November 2011 Colour Calibration course, London, UK

Michelle travelled to London to attend a colour calibration course with award-winning photography experts and suppliers, Grays of Westminster. This was a great opportunity, knowing the vital importance of colour calibrations in the post-production process of digital photography. The course covered information on calibrations for cameras, monitors and printers, and the benefits of the Datacolor Spydercheckr.

November 2011 Press lunch at The Savoy, London, UK

Whilst in London Michelle also attended a press lunch at The Savoy Hotel, where she met Sue Lowry, Managing Director of Magellan PR. This public relations companyhas an excellent reputation in the PR industry for its ongoing work in social media. The Savoy reopened in October 2010 following a £220 million renovation, and it certainly looked spectacular; everything was perfect, from the traditional English tea in china teacups to the French champagne served in the finest crystal flutes. A delight!

November 2011 The Kensington Hotel, London, UK

Whilst in London Michelle stayed at the Kensington Hotel. This hotel has style and comfort; unusually, although it has a central location, it feels authentically suburban; the design and ambience create the impression that you are not really in the city. The abundance of fresh flowers, cute teddy bears in each room, four-poster beds and free-standing bath tubs were the perfect homely touches, with a dash of traditional British elegance.

Michelle also had the chance to meet Robert Russell from the Doyle Collection (a group of 11 luxury hotels in six cities across the USA, UK and Ireland). Robert is a master of Twitter and a shining example of how hotels can run their online marketing and social media.

November 2011 Visit to the private members’ Groucho Club, London, UK

Founded in 1985, the Groucho is a club for the media, situated in the heart of bohemian Soho. Michelle was a guest of publisher Robert Palmer and author Alan Clarke. It was a real treat to eat traditional yet ever-so-hip and trendy fish, chips and mushy peas London-style. Michelle loved the hustle and bustle and the history of the club – you could almost smell the stories evolving by the minute.

November 2011 Andreas Augustin, London, UK

In November Michelle also met with Andreas Augustin, president of The Most Famous Hotels in the World. As Michelle is an associate photographer for The Most Famous Hotels in the World, she always enjoys catching up with Andreas in person. Whilst in London Andreas commissioned Michelle to shoot portraits of the General Manager of the Park Lane Hilton, Michael Shepherd, for an upcoming book on the hotel.

November 2011 Mandarin Oriental London, UK

The Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge is one of the most fabulous top-notch hotels in the city, with a dining room looking out onto Hyde Park. You can actually see the Horse Guards passing through the dining room, walking out of the main lobby, crossing the road into Harrods, going round the corner to Harvey Nichols, or to Heston Blumenthal’s restaurant Dinner – the hotel itself is home to one of the best restaurants in the area.

Michelle spoke with resident manager Jill Goh, former resident manager of the Mandarin Oriental Singapore, which Michelle has photographed; it was a pleasure to catch up with Jill in her new role.

November 2011 Tate Britain, London, UK

While in London Michelle also paid a visit to the Tate Britain, to meet Head of Photography David Clark. She had very interesting conversation with David regarding the conservation of digital versus traditional film imagery and the issues the industry is facing in this area with the rapid increase of digital photography. David and Michelle also talked extensively about the forthcoming Picasso exhibition.

Later over at the Tate Modern Gerhard Richter’s photographs of clouds and seascapes particularly inspired her. As a photographer it was breathtaking for Michelle to stand in front of the huge images by this contemporary artist.

November 2011 New arrivals terminal at Gibraltar Airport

To top off her London trip, on her return journey Michelle was able to pass through the brand new arrivals terminal at Gibraltar airport and yes, of course, capture a few stock images!