in the 1800's, and it really does show as it is literally falling apart. I believe one of the turrets have been completely fixed since, but the rest of the building is in a pretty devastating way. It's ashame to be honest, and I always hope that when I next visit there will be more construction under way but who knows, it might never happen.
Anyway before I finish this post I thought I would mention that I received a few vintage inspired frames for Christmas and I'm thinking about getting one of these photos printed to put in them (aswell as a couple of music shots), so be sure to look out for a post on the finished result!

Nicola. x

New Year...New Look!

Happy New Year everyone!
As you may have noticed I have finally got around to giving my blog (and all my social networking sites) a much needed makeover! There's a new banner image, background and lots of other little bits and pieces that I have been working on the past few days. I think it's really coming together now, normally when I'm working on photos I only get the chance to update one or two things and it's never the full works, so I'm glad I finally got around to finishing it.
The tiny screenshot below is what my Tumblr page looks like now, if you want to check it out the link is, http://nicolasharkeyphotography.tumblr.com, all of the links to my social sites are actually on the right side of my blog if anyone wants to check out the others.

Some people may have already noticed but I also changed the header image on my Twitter page and it's actually a picture of my photo passes! Looking back at all of them really makes me sentimental, which probably sounds pretty sad but it's true, there are so many good memories tagged with those passes, it's good to look back at them every now and again. Ah anyway, I think I should stop rambling here before I go completely off topic as usual.
There's going to be another post very soon, I'm actually finalising the finishing touches on some of the shots as I type this...so as always stay tuned.
Nicola. x