Welcome to the brand new Broombank Photography website. It seems fitting that the site is launched just before the annual wedding show at the AECC. I hope that brides who visit the site will be encouraged to see more of my work. Last year I focussed on selling my whisky book throughout Europe and the UK so weddings took very much a back seat, but this year I hope to make more of an impact among the small group of clients who want something a bit different. There are so many wedding photographers  now that it must be very confusing and perhaps tempting to make judgements on price alone. Did you know that 40 % of brides are discontented with their wedding photography? Isn't that an shocking statistic ! So far ( famous last words) in the seven years I have been shooting weddings I have yet to meet a bride who is anything but delighted with what I have done for her. I think this is because I make a point of involving the couple from the start - getting to know them well enough to have a clear idea what they would like , and involving them in every step of the design of the finished album. Because they design the album with me and have chosen which pictures to use, they know pretty much how their album will look before it goes to the printers. So there are no horrible shocks - just a sense of achievement  both for them and for me! Because i limit myself to 10 or less  weddings per year I approach each one as a fresh challenge. 

On the Whisky front I am excited by a new venture. I am going to start a small publishing house myself, aiming to produce small but high quality photobooks for individual distilleries . Ardmore at Kennethmont  has agreed to fund the first one and we will hopefully put this in motion later this month . I want to produce a compact high quality gift at a very reasonable price . My ambition is to have a whole series of these on different distilleries. 

So please leave your comments and suggestions which will be gratefully received. 

Ian  

31st March 2011

A lot of progress on the whisky book. All the photography is finished and is looking good . It is due to be sent for printing in Mid May and should be available from Ardmore distillery shop by late august /early September( www.ardmorewhisky.com) . I am hoping that it will be sufficiently impressive to persuade some other distilleries to sign up . The investment is small and the benefits potentially large in terms of publicity. The book will be 245mm by 170mm with 64 high quality pages spot vanished on matt art paper . It will cost £10 retail  At least half the pictures are of distillery workers in action . I had a fascinating day in the Glasgow business school archives looking at the records from Allied distilleries . I found all the original architectural plans by the famous Charles Doig of Elgin who designed so many distilleries . We held a session for 9 retired employees to reminisce on their working lives and I have 'distilled' this into a social history of the distillery which forms the introduction to the book. 

Ian

10th September 2011 

A long overdue update . The Ardmore book is finished, printed and en route from China to Kennethmont . It has reached UK shores but is awaiting customs clearance. Everybody seems delighted with it. It will retail at £10 through the distillery website and through me. I am at present searching for the next candidate. I have several interested but it remains to be seen whether they will sign up. 

My next project is to be called 'Transylvanian Odyssey' It will document and illustrate my travels in Transylvania which began in 1969 on a Honda 50 . I took lots of slides with my Zenith E on Ferrania film and developed them myself. At least that means they were well washed so the colour is still excellent. The trail will lead to the present day whre I have just completed my third visit and I now have the bit between my teeth to properly photograph the process of Horinca ( Tuica/Plum brandy) production in Maramures. Each litle village has its own distillery and they distill rotten fruit - either plums - pears or apples . The resulting disillate is then distilled again to produce a spirit with around 50% alcohol . The pear brandy has more than a little similarity to French 'Poire William' These distilleries are rather like what I imagine Whisky production was like before 1870 . They are tiny - some are almost of home brew scale . I think that despite  the isloation of Maramures it is unlikely that they will survive for long once they get in the sights of Brussels bureaucrats. The other problem is the value of copper which is leading to an epidemic of still theft . I saw two ransacked places on my recent trip. The Gypsies have been the traditional metal workers,who made the stills, but they are now hard to find as the skilled craftsmen have all gone to italy !!  Trnsylvanian hospitality is as it ever was - quite amazing. 

'Bottled History' is still selling slowly and continues to be a source of satisfaction to me. It is amazing how little negative comment it has attracted. I have cut the price to £20 to boost sales in a recession. 

Ian