Shrewsbury

Today I took part in the Shrewsbury Dragon Boat Race to help raise money for Shrewsbury Hospice. Our team made up of 17 people from our office (The Pump House), the majority representing Marches Energy Agency, I represented Information Solutions (and obviously world famous ImAFish).

Click on any picture to see a larger version on Flickr.

The boat we had to race.

The team lining up the boat. We are all dressed as superheroes (under our life jackets).

Much love to Jonnie (also representing ImAFish) for coming in at last minute to fill the team. You can see my superhero mask on my head.

Everyone was nervous that we might fall in.

Jo, Tessa, Sarah and Jeremy.

A discussion on climate change (I guess).

View the complete set on Flickr.

Much love to Laura for taking the photos.

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival is now well under way as reported last week. There are displays of work at the Gateway in Shrewsbury (next to my new office).

More on the cartoon festival and climate change can be found on the Carbon Forum website:

http://carbonforum.org/news/climate-change-cartoon-exhibition-opens-gateway-gallery-shrewsbury 

This post is by guest blogger Matt Buck.

The fifth International Cartoon Festival is open now in Shrewsbury.

The main event when more than 40 of Britain's best cartoonists will be in town for a long weekend of cartoons and cartooning, runs from April 18-20.

But already six exhibitions of some great cartoon jokes and art are open to the public. You can find out more at http://www.shrewsburycartoonfestival.com or at the Bloghorn,  - http://procartoonists.blogspot.com/

The festival offers unique opportunities to see cartoonists at work, with 20 of them drawing on huge boards in The Square, others drawing caricatures for anyone who asks and some, running cartoon workshops for all ages.

There's also a one-man show by Dave Brown, political cartoonist for The Independent newspaper and Steve Bell from the Guardian is coming too.

http://tinyurl.com/2p5mjm

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival is organised by Destination Shrewsbury with Shrewsbury Civic Society and the support of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation. This cartoon is copyright of PCO member Tim Harries, if you would like to use it, please give Tim a credit and a link to the Bloghorn. Thank you
http://procartoonists.blogspot.com/

For more information: Web: www.shrewsburycartoonfestival.com
Email: visitorinfo@shrewsbury.gov.uk - Telephone: 01743-281 200

After reading about the 10 most beautiful bridges in the world at the weekend through Digg I went to take some photos of Ironbridge, #7 on the list which happens to be about 20mins drive from where I live.

The bridge itself.

The power station overlooks Ironbridge, giving an interesting contrast between old and new industry.

A view from the bridge looking up the river.

The bridge in the distance.

The bridge and the village which takes it name from the bridge.

On the drive up to Ironbridge I took this picture of the river Severn.

 You can view all my HDR photos on Flickr.

Here are some of my best HDR photos from my travels. HDR is a technique of taking a photo over multiple exposures (or extracting them from a RAW file) then recombining them in a program such as Photomatix. By doing this you can bring out the detail from the multiple exposures creating a powerful image.

My first is of St Chads Church in Shrewsbury.

I really like how the HDR technique has brough out the detail in the stone work.

This next one was taken in Betws Y Coed last summer.

I like the brightness in the trees in comparison to the building and water in this one.

This one is of the B&B we stayed at in Betws Y Coed.

Again I love how the stone work is really brought out against the trees.

I took this next one in Egypt last summer.

The rich blue in the sea and sky really shines through in this picture.

This one was taken in the Cotswolds on my Birthday last year.

The contrast in the sky especially with the sun setting is very striking in this picture.

This is another of St Chads Church in Shrewsbury.

The way the cloud almost circles around the spire is especially apparent in this picture as it almost implies the power the building or church has over people.

This train track near Betws Y Coed almost has a rain forest feel about it with the luscious green.

This next one again is from Betws Y Coed.

All of my HDR photos can be found on Flickr.

"An exhibition of Commercially Creative Talent.

Creative Shropshire, a networking forum for Shropshire-based creative professionals will be promoting Shropshire as a centre of creative excellence at an exhibition they will be holding in early March.

Creative Shropshire was initiated by Steve Ashdown of Shrewsbury based Phoot Creative. Steve recognized the lack of networking opportunities and support services for like-minded creative individuals in the County, and along with a small group of creative professionals from various backgrounds coupled with the valued support of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council, Creative Shropshire was launched in 2006.
The objective for Creative Shropshire includes the raising of the profile of the sector both locally and regionally and to encourage businesses and organisations to automatically consider Shropshire based creative businesses when sourcing services and supplies.

Steve said “early on we felt there was a lack of networking opportunities for like-minded creative professionals in the county. Shropshire is home to many innovative small businesses yet few of them communicate with each other. Our aim is to create a central point of communication in a friendly, informal environment for individuals and businesses of all sizes to meet regularly, share ideas, increase our marketing potential as a group and participate in networking events.”

Steve continued “Shropshire is packed full of innovative and talented creative businesses and individuals but they lacked a focal point. It is a thriving sector which until now did not have a public face and so often went overlooked. Many people are astounded by the shear size and quality of Shropshire's creative industry. There are talented people in Shropshire who can offer a service of the highest quality and with portfolios that include many of the biggest names in retail, business, publishing and entertainment.”

The exhibition, ‘Creative Shropshire ’08’ will be held at Enginuity in Ironbridge, Shropshire. The exhibition will feature a selection of companies from the 50 members within Creative Shropshire to include illustrators, web and graphic designers, film makers, internet marketing companies, marketing consultants, pr and advertising agencies, copywriters, printers and photographers.

This event will be the first time Shropshire is treated to a display of its wealth of commercially creative talent, and Creative Shropshire welcomes all local business people who will be able to gain real benefits from refreshing their marketing strategy with some fresh thinking.

Another benefit of visiting the exhibition will be an informal ‘Creative Surgery’. Visitors can pre-book a free 15 minute consultation with members of Creative Shropshire to get some ideas and inspiration about their own creative business plans. The free consultation can be booked via the event website at www.creativeshropshire08.org

For anyone looking to promote their business or develop their marketing plan this is an essential opportunity to make the most of the region's creative talent. Visitors will be able to discuss their requirements with a whole range of creative companies who's clients range from major international companies and charities to small local businesses and start-ups.

The exhibition will be open from 2-8pm on Thursday March 6th and will also feature free seminars (to include the fascinating ‘Wake Up Your Website’ which was recently Highly Commended in the ICT Excellence in Creative Partnerships Award). A cartoon wall will also be provided for visitors to show their creative side. Further details and an online registration facility can be found at www.creativeshropshire08.org "

I will be exhibiting at the event for the web design company I work for - The Web Orchard.