Over the course of the years, our photographic adventures have brought us into contact with many wonderful, delightful and some downright-spankin’-fabulous people. We’ve shot some; shot with others; and even more again we’ve shot for. Hell, some of these people we’d take a bullet for, or very possibly go Polar Bear wrestling™ (again). It’s nice to think that, in return, we’ve also managed to touch the lives of some of these people, be that with our words, or our images, or possibly by introducing them to the magical wonder that is the game of Buffalo™. It stands to reason that when your kids grow up and find responsibility, you can’t help but feel a bloom of photo-paternal pride as they spread their wings.

So step forward Mandy and “Meandering” Paul Charlton. Friends, colleagues, teammates, informants, drinking buddies and partners in crime, the pair of them! Tomorrow afternoon, Mandy & Paul celebrate ten blissfully happy years of marriage together by renewing their vows in front of family and friends. In recognition of the fact and also in recognition of our friendship, Mandy & Paul have asked the 4 Togs to step up to the plate and bat the photographic events of the day right out of the park. We pondered such a request long and hard… “But Mandy”, we said, “We’re not sure the universe is capable of containing the sheer levels of awesome sauce that the four of us, firing in unison, might produce.”. Thereupon, Mandy turned to us with large, liquid-filling eyes and pleaded with us on her very knees to make sure that even if our awesomeness was to cause the end of the world; she wanted it to be at her very own vow renewal.

Faced with such a dilemma, between the devil and the deep blue sea; between a rock and a hard place; between the Real Mark Scholey™ and his favourite tilt-shift lens – what could we do? There are none more loyal than we to our friends and rising as one we told the Charltons that we would accept the task, even if it proved to be the undoing of the very fabric of the universe.

Alas, almost immediately, tragedy struck and Ade was struck down with a case of the Scholeys. Being unable to fulfil his pre-ordained role, we searched for someone magnificent enough to return our number to the nearly-magic foursome. Rising from the flames, like a veritable phoenix of photographic philanthropy, arose none other than Jamie Emerson – a talent so deadly that even Chuck Norris fears him.

Tomorrow, dear friends, the (nearly) 4 Togs fight, photograph and drink, as one. What will occur? Can the world survive such a monsterous outpouring of talent? Will anybody ever know?

There’s only one place to find out. Right here, when the 4 Togs come to town on bizz-nizz. Mandy & Paul: We who are about to shoot, salute YOU!

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That’s right! 4TogsBlog, in association with Bearded Productions (Scholey Division) Ltd, are soon to release a new epic: “The Many Faces of Scholey“, in cinemas this summer. It’s going to be an action-packed thriller full of low-speed chases, big waves, hot sun and cold cyder. It’ll be the most fun that you’ve never had.

To whet your appetite, it gives me enormous pleasure to bring you a sneak preview of this awesome cinematic experience. Please sit back in your seats, pump up your volume and take a hold of your bladder!

(Please also note, that due to the size of the movie, and the crap-ness of our server, this may take a while to load!)

The Many Faces of Scholey (Trailer) from James Burns on Vimeo.

Edited to add: I’ve just noticed the poor audio quality during the first half of the trailer… I’ll fix that tonight… Sorry!

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Tilt-Shift Lens from James Burns on Vimeo.

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It’s that time of year when the 4Togs (well, the 3 least-hairy 4Togs, anyway) like to pack up their bags and head for pastures new.

So, whilst Mark is chained to his desk (which he quite enjoys, apparently), the rest of us are upping sticks and heading to Newquay for some sun, sea, surf and shandies. You can expect a variety of daftness over the course of the next week as we share our adventures with you all.

We welcome audience participation, as always, so if you have any suggestions on where to go, what (or who) to see, or adventures to have – please let us have them. So far, all I’ve managed to come up with is a day out as the Pyrites of Penzance

Watch this space… The frolics start Sunday!

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Three of the 4Togs have shown extreme concern over the whereabouts of Monty, he was last seen a long time ago following a can of lager on a string, and has not been seen since. If you know where he is, or have a lead that may help us find him; please do not hesitate to contact any of the three remaining 4Togs.

His return is important to us, as without Monty, the 4Togs are one quarter less awesome than before…

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p.s. We still have more to empty yet…

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"Is this the real life?....."

I did a wedding at the end of March last year, that was rained off and I had to shoot indoors with limited space and lots of people trying to barge past… 

12 months on and I did another at the end of march, and this time it’s ideal kite flying weather! Hats blowing everywhere, so we had to go inside again!

I got them on the stairs of this lovely old hall, had a strobe up the top of the stairs pointing down onto everyone, and one to the left filling the faces…. which was fine most of the time, but the 580EX 2 seems to have a power-off setting and when I’d set a shot up with lots of people in, like this, the bloody thing had powered itself down!

Still, I got quite a few Bohemian Rhapsody style shots like this, which may even find their way into their book for a laugh!

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Check out their article on HDR photography here!

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The weekend speaks for itself; it’s THE WEEKEND! It’s where the fun is at, no work all play (if you have to work at weekends, then it’s your own fault, we have no sympathy, unless you work in a pub which makes you a saint). Monday and Tuesday you can still remember the fun of the weekend although they are a bit mundane being back to the day job. Then you have Wednesday, which is the middle of the working week, half way there, it’s a milestone day, the light at the end of the tunnel can be seen midday on Wednesday. I don’t really need to explain Friday, it’s the gateway to the weekend where all the fun will be.

This only leaves Thursday, what does it do? It’s just makes the week longer, a nothing day, can’t even have pizza on a Thursday (everyone knows that it’s always pizza on a Friday) because the laws of Pizza Friday, having pizza on Thursday would create a failing of law, order and the universe as we know it! I mean Thursday, it’s no fun, it’s just the packing in any parcel, it’s just bulk, I think Thursday should be dropped from the week purely because it does nothing.

So as a day, Thursday has kind of failed at everything. Would we really miss it anyway?

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Just to let you all know, the Twitography project is very nearly ready for the off. Please keep an eye on here, and on your inboxes, for more details coming soon!

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