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Vladimir Donkov: Master Of Northern Light

Over the years we’ve had some very inspirational speakers at our CLUB and f2 meetings, and none more so than arctic photographer Vladimir Donkov.

His story is the stuff of novels or motivational self-help manuals. As a child in Bulgaria he was plagued by ill-health, largely caused by growing up within choking distance of the infamous Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Despite being told he would never even be able to run or play sports, Vladimir went on to become a runner at competition level and ultimately someone who would regularly choose to put himself in the arctic wilderness for months on end with 66kg of equipment on his back and with the sole intention of capturing breathtaking arctic landscape photographs, often in places that have never been photographed before.

As a “very dyslexic” child, Vlad still managed to teach himself to read, by sheer force of will, but perhaps his most potent avenue of expression is photography, something which he seems to pursue with the same dogged determination coupled with incredible natural talent.

As he speaks, quietly and diffidently, it is clear that these tales of “Boys’ Own” derring-do are not only very true, but also almost commonplace in Vlad’s life. What do you do if your tent is blown away in a 200mph arctic storm? Obviously, you sleep under a boulder and then run, dripping wet and freezing, for 11 hours with your huge backpack to the only potentially inhabited settlement for many miles and hope that there’s someone there who can help.

Vlad has an inherent and natural empathy with nature – it’s perils and it’s bounty. And it is for that reason that Fotofilia asked him to lead a one-day Nature Photography Masterclass, which he kindly agreed to do.

Here’s the details of the course in Vlad’s words…

Nature Photography Masterclass with Vladimir Donkov (2-9pm) – Saturday 13th April

“Every great photography project to a faraway land has to start somewhere. And that is usually in your backyard.
During this one-day masterclass I will share with you my workflow and we will chase some beautiful light together! I will guide you through my favorite training route for my Arctic photo-assignments – into the picturesque nature between Warwick Art Centre and Kenilworth. On our way we will be shooting at lakes full of wildlife, expansive farm fields and even visit a nature reserve to photograph ancient trees and fresh spring flowers… During the walk I will be demonstrating how I shoot with my camera and give you advice on working with yours and composing for great images.
After our day out I will also send you an email critique session of two of your best shots from our shoot with tips on editing, exposure and etc.
The main focus of this masterclass will be on creating compelling landscapes and the process behind them. But as there is also a good chance of spotting foxes, rabbits and rare birds, keep your camera ready and your eyes peeled! Before sunset on our way back we will find a nice location to photograph during the ‘golden hour’, as this is the time when usually the most stunning nature images are shot. Like outdoor photographers do, we will call it a day just before dark and hopefully you will drive home with a heart full of inspiration for your next trip with your camera!
Please read carefully the description below:
The masterclass starts at 2pm in front of Warwick Arts Centre and ends around 9pm at the same place – the address is University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL . It takes up about 45 minutes driving one way. Public transport options are also available.
In case of strong showers we will postpone the masterclass for the next day – Sunday (date). I will monitor the weathercast in the morning and if it looks too bad you will receive a phone call no later than 12 am. Fingers crossed for a nice sunny day, but keep in mind that any kind of weather might be great for photography!
It is strongly recommended that you pack light, as this is a walking tour in a mixed area of nature reserves and farm fields. You do not need to be extremely fit, but you still need to be in shape good enough for 7 hours of photographing and easy walking with a camera bag.
Make sure to bring along:
- a pair of comfortable outdoor boots
- a rainproof jacket/trousers
- packed lunch (quite solid one!)
By booking this masterclass you agree that you take the responsibility for your own safety and all of your actions during the seminar. Vladimir Donkov will only be teaching photography and leading the group throughout the route. The area is flat and no mountain guide is needed, however, as with any outdoor trip there may be risks involved.
Until the end of April 2013 you can send up to two of your photographs taken during the masterclass to the tutor. You will then receive one email with a critique and tips within a week time.
Bio: Vladimir Donkov is an outdoor photographer with more than 10 years of professional experience, working for clients such as Hasselblad, Canon and Berghaus. He specialises in long and unsupported expeditions in the Arctic, living in solitude for months at a time in the vast wilderness of Greenland, Lapland and other rather cold places. The outcome of this project has been published in various international media. Vladimir will be leading this masterclass shortly after returning from a 10-days tour with workshop clients in Iceland. He is based in Birmingham at the moment, but used to live and still trains in the area where the seminar will take place.
His work can be seen at www.verticalshot.com and www.behance.net/VladimirDonkov
Price: £85 (£75 CLUB/f2 members)

Two-thirds of the available spaces for this event sold out within a week of its announcement, mainly to people who heard him speak at the club meetings, but there are still a couple of spaces left. Contact us now to reserve your place via email to fotofiliastudio@gmail.com.

Posted by fotofiliablog | March 31, 2013 | Categories: photography | Tags: arctic, exploration, film photography, fotofilia, landscape, masterclass, midlands, nature photography, photography courses, photography tuition, vladimir donkov | Leave A Comment »

The Day I Shot Some T H I E V E S

I do quite a lot of studio-based band shoots so it was rather nice to be asked to shoot Black Country combo (I know no-one uses the word “combo” any more but I like it) T H I E V E S on location. There was a fairly pressing deadline as the band needed an image for posters for a big gig at (I think) The Academy(?) in Birmingham.

When I asked what kind of look they were going for, guitarist Jake Goodman sent me an old black and white image of Oasis, lounging casually in what appeared to be the mixing room of a recording studio. So I contacted Andy Ward at Musoplex (http://www.musoplex.com/) in Oldbury – as the name suggests, a recording and rehearsal room complex and not entirely coincidentally where I had my first photographic studio.

I knew the control room at Musoplex fitted the look very well, and Andy brought in, or moved out, various bits of kit to complete the look. The band quite naturally adopted the appropriate positions on the sofa but we experimented with a few combinations and arrangements before it seemed right. The whole point of the shoot was to not look too “slick”, so I used my cheap but trusty Yong Nuo strobe (see my old post about these) which I fired remotely, bouncing the light off the room’s white ceiling, with just a little light kicking forward for highlights.

T H I E V E S – copyright David Rann 2013

Then we moved to the stage area which Andy has set up for videos, interviews and photoshoots – painted white with black furniture and backed with Marshall amps. This area also offered the opportunity to shoot from above by using the gantry steps.

T H I E V E S – copyright David Rann 2013

Heading outside, most of the band immediately sparked up their cigarettes. As we walked to the next location, I spotted a door with very clear “no smoking” signage. Too good an opportunity to miss. So I arranged the band (even the non-smoking minority) in front of this door for a few shots. This time, just a small burst of off-camera flash to add a bit of zing.

T H I E V E S – copyright David Rann 2013

And finally, as Musoplex is almost directly underneath Junction 2 of the M5, I wanted to use the underneath of the motorway bridge as a background and ceiling for the shots. Off-camera flash again from one side, and then the other.

Despite having to get up at an unearthly hour on a Sunday morning (not easy for musicians), I think the band were happy with the outcome of the day. See my images as the band have used them, plus find out more about T H I E V E S at http://www.facebook.com/david.rann.58#!/thievesbirmingham?fref=ts

T H I E V E S – copyright David Rann 2013

Posted by fotofiliablog | February 23, 2013 | Categories: photography | Tags: bands, birmingham, black and white, exhibition, indie, location, music, strobe, strobe flash speedlite photography, strobist | 3 Comments »

A Bit More “Birmingham Noir”

Here are a few more images from my contribution towards the forthcoming “Off The Wall” exhibition at Stigma Lab in Athens, Greece. Remember all taken and deited on an iphone4 and ipad…

“Daisy”. Copyright David Rann 2013

“Joel”. Copyright David Rann 2013

“Louise”. Copyright David Rann 2013

“Jo”. Copyright David Rann 2013

More information at:

http://www.facebook.com/david.rann.58#!/StigmaSquad

Posted by fotofiliablog | February 18, 2013 | Categories: iphoneography, photography | Tags: apps, birmingham, black and white, exhibition, gallery, instagram, iphone, iphoneography, model, photographic project, street photography | Leave A Comment »

Off The Wall: “Birmingham Noir” Goes Greek

I’ve had quite a few exhibitions over the years but the next one in my calendar, a group show called ”Off The Wall“, is something of a first in two ways. To begin with, it’s my first overseas exhibition, and will take place at Stigma Lab gallery in Athens, Greece (http://www.facebook.com/david.rann.58#!/StigmaSquad) from 1st to the 26th of March.

My good friend, the excellent street photographer, Gareth Jukes is curating the show and has pulled together seven artists working in very different media. The line-up also includes Christophe Dillinger (http://www.cdillinger.co.uk/) who I first met when I exhibited alongside him at Viewfinder gallery in London a few years ago. Christophe has since been a regular visitor to Fotofilia and is also the editor-in-chief of the excellent online Square Magazine http://www.squaremag.org/. So the full list of exhibitors is, in Gareth’s words…

“Gareth Jukes, artist from Birmingham England. His artwork has been exhibited & published internationally. His large scale street art paste-ups have attracted the attention of several art collectors and art dealers in England. Most recent art work was a 32ft tall paste up inside the Public Art Gallery West Bromwich, England.

Christophe Dillinger, experimental photographer from France , writer, publisher and editor-in-chief of Square Magazine, whose work has been shown in Europe , Russia & U.S.A.

Rebecca Woodcock, sculptor, winner of the Wedgwood Porcelain and Bronze Award. Her work reflects upon everyday life whilst exploring contemporary concerns with inter-personal relationships that reflect on philosophical and emotional engagement, blending elements of figuration and abstraction that encompass image and ground.

David Rann, award winning photographer, currently director of the Fotofilia Gallery in Birmingham, England. David has curated major exhibitions by over 200 emerging and established artists at his Gallery over the last 5 years

Emma Perry, West Midlands artist who works with mixed medias. Her sculptures ‘contain’ colour and she is interested in the internal & the external forms and spaces created in her work.

Julio Orphanides, a Cypriot-born video artist and painter whose works received major compliment when exhibited in a number of successful gallery exhibitions across England in the last two years.

Guy Holness is an emerging young British artist who works in a variety of medias including spray paint, sculpture, photography, and drawing. He is currently developing and coordinating creative arts projects with youth organisations across Europe. The Inspiration Network, a programme that he recently set up brought young people together from, England, Holland and Croatia to participate in a number of creative arts workshop.”

So that’s the “who”. Now for the “what”. The second way on which this is new for me is that for the first time ever, I am exhibiting images taken and edited solely on iphone and ipad. My project title is “Birmingham Noir” and the images are mainly (but not entirely) composite works consisting of a head-and-shoulders portrait combined with a separately-taken background. The subjects are a mixture of models and friends that, quite simply, I think fit the “noir-esque” mood. The viewer is invited to construct their own narratives.

Here are a few of the images to be shown…

“Laura”. Copyright David Rann 2013

“Nadeem”. Copyright David Rann 2013

“Sam”. Copyright David Rann 2013

I’ll post a few more shortly. But for now, if you happen to be in Athens in March, look us up…

Exhibition Opening: Friday 1st March 20:00 – 00:00.
Exhibition will be on until 25 of March.

Time Schedule
Monday-Saturday 13:00 – 20:00.
Sundays (only by appointment)

Stigma Lab:
Andrea Metaxa 4 , Exarhia District.
Athens, Greece

Contact Info:
E-mail: info@stigmalab.gr
Tel: +306972087530
Tel: +306948485845
http://www.facebook.com/david.rann.58#!/events/287801581347028/

Posted by fotofiliablog | February 16, 2013 | Categories: iphoneography, photography, Uncategorized | Tags: apps, athens, birmingham, black and white, christophe dillinger, exhibition, gallery, instagram, iphone, iphoneography, monochrome, photographic project, photography, square magazine, stigma lab | 4 Comments »

Snow: Nature’s Softbox?

Unlike many of the photographic fraternity who, at the first flake of snow, seem to have grabbed a camera and headed outside, I really don’t like snow. Actually, that’s not strictly true. I like the look of snow. I like it in films, or on Christmas cards, or watching it through a window from the sofa with a bucket of mulled wine nearby. But I hate the disruption, I hate not being able to get anywhere, and I hate having to cancel courses because of it.

Well, the gods were smiling on my first day’s workshop at Birmingham Botanical Gardens of 2013. The forecasted heavy deluge was thankfully diverted to the North West (sorry, peeps of the North West) and so the Portraiture workshop was able to go ahead, and I, the students, and the two models were able to actually get there.

The snow gradually melted away during the course of the day but there was still enough lingering on the roof close by to provide the kind of total shadow-blitzing, wrap-around reflection that you see in this shot of our beautiful female model, Gemma Louise. A reflector of the shop-bought kind provided the catchlight in Gemma’s eyes.

Gemma Louise at Birmingham Botanical Gardens by David Rann

And even when shooting indoors, the sporadic sunshine or bright white sky bouncing off the remaining snow served to raise general light levels. Here are a few more from the session…

Gemma Louise by David Rann

Gemma Louise on Purestorm – http://www.purestorm.com/profile.aspx?id=MissGemmaLouise

Posted by fotofiliablog | February 4, 2013 | Categories: photography, Uncategorized | Tags: beauty, birmingham, birmingham botanical gardens, fashion, lighting, model, photography courses, tips | 4 Comments »

Leanne James: Time Well Spent

Leanne James by David Rann

One good thing about being snowed-in (probably the only thing, in fact) is that I have a little time to get around to editing or re-editing some images that have been languishing in my hard drive. I’ve been meaning to find an opportunity to spend on these particular images for a few months now. I’d decided I didn’t want to “squeeze them in” between other jobs, No, these deserved my full attention.

Leanne James by David Rann

Leanne James, perhaps the UK’s fastest-rising star on the “alternative” modelling scene, was the subject of one of our very first Model Days here at Fotofilia in the Autumn. Now, the only problem with organising model days (or any shoot come to that) is that I often don’t get the chance to shoot any images myself. However, on this occasion, I managed to spend about 20-30 minutes with Leanne in between other booked sessions. One outfit, one background, and one lighting set-up. Luckily, with models of Leanne’s calibre, not a moment, not a shot, is wasted. It might have taken a while but I’m rather happy with the pictures I’ve just edited. Some things simply aren’t worth rushing.

Leanne James by David Rann

Leanne’s various pages – http://www.modelmayhem.com/2321212

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Leanne-James-Alternative-UK-Model/197157737012875

http://www.purestorm.com/profile.aspx?id=leanne_von_horror

Posted by fotofiliablog | January 21, 2013 | Categories: photography | Tags: alternative, beauty, birmingham, fashion, ink, leanne james, model, photography, studio, studio lighting, tattoos | Leave A Comment »

Pete Williams at Fotofilia

Pete Williams by David Rann

If, like myself and most of the rest of the country, you were watching Jools Holland’s Hootenanny show over New Year, you will probably have seen Pete Williams, founder member and co-frontman of Dexys, performing some of their best known songs.

Well, a couple of months ago, just before Dexys headed off for a short Australian tour, I had the opportunity to photograph Pete at Fotofilia and another location nearby. This came about mainly because I photographed Pete’s cousin Sean’s band a couple of months earlier (remember the Rudie & The Revolvers shoot?) and Sean was kind enough to recommend me.

Pete Williams by David Rann (studio shot)

Having spoken to Pete and worked out his main influences (1930s/1940s with a bit of classic rock and roll thrown in) I decided to use a location in a crumbling victorian ex-industrial building near the studio. Think “Dragons Den on a budget”. The upper floors had the benefit of lots of natural light (too much for some shots) and lots of lovely old features, not least a goods lift with the scissor-type mesh door.

Pete Williams by David Rann

Afterwards we returned to the studio and I used some vintage “filmic” lighting to try to recreate Pete’s favoured look and was rewarded with some of the day’s better images.

I gave Pete the images a short time later and he was (thankfully) very complimentary and has used a few of the images on his facebook page and on flyers. The images you see here are slightly reworked (mixture of Lightroom and Snapseed) versions of the ones given to Pete. So these are my own edit that you won’t find anywhere else.

As a post-script to this, I went to see Pete Williams and his band play in Birmingham in December and it was excellent! I took photographer and editor of Square Magazine, Christophe Dillinger along too and he was also impressed. I recommend you check him out when he’s next appearing in your area.

http://www.petewilliamsmusic.com/home.html - Pete Williams’ website – check it out.

http://www.squaremag.org/ - just in case you didn’t know already.

Pete Williams by David Rann

Posted by fotofiliablog | January 12, 2013 | Categories: photography | Tags: dexys, dexys midnight runners, FILM NOIR, gangster, kevin rowland, location, music, pete williams, pop music, portraiture, square magazine | 10 Comments »

Looking Forward To 2013.

Happy New Year!

I’ve had my review of 2012 so let’s look forward to 2013. Here, in a very small nutshell, is what Fotofilia has in mind for the next twelve months…

Studio 2. Yes, as soon as the current exhibition comes down we’ll be working on converting the main gallery room into a second studio space. No background rolls this time though, just some papered walls and nice floor coverings with a 60′s/70′s area, a prettily feminine boudoir area, and a grafitti backdrop all permanently set up. The idea is obviously that this will provide a bit more variety for our clients whilst easing the studio hire “bottleneck” periods.
A new venture: For the past couple of months I’ve been planning and setting up a website for a new branch of the business. I’ll say no more for now but it involves taking what is essentially a West Midlands-based business out to the wider world.
Consolidation: More – and a wider range of - courses and workshops including the “Masterclass” range of courses led by specialist tutors. All this, as well as developing all other aspects of the business.
Multimedia: We were (and continue to be) at the forefront of photographic technological advances, being the first to offer “iphoneography” courses, running the Birmingham Instagram Group etc. We will be continuing this by running a new multimedia aspect to the business starting with a major multimedia competition for our CLUB and f2 members and hopefully growing into a regular public event.
And for me personally… It looks as though there is an exhibition in the offing for me in Greece where I will be exhibiting some of a recent series of iphone composite images. I also intend to carry on various other ongoing photographic projects including the documentation of Priory Park Amateur Boxing Club that featured in last year’s “Pride of the Black Country” exhibition.

That’s all for now but let’s make 2013 a good ‘un.

Posted by fotofiliablog | January 12, 2013 | Categories: photography, Uncategorized | Tags: birmingham, birmingham instagram group, instagram, studio, studio hire | 2 Comments »

Boosting Your Wedding Photography Business

A couple of months ago, Fotofilia hosted a one day wedding photography workshop which was put together and delivered by Paul Spiers of the Successful Photographers Club in aid of the Marie Curie charity in memory of his late mother. The workshop was a sell-out and raised over £1000 for the charity, with delegates travelling from as far away as Ireland.

Paul Spiers

Well, Paul is back this Friday (4th January) with another inspirational workshop aimed at wedding photographers, and especially those who’d rather like a few more bookings, and better returns from those bookings. The workshop is priced at a very modest £95 which includes lunch. Here’s Paul’s description of the course…

Are Your Wedding Bookings Down on Previous Years?

There are a number of possible reasons for this, the recession, less people getting married, less people who are getting married hiring a photographer, and more people calling themselves a wedding photographer are reasons many photographers give. And whilst those reasons might seem to be true, in reality they are just excuses.

A wedding photographer is no different to any other business, in that the amount of business you do will be relative to the amount of “successful” marketing that you do. Do mainly unsuccessful marketing and you’ll feel like you’re doing your bit to attract new clients, but in reality you’re not.

Online forums can be a wealth of great information but they can also be a death sentence for your marketing, because just about every forum will have a post where a photographer has tried a marketing tactic that has not worked for them, and a couple of other people chime in and say they experienced the same results. This will put many people off trying the same tactic but is that the right course of action? What should you do? Are you hanging your hopes of business success on an online forum?

On January 4th 2013 I’m putting the record straight!

I’m hosting a marketing seminar exclusively for wedding photography where you will learn:

7 Unique , low cost ways to attract more clients

Why 95% of all marketing fails

Why your website may be stopping brides from contacting you

1 Simple trick that could triple your enquiry rate overnight

Why some enquirers never respond to your replies and how you can change that in less than 2 minutes

7 Simple tricks to get more of your website visitors to contact you

The bare bones of SEO, it’s not as hard as you might think

How to incorporate social media into your marketing mix

7 ways to drive brides to your website – and 5 of them are free

With January being one of the busiest months of the year for wedding enquiries, this seminar has been time so that you can start using what you’ve learned as soon as you get back to base. This is a full day seminar starting at 10:30 am, going through till 4:00 pm with a break for lunch. The venue is Fotofilia Studio and Gallery in Birmingham, just outside the city centre.

With tickets priced at only £95, just one extra wedding booking will more than cover the investment in your education.”

There are only a couple of spaces left so please contact Paul direct via http://www.photographymarketing.co.uk/marketing-wedding-photography/

Posted by fotofiliablog | January 2, 2013 | Categories: photography | Tags: birmingham, marie curie, marketing, paul spiers, photography courses, successful photographers club, wedding photography, workshop | 4 Comments »

2012: The Best & Worst

As we slide inexorably towards the end of 2012, it’s something of a habit of mine to look back over the last twelve-month and try to weigh up whether it was, in balance, a good or not-so-good year for Fotofilia and photography on the whole. As the doctor said to the man who wakes up after surgery, “First, the bad news…”

The authorities used the excuse of the London Olympics (am I allowed to mention it yet?) to clamp down on anyone “sporting” a “serious” camera and many other dubious infringements on civil liberties. Readers with a particularly long memory may remember a police officer tried to prevent my group of students from photographing buildings in the St. Pauls Square area of Birmingham, saying we needed a permit because of the Olympics (oops! said it again!)
Closer to home, Birmingham Botanical Gardens, where I’ve been teaching photography part-time since 2004, sold off its Study Centre leaving itself with no suitable venue for photography courses.
Long-term Fotofilia assistant Simon Smith left us for “a proper job”. There’s still the possibility he may be back occasionally in 2013 though.
Again at Fotofilia, we had rather a lot of breakages, damage, and the occasional theft this year. This has meant that hire prices will have to go up slightly from 1st January. Regrettably, there are now 3 photographers on our “banned” list because of inconsiderate (and in one case, downright shocking) behaviour.
We had some great exhibitions during the last 12 months, largely curated by Dave Shepherd and Jack Nelson. However, most of the exhibitors simply didn’t have enough work to fill the 140+ feet of wall space and so only parts of the gallery were fully utilised. This has led to us developing new plans for the main gallery room while continuing to exhibit work in the lobby and corridor area.
We also took a significant hit early in the year when a company we were delivering training for went bust owing us rather a lot of money. Not a major disaster but it did cause plans for a second studio location to be put on ice for the time being.
Finally, who can forget the dismal weather which did its utmost to hinder every location event we arranged – or so it seemed.

But on the upside…

We attracted LOTS of new clients for all aspects of the business, from studio hire and courses to photography services. Among our new clients this year were BBC’s Panorama programme and Cirque du Soleil. And we continued a productive working relationship with some wonderful fashion designers (not least Georgina of “Mixidress” fame and corset designer Gillian Wesley)
2012 saw very successful exhibitions by Fotofilia’s two photography clubs – f2 and THE CLUB. Both exhibitions were at Birmingham’s Custard Factory and saw club members pulling together to deliver truly inspirational shows. I’m sure they already know how proud I am of them, but its events like these that really make the training/club side of the business so very rewarding.
Speaking of the clubs, we welcomed some excellent and diverse speakers for both clubs’ meetings as well as arranging some fun practical events throughout the year.
We came up with yet more new and original courses and workshops, with new venues, new models, new tutors (like Julian M Kilsby, Paul Bonning-Tyers and Andrew Jackson) and new equipment. All this alongside the “old favourites” and a growing number of 1-1 tuition sessions.
I’ve had the chance to do a lot more photography myself this year, which is of course what I really love but is a side of the business that has been rather neglected in recent years. There have been some wonderful models, some fun band shoots and the opportunity to photograph people like Pete Williams of Dexys who was a photographer’s dream to work with. I’ve shot everything from fashion to boxing, cakes to yogis, and loved it.
We (along with the ever-wonderful Nettie Edwards) consolidated our position as one of the country’s leading providers of iphoneography courses and workshops as well as running the Birmingham Instagram Group. Exactly what will happen with the BIG in the wake of Instagram’s recent much-publicised dreadful policy decisions remains to be seen but we’ve met some lovely people along the way
In the autumn, designer and photographer George Gavalas joined us at Fotofilia, occupying the (no longer) spare office.
The courses that could no longer be held at the Botanical Gardens were held, in a slightly modified form, at Fotofilia instead and these have proved not only popular but if anything, improved.
And finally, here’s something that happened in the summer that absolutely revived my belief in the goodness of humanity: I was teaching a group in the studio when a family (mom, dad and daughter i think) popped in to see the exhibition. After showing them around briefly I offered them a drink and explained I needed to get back to my group and left them to wander around. When I finished the course, I came out of the studio to find near the door a £10 note with a scribbled note saying “Many thanks. We just wanted to leave a contribution”. Utterly humbled.