APOLOGIES TO ALL VIEWERS AND CUSTOMERS - IT HAS BEEN A BUSY YEAR!
The only problem with running a one-man business is that the description precisely reflects the reality of doing so, responsibility falling upon the owner to fulfil ALL the aspects of it - not just the enjoyable bits, or even the main one which caused him to set up on his own ( to do whatever he was good at ) in the first place. Bearing that very much in mind, this self-employed photographer has to offer the humblest of apologies for not updating the home page of his web site for more than six months. It’s good that some stunning pictures have found their way onto it as new "images of the month" - but that is not enough in this day of technological wizardry, blogs, video diaries etc etc. There really is no excuse for not finding that extra time to keep customers abreast of what is going on.
Anyway, it HAS been a VERY busy six or nine months, with various demands and tight timescales ensuring that there just never seemed to be enough hours in the day for everything that demanded the attention of this "one man" within his business. Thankfully, he managed to keep photography around Scotland at the forefront of his mind so that, frightful as it may sound, the selection of images for the 2010 calendars is coming along nicely! On both landscapes and golf courses, the ammunition has been plentiful and, at times, absolutely stunning, so customers should have no fear that the image bank will not be near to capacity when selection time comes around again in a few months time. An extremely poor summer has not been helpful but there is always a cracking shot to be had somewhere, if you look hard enough.....
Locations which yielded some terrific images that will definitely be in that "qualifying group" for 2010 selection include Lochcarron, Ardarroch (Kishorn), Duirinish ( near Plockton), Ben Tee ( above Loch Lochy ) which yielded a stunning early morning shot with mists etc, any one of three castles - Corgarff, Blair and Floors (Kelso), one of several charismatic shots from the villages along the Banff/Aberdeenshire coastline (take your pick from Pennan, Sandend and Gardenstown) plus a number of "flat water" loch shots with reflections to die for. It will NOT be an easy job!
On the golf course front, Nairn, Elgin, Cullen, Royal Tarlair and Peterculter are all possibles from the north-east, while a couple of early morning shots of the new Castle Course at St. Andrews are simply stunning. Western Gailes, on the Firth of Clyde, has also been "snapped up" this year, while the Lanark course ( another James Braid masterpiece) was arguably the best I had seen in the early part of the season. Ranfurly Castle at Bridge of Weir was also in scintillating condition. Enthusiastic buyers of the golf course calendars thus need have no fear.
PUBLICATIONS
One of the reasons that regular updates to the home page chit-chat have not been done is the soon-to-be-released book to celebrate the centenary of Angus County Golf Association. I was thrilled, last November, to be asked to write a book to commemorate this great milestone, although ploughing through one hundred years of minutes and doing all the other research which was needed on photographic material, interviews with some of the key people etc was, fairly obviously, extremely time consuming. It was, nevertheless, both a pleasure and a thrill to be allowed to inspect the goings-on of one of Scotland’s best golfing districts over that roller-coaster of a century. I only hope that I have done the county of Angus and its many fine golfers and administrators justice when "A Century of Golf" is on the shelves - hopefully by the first week in September.
The 2009 calendar selection was duly carried out in February and March and the range of calendars is now available for both the private and corporate market. Feedback from the huge majority of the 38,000 or so customers from last year indicated that they went down extremely well - with our clients and the clients of our clients too ( if you see what I mean!) The images for 2009 are lovely and samples can be seen on the website. Golf Galleries are again in charge of corporate marketing - see elsewhere on the home page for the link to more information about ordering.
After a long and most unfortunate delay - through no fault either of mine or Simon Golding ( who produced it ) - the DVD of "The Carnoustie Story" is, at last, about to be completed and will be on sale from the end of September. Simon has made a brilliant job of converting the written word to film - it is a fabulous piece of work which every admirer of Carnoustie Golf Links - indeed ANY links golf enthusiast - would LOVE to have for Christmas!
As far as the near future is concerned, a much-thought-out and long awaited trip to Shetland is still on the agenda. It looks like - weather permitting - September or October will be the time, though it isn’t easy to find two or three consecutive days of quality light and weather so far north; fog, I understand, is the greatest obstacle - watch this space! Dumfries and Galloway is also a likely destination, as are Machrihanish and Kintyre. Glen Trool, the Morar/Arisaig peninsula and Glen Affric are all down for aurtumn visits, while a much sought-after shot of the Tweed in autumn is also a key target.
As always, light and weather conditions will yield winners or losers for the camera. With a pretty atrocious summer almost gone, it surely cannot get any worse and I am optimistic enough to believe that - as always in Scotland - there are more than a few surprises in store before 2008 is finished. I hope some of these will find their way to future inclusion on the website or publications; watch this space!!
DONALD FORD
Donald Ford Images: Scottish Landscape Photography
Scotland's landscape abounds with opportunities and surprises for the photographer. Donald Ford has established himself as one of Scotland's leading photographers, through his books, calendars and other publications which are distributed each year throughout the world. His photographs are also available for purchase online from the gallery. The image shown on this page is Donald Ford's Image of the Month: Photograph of Loch Arklet and Arrochar Alps.
The Carnoustie Story
After a lifetime’s association with the town, Donald’s publication of this long-overdue account of the remarkable evolution
of Scotland's finest links golf course – together with the establishment of a charismatic community around it -
was an outstanding success, a reprint was thus required and 750 copies are now in stock.
Beautifully illustrated, by both old black and white images and his own magnificent photographs of the courses at Carnoustie,
the B5 size, 128-page book has received excellent feedback from many of the customers who bought it.
Click here for further details of The Carnoustie Story.
The 2009 Range of Calendars
After yet another increase in calendar sales during 2007 (the tenth in ten years!) it is daunting to think that a further uplift in quantities could follow as the 2009 range of publications is now being put together. Mind you, the decision to move the marketing and administration of the corporate calendars to Golf Galleries Ltd appears to have been a great success. With feedback from clients very positive again, fingers are crossed that the superb performance of 2007 could even yet be surpassed.
From a personal angle, the switch in marketing allowed much more photography between August and December, a time when concentration on orders, proofing and delivery had built up to such an extent that the need to be out and about with the camera was relegated to second or third place. From the aspect of Golf Galleries, the hope is that it has opened up a new market place for their own superb products to be appreciated by a much wider audience around Scotland.
The marketing of any business – large or small – remains fundamental to remaining one step ahead of the competition in the modern commercial world. Testimonials from many clients indicate that the high standards of our publications are still earning them plaudits. Our aspirations, therefore, are that the photographs – currently in course of selection – for the 2009 range of wall and desk calendars will once more live up to expectations. That doesn't half put pressure on the photographer to perform!
Click here for full range of calendars.
Address Book - Volume II
The success of the second edition of our hugely popular Address Book means that fewer than 800 remain in stock at the time of writing.
Don't be disappointed – order NOW!
Click here for further address book details.
We can always be reached by email at sales@donaldfordimages.com if you have an enquiry about any Donald Ford Images products.
In welcoming visitors to the website we hope that the selection of photographs available here encourages you to ask for more. If you cannot find your special Scottish place using the search features or category listings on this site, or if you are having problems using the site, then please contact us - Donald's portfolio of golfing and landscape photography runs to several thousand images and only a small selection is on view here!
