One day one photo - 29: Brompton Bicycle photoshoot

It was a different kind of working day today, as I spent it outdoors away from my desk, being photographed around London.

Along with a couple of other cyclist models - Monet and Theo - we posed for a photoshoot with Brompton Bicycle. This was a shoot done for the marketing department to increase their library of media assets (still photos and video footage). So the team had us riding different bikes from the Brompton range in different parts of London. 

I had done a shoot with Brompton Bicycle on a previous occasion a couple of years ago, though that was a short shoot. We spent the morning being photographed near Liverpool Street station, and then near Blackfriars.

Today's shoot was an all-day thing in which we started first thing in the morning and continued through to the end of the working day.

We met at the National Theatre, on London's South Bank, and spent the morning being photographed around a variety of nooks and crannies in this famous example of Brutalist architecture. Prince Charles (now King Charles) described it as a "nuclear power station". He might be right; the location lent itself to shooting glowing examples of pedal power, as we three models were photographed riding in formation over around different alleyways and concrete structures.

Christine, the art director had different combinations of outfits ready for us to wear, and gave us different colours of bike to ride on as well as riding an Brompton e-bike.

With the team, which included the photographer, film-maker, video director, plus Rupert the producer, and Ross the brand manager, we cycled to our next venue, Southwark Park. After lunch we did various shots within this green space in South-East London (which has hints of Victoria Park across the river). Finally, we crossed back over the River via Tower Bridge to do a final shoot in a specially reserved cafe close to 30 St Mary Axe (aka The Gherkin).

I enjoyed the day out, especially as it was a lovely sunny day in London. Being photographed while riding or posing with a bicycle is something that I have done quite a lot of in my time, especially as I did so regularly in the days when I wrote for Cycling Active magazine and would be photographed for the cycling routes that I rode about.

However, the thing I found hardest was being photographed folding and unfolding the bike while being photographed. When you do this in a run of the mill way over the course of the day I can do it quite easily. But then when being filmed/watched, suddenly my actions aren't that smooth, and there is always something that gets stuck or stilted!

Hopefully the team will be able to pick some decent shots and footage, and I look forward to seeing the results.  

Enjoying my time with Brompton

Earlier this year I took part in a photo shoot for Brompton, as part of their new marketing campaign. It was a pretty fun day out, going around different parts of central London and being photographed with other models. I wasn't exactly sure when or even where the photos would be published, and as I got busy doing other things I didn't pay that much attention. The job was done and dusted, and I probably had my head immersed in another writing project. 

Is a nice surprise to see yourself featured on Instagram

So it was quite a surprise yesterday to see myself tagged in a friend's post on Instagram, and discover that I was featured in one of Brompton's Instagram stories. As well as a few photos of me on the bike, they published the mini interview about cycling that I did for their blog.

Even though I write for different publications and have done so for a number of years, it still warms my cockles to see something I wrote being published to a mass audience - especially when it's unexpected.

Brompton sent me that very bike after shoot, so I am now the proud owner of these outstanding folding bikes. I really like the racing green colour. That fits very much my style, and I am thankful that the bike is 6-speed given that I have a hill to go up practically as soon as I leave my home! I look forward to having many more pleasant moments riding this bike.

Related posts

New bike day - Brompton

Bike life with the Liv Thrive E+ e-bike

Cycle route: South London to Central (mainly traffic-free)

Shoot story - Como

One day one photo - 10: Ride with Yorkshire Lass CC

Photo: Andy Jones

Today was a whistle-stop trip up to North Yorkshire, where I met with a club to do a Ride With feature for Cycling Weekly magazine. Today I was up with the Yorkshire Lass Cycling Club. I have been in touch with the founder members of the club for about a year now, for different quotes for articles I've done, as well as to do a feature on their women-only charity cyclosportive.

It was great to finally meet Judith and Kate, plus a number of the other women in the club. The club only formed in 2015, but they have a very good membership base, and are a well-known club in the area.

I found their club run to be very well organised. The roads that we went on around Wetherby and the Vale of York, were pleasant and quiet. Also they weren't too challenging for me given that I was feeling a little tired after my 5am start from London!

It was good to catch up with Andy Jones, the photographer, a Yorkshireman himself - and someone who I have worked with for a few years now, on many projects. As ever, he was very efficient at getting us organised and taking candid photos that showed the riders in a good light. I am a bit embarrassed to have been on the front in this picture he took. The journalist is not meant to be so prominent. Sorry for photo-bombing, Andy! But hey, it does look good if you don't mind me saying!

One Day One Photo - 17

Friday 26th September

I managed to get hold of the latest issue of Cycling Active magazine. Even though I have been contributing articles to this and to Cycling Weekly for a few years I still get quite excited about seeing the finished product on the shelf of WH Smith or the newsagent section in Tescos or Sainsburys. There is something very satisfying about seeing the planning, logistics and creativity of a seedling that you had in a brain come into fruition in the shape of a product that appears on the shelf of high street shops.

That is the case this month, with my article on cycle commuting which is in the current edition of Cycling Active. We looked at two options for commuting around a town on two wheels - riding your own commuter bike or hiring a bike. So we compared the riding experience and practicality of using a Raleigh Cameo versus a Boris Bike. The specifications, costs, the riding etc are examined in more detail in the article. In a nutshell, the conclusion was that the Raleigh is the more comfortable and more attractive-looking of the two bikes and is a bike that you can take wherever, and ride for as along as you like. The Boris Bike is a robust, reliable two-wheeler which does the job, but does not feel as comfortable as the Raleigh when being ridden for more than an hour. However, it is maintenance-free, hassle-free, and once you've paid your nominal membership fee (for a year or for a day) the first 30 minutes of riding it cost nothing.

I am glad that we finally got this story into a magazine as the shoot for it was tricky - mainly on account of the location. We wanted to be in a central London location, so we went to Belgrave Square. There was a bit of pressure to get the right shot, in the right light, and without any cars in the background. As this area has lots of embassies, there is a high (though discreet) armed police presence so we wanted to get everything done quickly and hopefully without any incident kicking off while we were there!

I had always considered this square to be quiet at weekends, but in fact quite a lot happens. With a private park and tennis courts in the middle of the square a lot of the well-healed Belgravia and Chelsea set go there for a quick game, or take their offspring there for lessons. It is a cut-through route for getting to Hyde Park Corner and Knightsbridge. In addition, there's a parking lot that becomes very popular thanks to Westminster Council's relaxed parking restrictions at weekends.

Sometimes doing photo shoots involve unexpected interventions from members of the public. In central London, especially in this area, there are usually a few tourists who interupt the shoot to ask for directions to Buckingham Palace or the nearest tube station. Others may ask the photographer if he could take a photo of them for their holiday snaps! While we were doing our shoot a small film crew turned up, looking for a spot. I think they had wanted to take the site where we were, but I guess it comes down to the old saying about the early bird. Also, because we were using Boris Bikes which we would leave on its stand in between shots, we had to be mindful of other people around who had also left their Boris Bikes to stand nearby. It was very easy to pick up the wrong Boris Bike and end up with someone else's bill! At least we didn't have the experience that I had a few years ago when doing a shoot in a run-down part of East London, before the Olympic stadium was built. I and the photographer were out, and a guy who looked a bit high on something took a real interest in what we were doing and wanted to be in the shoot!

I had been anxious that my 18 year-old nephew might get tired of being asked to ride up and down the same short stretch of road umpteen times while being photographed. In fact he was as good as gold and seemed happy to be involved. I was the one who started to huff and puff, wanting to finish up soon and get on with other things. (Posing for photo shoots is not my strong point!) Afterwards we moved on to the Royal Albert Hall where Higg took the rest of the bike shots, ably assisted by my nephew, and I sunbathed in the park. We then went home happy with our clutch of pictures.
The full review of the bikes is in the current issue of Cycling Active.

Shoot Story - Alderley Edge and Tatton Park

The current issue of Cycling Active includes my ride story, Made in Cheshire. It was the first photo shoots I did for Cycling Active after starting my job in Macclesfield and was in the area known as the golden triangle of Cheshire. This includes places like Wilmslow, Knutsford, Alderley Edge, Mottram St Andrew - some of the most affluent parts of England outside of London and the South East.

And yes, we certainly got that feel about the place while we were there. Our first area for the photo shoot was on the main road through Alderley Edge. That certainly had a Primrose Hill village feeling about it, with independent clothes shops, trendy cafes, and a few beauty salons. Like every high street in the UK there are a few charity shops. The ones in Alderley Edge are decked out like designer fashion shops! Who needs Zara when you've got the Oxfam shop selling the cast-offs of celebrities?

The street was flush with 4x4 Mercedes, BMWs some Land Rovers plus a number of luxury cars. Of course there were ordinary cars - Audis, VWs, BMW saloon cars, etc that are less than 2 years old.
I am not sure we quite fitted in rolling up in our hired 5 year-old Vauxhall Astra van!

We took a pic of me riding past a Bentley parked along the high street. Of course we were careful not to photograph the number plate. Some of the folks were a little bemused at the way I kept riding up and down past the same car. But they were amenable and some cars stopped for us while Aodan finished his shot. People may have been wondering what I was up to going up and down the street on my bike, but I have to say that I was a little bemused when we saw that same Bentley carousing up and down the road to Mottram St Andrew. We couldn't see the driver through the greyed out windows. So we just assumed it to be the chauffeur who just wanted to parade around out of boredom!

The Village Café seemed to be another hangout where people were there "to be seen". This wasn't just your greasy spoon or even Café Nero where you rock up to the joint at random. You needed a reservation to pick up your morning cappuccino. The women were either blonde or had highlights, while the men all seemed to be of a certain age and had that permanent tan to match their silver fox hair style. Some of them looked like actors from some northern based soap opera. It's been ages since I watched Coronation Street or Emmerdale so I wouldn't know who the actors were even if I tripped over them! Maybe they weren't so high profile but they certainly had that ac-tor way of speaking and they spoke in a way that tended towards Stratford-on-Avon rather than Stockport!

Later we were in Tatton Park, which for me was like Richmond Park in London, but with more stately homes and gardens and not as hilly. There were parking restrictions in the park to allow space for the guests of "James and Julia's wedding". We took a few shots outside the mansion anyway, managing to do this before the wedding party emerged, and we tried to snap shots in between the various families that were passing by. Families like this one consisting of George on his scooter, Poppy with her stabilisers, yummy daddy Rupert carrying baby Oliver in his pouch, and mum on her lady's hybrid. The kids looked at us curiously, while their parents hurried them along so that they could get to the Garden Café serving organic food.

Because the mansion was in the shadow and the light was not so bright Aodan told me I had to ride slowly during these shots to stop the photo looking blurred. Of course passers-by didn't understand this, and some kids passed me, giving a look of triumph as they managed to overtake this lady on a racing bike while they were riding their first two-wheeler. Ah well, let them have their day of "glory"!

Later on while in Tatton Park my mum rang me. I hadn't had the chance to talk to her since returning from Milan. (I'd only been back in the UK for a week at that point.) As ever she was surprised to hear where I was, and she was quite excited to hear that I was in Tatton Park. Even though we were in the middle of the shoot I took the time to talk to her because I hadn't spoken to her in a while, so I thought it would be nice to chat. Thankfully, Aodan kept himself busy photographing deer while waiting. She didn't know Tatton and had never been there before so I described it to her and where else we had been that day as the planes into and from Manchester Airport roared up above me. She was quite interested to hear about this plush part of the North-West. "You might even see George Osborne!" (the local Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer) she joked.

We took a few more photos in Tatton Park and then called it a day. It had been a fun day with nice weather, and we had enjoyed a very pleasant café stop at the Wizard Café on Alderley Edge.

My mum always liked reading the ride stories and other articles of mine that were published in Cycling Active and Cycling Weekly. I had really been looking forward to showing my mum the finished article on Cheshire in Cycling Active magazine. Sadly, on the day the issue was published my mum was critically ill and under sedation in hospital after a sudden illness. She died the following day, 27th March, aged 64 years. It's incredible how things can change so suddenly.

I dedicate my Cycling Active feature, "Made in Cheshire" to my mum, Esther David.
May she live in eternal peace and happiness in Heaven.
I hope that when I write future articles she will look down and continue to enjoy them.