Roddy Mackay | Photography

From Lagniappe With Love

2009-06-08T18:19:00.003+01:00

I'm in New York City, 3 years after I first set up as a freelance photographer and 3 years after I first came here back in the summer of 2006.

Back then I had just arrived up from the Deep South of the USA, my favourite place to travel, and more specifically, from Lagniappe Pres, Bay St Louis, MS.

It was the Bay that first inspired me to blog some of my pictures and a place and people I hold dear. Back when I arrived first in 2006 I was greeted by 'the terns' a group of college students from all over the USA who had come to give of their time, energy and talents to assist in some of the work of Lagniappe in the bay.

Battery low.... to be continued!

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

2009-06-08T18:06:00.004+01:00

Having been rained on for the last 4/5 weddings I've shot in Scotland over the last few weeks i was starting to get a bit worried and had jokingly said to a few folks that if it rained on saturday just past for the wedding of Andrew and Ryn that I'd be taking early retirement!

Well arriving into Philadelphia on Thursday night for Andrew and Ryn's wedding in nearby Cochranville, PA on Saturday things weren't looking too good, it was pouring with rain, and it continued consistently all day on Friday.

Saturday came along with the sunshine however and we had a great day! The weather was perfect from a photographers perspective, not too hot, but just right, it was a beautiful ceremony with great friends and family, and a reception the likes of which I have never seen before!

Congrats Mr and Mrs Thompson!

Neil and Mairianna

2009-05-20T13:15:00.002+01:00

I was up in Stornoway a few weeks ago for the wedding of Neil and Mairianna, it was a a bit of a trip, as they are good friends as well as clients, but certainly good fun to shoot.

There's something about going back to an Island to shoot, where everyone knows everyone, and if they don't they certainly try to find out, good for the banter, and hopefully for the lens.

Gordy and Julie

2009-05-18T21:27:00.005+01:00

I'm working on a pretty serious amount of editing at the moment to clear my desk a little bit before I head out to the USA this weekend, amongst that is the wedding of Julie and Gordy a month ago in St Andrews.

It was a stunningly beautiful day for a great couple, so much so that the bridal party had some ice cream on the beach post ceremony. That was followed by a very adventurous set of bridesmaids who gave it laldy to prove to the guys that they can jump better.

Rain, Rain Go Away

2009-05-17T23:00:00.003+01:00

One of the questions I get asked most often by clients is 'what do we do if it rains?'

Sadly I've had to really figure that out the last three weddings I've shot over the last 3 weeks as the weather has been true to Scottish form, it helps to make the grass grow, but it's not so great for barbecues and wedding dresses.

Friday was a perfect example of that, as I was shooting at the wedding of Simon and Claire at Glenbervie House, the rains came, and sadly also stayed... but that didn't stop the party! Both Simon and Claire and their guests were up for having a great time and we headed out with our brollies down to the beautiful driveway of the Glenbervie.

Here's hoping the weather picks up in time for Julie and Alans big day this coming Saturday at New Lanark and my next wedding after that in Cochranville, PA!

Pwllheli

2009-04-16T12:41:00.003+01:00

I was down in North Wales last week for a couple of clients, one of whom was the New Word Alive conference who had been commissioned out to by another client to document the conference and work on capturing some imagery for their publicity towards next years conference.

Despite ti taking me 13 hours to reach North Wales by train from Glasgow and the train then catching fire on my back to Glasgow it was a good trip and an enjoyable experience to be doing some event photography.

New Look Website Online

2009-03-06T16:57:00.003Z

So it's taken me a while to get my head round it, but that's mainly because I've been designing and building it myself to stretch my creative juices that little bit more.

But the new look www.roddymackayphotography.com is now online, see what you think!

New Look @www.roddyphoto.com

2009-03-06T16:53:00.003Z

I've been doing some rejigging and redesigning of my websites over the last few weeks in addition to teaching myself some webdesign and production.

My stock archive remains online courtesy of Photoshelter but I've made some design changes to hopefully make it easier to use and more matching in look to my new look website which is almost there...

Lost In Translation

2008-12-26T17:54:00.002Z

Christmas Day In India

2008-12-26T07:27:00.001Z

Delving Deep Into Tales Past

2008-09-03T13:51:00.002+01:00

I'm on a bit of a high at the moment, mainly due to my new espresso machine, but also because of how much I'm enjoying working through new images and learning along the way.

I'm just about to start the huge phase of trying to edit through my selections of images from Peru from back in March, phased between wedding editing. I've gone through the initial selections and taken out the chaff, now comes the toning, keywording, categorising etc, the huge task!

The two images shown here are two I discovered latelast night and decided that I quite like, from my trip up to Neuvo Jerusalem on the outskirts of Moyobamba, quite a journey.

Stepping Out Of The Shadows

2008-08-08T01:06:00.003+01:00

So as I sit here frantically trying to finish off some bits of work as I prepare to tak a few days off and head to Skye I'm very much aware that on the other side of the world the sun is rising over China for the opening day of the 2008 Olympic games 08.08.08.

I feel a little strange about it for some reason, knowing that family are there and experiencing it all while I flick through literally hundreds of images of China. I'll be happy enough to watch from the sidelines.

Enter The Dragon

2008-07-30T23:36:00.002+01:00

So I realise I haven't blogged in a while... where have we heard that before?

Work at the moment is fairly busy and incredibly exciting, I've developed a lot of new working processes which have been in the offing for quite some time and have also been the result of alot of hard work and effort, two years after first starting out and officially getting going with Roddy Mackay Photography I'm glad to be kept going.

One of the most exciting things baout work is knowing that each morning i can come down to work and sit down with a cup of coffee an dnot quite know what I'll be doing with my days work, currently wedding editing is my biggest issue in workflof but i also have a huge amount of images I feel like i have hardly touched from my trips into China, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, USA, Sweden, France, Romania, hungary and Malawi, all looking for an audience, such as the one here from a personal project i shot on the soldiers guarding Beijing and Shanghai.

Street Children In Lima

2008-03-19T12:59:00.002Z

Peruvian Deforestation

2008-03-19T12:58:00.002Z

Peruvian Travelling Circus

2008-03-19T12:57:00.002Z

At The Village Water Well

2008-03-19T12:56:00.003Z

Nuevo Jerusalem

2008-03-19T12:55:00.002Z

Cusco Market

2008-03-19T00:37:00.001Z

Another Continent, Another Year, Another Country

2008-02-29T15:19:00.002Z

Hola,

I flew into Peru yesterday, for my first trip into South America, with intended travels into Cusco, Macchu Picchu, Moyobamba and Lima.

I'll blog a little bit more about it tonight hopefully once I've had time to put the cameras through a few frames in Cusco once I arrive but thought I'd let folks know that I heard just before I lrft come out to South America that I have been shortlisted for the Title of Scottish Young Photographer of The Year for the 3rd consecutive year, for the images shown above.

All will be revealed at the awards ceremony on the 26th March back in Glssgow, for now however, Peru is on my to do list...

And a few more for good measure...

2008-02-18T15:46:00.002Z

Shanghai

2008-02-18T15:44:00.001Z

Ok, so it’s now the 17th February and I’m sitting in Starbucks in Beijing on a cold but bright Monday morning waiting to have lunch with my sister.

I haven’t blogged as much as I had intended to, (where have you heard that before?) but time seems t have run away… somewhere. I’m now a year older since I last blogged and have been trying to take some time to get acquainted with my new camera and lens and make myself a little bit wiser to go with it… and I’m almost there.

I flew down to Shanghai last Tuesday to visit the city for a few days and give myself a Birthday treat, quite a city it is too… the economic hub of China, it is utterly huge, impressive to look at and impossible to do justice to in just a few short days.

I’ll say a bit more of my Shanghai experiences when I’m back in the UK but for now, another city awaits, and images are there to be discovered…

A Certain Sense Of Deja Vu

2008-02-18T15:43:00.002Z

I flew into Beijing on Wednesday morning to begin my second trip into the country following on from my time here back in April 2006, my first international expedition with my new camera.

My timing couldn’t seem to have been better so far, Thursday was the official Chinese New Year and Beijing seems to be pumping out more Gunpowder than Guy Faulkes would know what to do with, the enthusiasm with which Chinese firecrackers are being exploded at all times around about me makes the Non Educated Delinquints (NED’S for those who have had the pleasure) of Maryhill look like amateurs…

All around Beijing you’re greeted with the sight of Men standing guard watching over the city, nowhere more so it would seem than in the residential developments in the outskirts of the city where my Sister and family have been residing for the last few years. The have become my focus for a project while I’m here in the country over the next few weeks, not just them but the thousands of guards standing watch over Beijing… more to follow.

The Next Chapter

2008-01-28T14:26:00.000Z

I thought I better blog about this seeing as it's now almost over... (oops)

Witnessing The World, my first solo exhibition of images outside of Scotland is currently running at Departure Arts Centre in London, (E14 7LW) and is due to run until the end of this week.

The exhibition brings together a range of imagery from across four continents and features many previoulsy unseen images from the archive. All kimages can also be found online at http://www.mackaystockphoto.com/ and entering 'witnessing the world' into the search feature.

Additionally you can download the flier via the website at

http://www.roddymackayphotography.com/WitnessingTheWorldFlyer.pdf

My travel plans for the next few months are taking shape and I'm now looking forward to being in Beijing for Chinese New Year a week on Friday. I'll be in the country all being well for three weeks and am hoping to take some time in Beijing, Shanghai ang Guilin before flying back to Glasgow on the 26th of February, unpacking and re packing my bags and then heading into Peru on the 28th!

I've got a rough plan to try and make a visit to Machu Picu before heading to Moyobamba for a week or so and then into Lima for a week or so.

I'm also currently eyeing up some new kit in the form of a Canon EOS 1d MK III for those of you who pay attention to that side of things...

Witnessing The World

2007-12-28T01:08:00.000Z

I’m sorry, I’ve turned into one of those bloggers who doesn’t really blog at all… and that’s not a good kind of blogger to be!

Things have been pretty busy of late, which is certainly no bad thing, and as I write this I’m working on finishing off my first ever tax return as a freelance shooter.

I’ve been working on a lot of my marketing and advertising promotions for the coming year over the last few weeks and have produced a new Wedding Brochure and Social Portraiture Brochure which should both be downloadable from the website. The SP one is suffering from a bit of a dodgy link which should be resolved in a couple of days.

I’ve also been kept pretty busy making arrangements for a new exhibition of images entitled ‘Witnessing The World’ which should now be up on the walls of Departure Arts in London, just around the corner from Canary Wharf, although the centre is currently closed for the holidays it re-opens on the 8th January and the work will be on show through until the 31st Jan.

It’s looking likely that I’ll be adding quite substantially to my travel and documentary stock archive as well with a proposed return to China during February followed by my first visit into South America hopefully in March. April follows the international work scene with a commissioned trip to be undertaken into Southeast Asia for the last two weeks of the month.

Most of the images I hope to take on these trips will hopefully be added to my slowly growing new stock archive online at www.roddyphoto.com I’ll let you know how progress for that comes along… it’s a lot of work!

If I don’t speak to you before, have a great new year!