Springing into the new season…

With the warmer weather on the horizon and the sight of spring creeping into view, I thought it was time to update my blog with what I’ve been up to before the summer season fully takes off.

It’s been a busy few weeks with a huge amount of variety for me, from filming the ‘Big Beach Clean’ at Thorpeness, working with Gatwick Airport during their ‘Hidden Disability Access Day’ to commissioning work for ‘Best of Suffolk’ and shooting a wedding! (phew)

Here in Suffolk, the community spirit is one of the strongest I’ve witnessed and so to be able to document this during the Thorpeness beach clean (when the people of the village came together to help save our planet from pollution) was very rewarding. If you haven’t watched the video on my Instagram page yet, you should definitely give it a view – heart-warming teamwork at its best.

The ‘Hidden Disability Access Day’ held by Gatwick Airport was another inspiring project I worked on. Being able to document the effect the event had on people who usually struggle with airports was quite moving. The team at Gatwick had evidently worked hard to make the day a success and put those with hidden disabilities first. This commission is one of my favourite corporate jobs I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of.

Sticking with the corporate side, my friends at ‘Best of Suffolk’ have also been busy during the start of this year. We had a hilarious morning filming the team in their (very) impressive office space, and managed to also get out into the beautiful Suffolk countryside to film this! The company work hard to ensure all of their 300+ properties are truly amazing, allowing a visit to Suffolk to be the best it can be.

And, as if this wasn’t enough – I also shot a wedding at ‘The Ickworth Hotel’! It was a really special day for everyone involved, and if you’re getting married soon and looking for that perfect photographer please get in touch! A portfolio of some of my work can be found here, and if you’d like to know more about the package I offer please click here.

I think it’s fair to say the first part of 2018 has been pretty hectic – and it’s just the way I like it! I’m really looking forward to this year after the positive start I’ve had!

Proof that pictures are worth a thousand words!

A great example of a pictures worth a thousand words – The owner of this Aldeburgh seaside holiday property was thrilled after their holiday bookings tripled in just 8 weeks after commissioning me to re-shoot it, the agents web pictures were then replaced and relaunched with my new beautiful interior photographs and the bookings jumped from 3/4 to 11 within 8 weeks on the two previous years. If you know someone with a holiday home that’s not getting the bookings it deserves from their agent call us….

Want to get your holiday home working for you?

Tony Pick Photography is taking to the skies & relocating after 14 years on Aldeburgh High St.

After 14yrs in Aldeburgh High Street, Tony’s taking to the skies in 2 weeks & relocating the business close to Aldeburgh. Don’t worry though, all our services will continue through the website at http://www.tonypickphotography.co.uk/ inc portraits, photo training, landscapes, weddings and corporate pr.

We’re very excited to be launching of our new Uk Aerial photography business, Tony’s teamed up with two experienced pilots to offer a complete UAV photography and video package for estate agents, Insurance companies, sports events, land surveys, environmental work and Landscapes etc. The applications are endless, new and exciting digital innovations allow us to capture breathtaking images in very high resolution with the addition of 4k video which is new to the Aerial photography market.

If you would like to know more about our services please call Tony on 07719 919484.

DSLR Hexacopter
DSLR Camera Hexacopter
Go Pro Hexacopter
Go Pro Hexacopter
Hill Farm, Suffolk, Rapeseed Aerial View
Hill Farm, Suffolk, Rapeseed Aerial View

Beautiful Winter Portraits

Just back from a family portrait shoot on the beach in glorious winter sunshine. The sun was streaming through barely above the horizon casting beautiful low shadows across the rocks and pebbles. My trusty off camera flash system worked overtime to compete with the sun and fill in those dark shadows. It’s my favorite shooting style – backlit and shooting straight in to the sun for that high key warm saturated rimlight effect.  A lovely family, thanks guys for making it so much fun today…

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New for 2015 – Photo Training Group Workshops & Our Best Family Portraits Offer Yet!

We will be launching our brand new Photo Training days for groups of four people for only £95 per person. Tony has been running his very successful 1 to 1 training days for many years and would now like to share his knowledge and expertise with larger groups. Amazing tuition and great value, so if Santa treats you to a new camera this Christmas let Tony show you the light!  Click here for Photo Training Bookings

We are also very excited about our fab new Family Portraits offer, this includes having a fun photo shoot with Tony either in the forest or on the beach plus a beautiful framed picture for only £75. Shoots and viewing are available on the same day. It’s our best Portrait offer Yet so book your family in!  Click here for Family Portraits Bookings

Treat someone special this Christmas with a Tony Pick Photography gift voucher for any of our products or services. You can either call us on 01728 451999 or order online here

Happy Christmas from Tony and the team….

Tony Pick Photo Training & Family Portraits Low Res

 

‘Touching the Tide’ Photography Workshops in Aldeburgh

 

A fantastic morning on Aldeburgh beach with 10 budding photographers. The start of our series of Photo training workshops in partnership with ‘Touching the Tide’ project.

Auto – OFF to Manual – ON !

To book your place visit http://www.touchingthetide.org.uk/photography-courses/ or http://www.tonypickphotography.co.uk/training.htmlTouching the Tide18-9-14-104 Touching the Tide18-9-14-101 Touching the Tide18-9-14-102 Touching the Tide18-9-14-105

A busy carnival week…

 

Good Morning and the bank holiday weekend has landed!

We have had a very busy week here in Aldeburgh.

First up was the carnival on Monday, which saw me take part in the mini marathon and the lifeboat demonstration. We also had a fantastic time watching the procession, lantern parade and fireworks.

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If you would like to see a video of the lifeboat display click here to see a clip on their Facebook page.

I’ve felt very privileged to have photographed lots of families.We even have a family I last photographed five years ago, so it was great to be able to provide them with an update from their last portrait. All of my portrait sessions are relaxed and informal, and usually my models all end up splashing around in the sea! We are currently running a portrait offer, so if this is something your family would like to do then click here for more information.

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Yesterday marked the start of my weekend and I was photographing at a wedding, at the beautiful Suffolk venue of Eastern Grange. It was a wonderful day and I love sharing such a special moment in time with a couple. I cant wait to start editing them.

If you’re out and about in Aldeburgh today, do pop in and say hi – the gallery is open until 5pm. We love to meet visitors of the town. In the gallery you will find our landscapes for sale and will even get to see our aluminiums, which use the latest in HD printing techniques. For those that prefer a more traditional frame, we offer various different sizes and colours in those too.

Hope you have a fantastic weekend,

Tony

 

Roll up roll up…

 

The flags are up and the final preparations are being made for one of Aldeburgh’s most popular events of the year – the carnival! Meanwhile to celebrate the last weeks of summer we have launched a fantastic summer offer. Before the children are back to school or packing their bags for university, there is no better time to get a family portrait. We are offering a complimentary portrait voucher for you and your family, with £50 to use towards products at your viewing. To claim yours call the gallery on 01728 451999 or book on the portrait section of our website by clicking here and using promotion code ‘Summer14’.

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Thinking of entering your 1st Ironman? My story of an epic weekend on Exmoor without the camera!

Ironman UK 70.3 Wimberball, Exmoor. 1.9k swim – 56 mile bike – 13 mile run
Reputed as being one of the toughest courses in the world!
Sun 15th June 2014

Friday – The long car Journey
Left home at 2pm on route to Taunton, Somerset. Hit the M4 and brakes start to grind with all the stop start traffic. Getting worse and worse and wasn’t sure if we would make it.
Finally rolled in to the Holiday Inn at 8pm with Saturday’s game plan in tatters. Car became priority for Sat as Wimberball lake was 50 mins drive. In stepped the IM hospitality company Nirvana to the rescue, Lizzie managed to track their rep down in the hotel next door. Great people and what a relief, I was now able to have my bike and kit collected from the hotel at 7am and be taken to Wimberball lake at 8 with their guests. Time for supper and by now the stress levels were abating – things were looking up…

Saturday – Prep Day
6am we’re all up for breakie followed by Lizzie and Charlie off to spend the morning with the nice chaps at Mr Quick Fit Fitters. New disks and pads £250 later – Rick had warned me the week before that they were low at the MOT. Don’t ignore it – Plan for the unexpected!!  I was now able to register, do the swim practice, rack my bike, hang both my bike and run bags and then get to the 11am race briefing before Lizzie and Charlie joined me at mid day. All that was left was a spot of lunch, check out the trade stands before Charlie’s Iron Kids race at 3pm! What else could go wrong – His all ready for the 1k run as the big boys and girls set off first. Then somehow we managed to miss his age group as they all set off so DNS with lots of tears. A promise of his favourite supper soon cheered him up.  Only one more thing to do, drive the bike course to see what’s in store. I’d seen enough after 20 miles to realise this is why it’s reputed as being the toughest in the world!  Exhausted and back at the hotel by 6pm for early supper in the Harvester next door before bed by 9pm. Who should be sitting next to us with No1 on his wrist band – both pro’s Ritchie Nicholls and his girlfriend Eimear Mullan. Winners of 2013 and Eimear soon to win 2014’s race, Ritchie came 3rd behind winner Will Clarke in a new course record of 04:18:07.
My new favourite carb loading pre Iroman supper is ‘Full Rack of Classic BBQ Ribs Harvester’s famous pork ribs glazed in their classic BBQ sauce with a mega 958kca at £11.49 Just awesome!!!
9pm bedtime

Sunday Race Day
We’re all up at 3.30am without much sleep and to my amazement Lizzies really getting in to the whole Ironman thing now. Bleary eyed and a light breakfast in the packed restaurant full of like minded athletes and loved ones, all struggling to digest breakfast in the middle of the night.  We’re off, 4.15 and a very nervous convoy of cars and mini buses all heading towards Wimberball lake. We arrive at 5am and head over to do the final tweaks in transition such as remove bike cover, place water bottles and then check tyre pressures five times over! Funny how the mind plays tricks on you under pressure – maybe that’s not quite enough air, lets try a bit more, was that too much, not quite sure if that valve cap’s on tight enough, Agony! You could hear a pin drop, so much nervous energy and the queue’s for the loo’s just got longer and longer going round the block.

Swim
Wetsuits and calf guards on and ready to go, finally the nerves seems to abate as 1750 athletes walk down to the waters edge. Bang, 7am and the first wave was off, another 15mins of waiting before our turn. I managed to get over to the far left out of the main pack and hopefully avoid any trouble. No drama’s, arms and breathing felt good throughout and exited in 36:54mins (1min quicker than I hoped) to be confronted with an 400m uphill run to T1. One down, two to go.

Bike
T1 felt forever trying to get the bike gear on but the lovely volunteers were on hand to help us. Wished Amanda good luck as we both left transition for the bike that I feared most. Started with a 2 mile climb straight out of transition which set the tone for things to come, my hopeful average of 16mph wasn’t looking good sitting at 12mph. Things improved in the perfect weather conditions, warm, overcast and light winds. Then more hills and big descents clocking up nearly 40mph at times. My average started creeping up and was soon 17mph and then drastically dropped on the big climb sections. So glad I went with the compact and 28 on the back, was able to tap up the hills, just, whilst guys on their tri bikes really struggled. One lap to go and found myself grinding out the flats and downhills whilst taping up the climbs and loving it. I was in my element munching my jelly babies, sipping Hi-Five gels and drinks.
15 miles to go and something suddenly felt very wrong in the legs, had I smashed the bike to hard and had nothing left for the run? I couldn’t physical get out of the saddle on the climbs anymore, immense cramp pains in both thighs that I’d never experienced before, O sh*t, i’m in trouble, how can I run! The sun broke through as I came in to T2 having averaged 16.4mph in a time of 3:28:04 which I was thrilled with, could I go sub 6hrs with a good run time, 8min miles needed, lets see.
Two down, one to go!

Run
T2 was quick, trainers on, nearly leaving my brand new 2XU cap behind thinking I wouldn’t need it. Boy am I glad I did take it, the heat was immense with no breeze going up to 24 degree’s or so.
The legs didn’t work and I was in trouble, thighs just cramped up and felt myself not being able to finish this thing. The climbs on the run were brutal after the 53 hills on the bike and the descents were just as bad. The garmin was reading 15min/miles (so much for my 8 min/miles then). 1 lap in with two to go I shouted across to Lizzies and Charlie – I can’t run, something had to be done, I yanked as hard as I could on my tri suit’s elastic round the bottom of the shorts and a loud rip was heard, then the other leg, relief – that felt good. Within minutes the pain had disappeared in both legs realising they were far too tight preventing the muscle movement and circulation. I made headway in the intense heat and finally crossed the finish line with a run time of 2:02:37 averaging over 10min/miles.
Maybe I could have gone sub 6hrs with a ZipVit tri suit – who knows – my Aldi special did only cost 12 notes and now going in the bin unless any one fancies it!!!!

Splits
Swim 36:54
T1 07:04
Bike 3:28:04
T2 02:54
Run 2:02:37

Total Time 6:17:34
50th (45-49 Age group of 237)
491th Overall (1750 entries)

Summary
The most amazing experience, every conceivable emotion through pain and joy.
All the weeks of training and bike prep etc paid off, they say train hard – race easy.
Hoped for sub 7hrs knowing how hard the bike and run course was going to be – So a very happy bunny.
Many thanks to our top coach at Rok Tri for getting me to the start line in one piece ready to race, all prepped with a bike so slick she flew up those hills without a whisper. Might try the red bull and coke they hand out next time, apparently gives you wings!

Personal Aims
Work on the run, brick training, find more hills, learn how to focus the mind and get in the zone. Don’t wear a cheap tri suit!

Must Have Favourites
Calf guards – run cap – right nutrition – jelly babies – prepare for the unexpected.

Special thanks to Lizzie and the boys for putting up with my daily training schedule and feeding me 24/7!

Good luck to team mates Paul and Pipey at Bolton.

Ironman UK 70.3 2014 Finisher – Highly recommend it….

Ironman Uk 70.3 Wimberball 15th June 2014
Ironman Uk 70.3 Wimberball 15th June 2014

Even I got drenched on this shoot – Great to hear what our portrait families think…

Dear Tony,
I wanted to let you know that all the photographs arrived safely, and are now adorning our walls. They have come out extremely well, with the girls’ characters really coming through your high quality production. They will give us pleasure for many years. Thanks for working with us to produce such a lovely result.
best wishes Martin
Call us to book your fun family portraits before the kids fly the nest – or book online  http://www.tonypickphotography.co.uk/portraits.html

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