Businesses need pictures of their teams, to help them show the personality behind the company, and this company CX hadn't had a new picture taken in several years. When she booked me for her portrait session,  Sue explained that she needed a variety of pictures for different uses - website, annual report and to illustrate a profile of her in a business magazine next week.  We talked through how best to approach it, and she brought a bag with different outfits to the studio. After a strong cup of tea, we got started, using costume changes and varied backdrops to get what we needed. Job done!

In London this weekend. Saturday's shoot done, I had today to drift a little and enjoy the city... In Holborn I had a look at the new development at St Giles, designed by Renzo Piano for Legal and General, which I'd looked down at from Centre Point a few years ago as construction began. It is quite something, covering an entire city block. While the inner courtyard elevations are clad in a quiet, very pale grey, the external faces are bright orange, yellow and green - absolutely glowing in the sun today. 

This was a quick and pleasant commission: a single headshot for a professional man who knew what he wanted...an image in black and white, which was - is - direct, strong and straightforward. I really like the result. Clarity pays off, that's for sure.

I zipped off to Balfour Beatty’s offices last month with a carload of kit - lights, stands, the lot - to photograph an architectural model for a new school to be built in Cheshire...a very interesting assignment. The model had been made for the final submission to those making the decision, who had organised a competition between a number of contractors and designers, which was reaching its final stages.

Manchester University is an amazing place, up there internationally in terms of quality in both teaching and research - the biggest UK educational campus outside London.

I didn't know I'd turn into a yellow tram geek, but I did, somewhere along the line(!). So - being asked to go to the depot and get some images for the Transport Authority meant it was beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.  Things I found out on my visit:  1. The yellow trams are referred to as 'bananas' by the staff. Not too inventive, but I can get that... 2. They're 'stabled' at the depot. 3. The toolkits are red with yellow dots. Love that. 

Liverpool’s Radio City 96.7 teamed up with the Learning and Skills Council to support its campaign to celebrate and reward outstanding achievements in the workplace, which links with the Skills Pledge commitment by Merseyside employers. The station ran a two month campaign to encourage listeners from all over the region to audition for a chance to perform at allstarsmerseyside at the Liverpool Arena and Convention Centre on 5th February 2010 - last night. The successful applicants were provided with top quality mentoring and guidance from Radio City’s own broadcasters in preparation for

"Luxurious, contemporary, even unique, describes the enviable accommodation offered by Banks Farm in two individually designed suites, Daffodil and Daisy, set within a working smallholding in the Northern Fells of the Lake District National Park. Ducks, geese, chickens, sheep and rare breed pigs abound. Inspirational views of the Lake District’s evocative landscape surround you."

Today’s Ladies Fashion Lunch in the ballroom of the Palace Hotel was absolutely fabulous,darling! An annual fund-raising event by St Ann’s Hospice, it also launched Breast Cancer Awareness month. A champagne reception started everyone off nicely, then, after an amazing performance by The Bar Wizards (finalists from ‘Britain’s Got Talent”) and lunch, there was a fashion show (including a spectacular pillow fight), auction and raffle.

Victoria Station was opened in 1844, named after the monarch with her "gracious permission". I visited earlier this week,  to photograph for GMITE, who will be communicating over coming months on the refurbishment of the station, which starts in the spring. The station is very busy; trains and trams are going in and out all the time, of course, but it's also right next to and connected to Manchester Evening News Arena, the second busiest entertainment venue in the UK after the O2 Arena in London. 

The British Council for Shopping Centres is holding its 25th annual conference at the spanking new arena and conference centre in Liverpool. I went along for placenorthwest to have a look at the exhibition, which proved to be full of colour and interest. The (mock) Beatles greeted delegates with humour and aplomb... This, and 17 other shots chosen by the editor (a man of great taste and distinction, btw) are in the gallery at www.placenorthwest.co.uk/bcsc-08-in-pictures.html"

The museum of science and industry is a major attraction in Manchester, and has been steadfastly improving its appeal over recent years. This includes new, extended and renovated buildings, close attention to service standards, an enormously high level of interactivity (?) and some absolutely world-class exhibitions . I was on my way to Castlefield one evening at sunset and saw this image, with the  - well, thing - that marks the museum's skyline against a dramatic sky. A bit of experimentation followed, and this was the result.

Manchester 235 is already pretty well-known around these parts. It's the real deal, with an impressive gaming floor, two restaurants, function room and various private rooms and lounges, open all night and uber-glam. The latest addition is a poker lounge, which I went to photograph this week. The colours absolutely glow - glorious stuff.

I’m SO excited - this picture of mine, taken in France in the summer of 2007, is on the cover of a book published this month! The book is the very latest edition of “French Bed and Breakfast”, one of Alastar Sawday’s Special Places to Stay series. The picture is one of three - it may not be huge, but that’s not stopping me smiling from ear to ear! You can (just!!) see it on Amazon  if you click here.

I lived in Bolton a very long time ago, and used to love going to the fish market with my friend Sue on a Saturday morning. Sue was lodging with us while her house in Altrincham was being renovated. There were things on those market stalls that I'd never seen before, didn't know the names of and didn't have the first idea how to cook. Luckily, Sue did. She acquired a book of classic fish cookery and worked her way through it - it was wonderful! Market in the morning, fabulous home-cooked dinner that night. I still remember her skate with capers.

What a surprising and fascinating world it is...I went to Gloucestershire last week to photograph a beautiful home, complete with orangery, ha-ha and dripping wisteria, and met its inspirational owner, Janet Cooksey. I found that she not only welcomes guests to Uplands House, and restores paintings - you'd think that was enough, wouldn't you? -  but will also next month defend her title of World Veteran Fencing Champion.

I met Ryan Giggs today. It was fab! He was opening a new building at East Cheshire Hospice, which he has quietly supported for some time. I was there to photograph the event for them, and was immensely impressed by his quiet positive approach. What a nice guy!

Today I've been to Knowsley to make the last few images for a set of features for regional property website placenorthwest.co.uk. The big cat is pretty dramatic, and all the more so at sunset. It's at Halewood, at the huge car plant there, just outside Liverpool, quite close to John Lennon airport. It will appear on Thursday, in a gallery of pictures alongside the editor's analysis of property and regeneration issues in Knowsley.

What a great trip to Nonsuch House I had last week...I'm just sitting editing the images now, and smiling! While I was there for a commercial client, it wasn't my first visit. I'd been a few times under my own steam, as it's a compellingly welcoming and comfortably place in an outstanding location. It felt very much like renewing acquaintance with friends. They've just been listed as one of UK's Top 50 B&Bs by The Independent. I agree, wholeheartedly, Kit and Penny!

The history of the Coliseum Theatre in Oldham is fascinating; built originally by local craftspeople for the Grand American Circus in 1885, it was home to live acts interspersed with silent films from 1911. Derelict by 1939, when the lease was taken up by The Oldham Repertory Theatre Club, it has had the inevitable ups and downs. Many of its productions were televised in the 50’s and 60’s; many awards have been won; records have repeatedly been broken for ticket sales. I went to the theatre to help them build an up-to-date image library and made a start with the splendid auditorium.

The last in the placenorthwest series of features today, with my picture gallery of  St Helens. I really enjoyed the variety. The market, selling shiny shoes, school uniforms and pig's ears, was just across the road from the World of Glass, where a glass blowing demo was under way. I also got to see the unveiling of a statue of the Saints rugby team captain, and the amazing 'Dream', on the site of an old colliery, pictured here. You can see how huge it is, by the tiny people to the right.

I really enjoy travelling and meeting new people, and am very lucky that my clients find such beautiful and interesting places for me to photograph. Here, at Uplands House, the garden was just one of the lovely distinguishing features, with outstanding wisteria in the early spring followed by magnificent roses in summer. The history of the family, which has lived here for a very long time, includes some low and sad points, as well as laughter and triumphs. And, as a family home, the pictures scattered around tell part of that story, of this family's journey.

I was on my second trip to rural France for the new book, and actually rather a bit lost. I was trying to find what turned out to be one of the most lovely hotels I've visited, when I drove past this view. I stopped, of course, and put the hazard lights on - it wasn't a very sensible place to stop - and stood there for a moment or two, just loving the undulations and the lines. A car came past, first slowing down politely, then down came the window, and the gentile homme asked whether I was ok - could he help?  I thanked him profusely, assured him I was fine, and he drove on.

Tomorrow Alastair Sawday's new book, Go Slow France, is published, for which I made four trips to France last summer...talk about a dream commission! I visited and photographed 21 of the amazing places for the book, which has a foreword by Jean-Christophe Novelli. Go Slow France is the third book in Sawday's hugely successful series, and includes 47 of France's most exquisite châteaux, B&Bs and hotels chosen as places to 'go slow'. Sawday's say: "Fresh writing, beautiful, professional photography and detailed maps to help plan your Slow journey through France.

One of my lovely clients is making a film about their operations, and so when I went to photograph an event for them in Glasgow last week, I met these two smiling people, both charming experts in their field. Good to chat in the bit of downtime we had - don't we all lead such different lives??!!  They were filming and interviewing people I was photographing, and vice versa - and so while they ended up in some of my pictures, I ended up in theirs too. I'm looking forward to seeing their finished product at at my client's big event in London in October. I think. Ho hum!

To the Manchester Academy yesterday, to photograph 6th form students preparing for the Exodus Festival 2009, this year part of the Manchester International Festival, which is currently lighting up the City . Energy, smiles, design flair - all the ingredients were there.

The Chief Executive of the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority needed a new headshot yesterday for a publication going out next week. My 15 minute slot was carved out of his very busy diary, so I arrived early to have a quick scout round for locations so that we'd waste no time.

Salford Magistrates Court occupies a building that extends over a whole block, and was built originally as Salford Town Hall, long since relocacted. There are still a lot of the original featuures: tiling to walls and floors, stained glass windows, wood panelling. The space has been altered to accommodate the administration of justice: there are three courtrooms, judges and clerks rooms, waiting rooms; places to sign in for appointments and interviews, pay fines; lots of filing space; - even cells. And, upstairs, a ballroom and bar, not used for many years.  

James is a singer/songwriter from Kentucky in the USA, now living in France, who uses both electric and acoustic guitars.  He and Monnika, a writer, live in an astonishingly beautiful cleft in the hills, with two streams (creeks, says James) running through their land, on which they've built a couple of yurts. Listening to him rehearsing in his mountain studio at the time, I was struck by the depth and power of his voice, and Leonard Cohen came to mind.

At the wonderful Forever Manchester Ambassadors event last night; was blown away by the yummy food, which was supplied by the Mark Addy and the English Rose Bakery, a delicious ;-) new business that makes the most gorgeous macaroons. Just look at that presentation - little wonderfulnesses in tiny tissue lined boxes.

Castle Street in Liverpool was closed yesterday for Fiesta Latina, organised by Clarity Creation for the Commercial District. It was just great - music, performance, great stalls selling all sorts of fascinating stuff, including some totally delicious food. The restaurants and cafes were buzzing and there were people dancing in the streets most of the afternoon. Even the wedding party going into Viva Brazil stopped for a look and a boogie. A brilliant time was had by all, including the photographer!