Hi, Hola, Bonjour , Ciao , مرحبا, 您好, bok, hei and welcome.

My name is James Murray and I live in London, England but love to go exploring in foreign climates. Coming from a design background I look at photography as an extension of this, recording the lifestyles and architecture that make up are world.

My passion for photography started when I first picked up a film camera (wow I miss the darkroom), capturing the moments of my accident filled childhood. I transferred this passion into my studies mixing in all of my design influences to create my own style.

Architecture and photography are the perfect blend each complementing the other. As a HDR (High Dynamic Range) enthuiast, I use this technique to enrich my images.

I have worked as a photographer since 2010, taking photos of the enviroment that I lived in around London, selling images as artworks and to companies. In 2011 I worked for Disney on their cruise ships with the big mouse himself. Onboard I worked as a portrait and wedding photographer, learning new techniques and feeding my travel bug.

Every photo is a memory; there is no better way to capture it then how you see it, not how the camera sees it.

 

Stacky Theme by Andrew

Looking down onto Malta

Malta was great for photos. The place is so unique and the ship made a great view point to take photos from. This was one time where I didn’t get off the ship. Instead choosing to relax and enjoy the pool while no guests were there.

It seems like I didn’t post a photos on friday. I would put it down to computer error but to be honest it was all me. I would make the excuse of a new job and other blah blah blah excuses that I could make up but I won’t. Instead I will be posting an extra one this week on saturday. Tis also means that I need to go out in London at some point this week as my current supply is running a bit thin. If you want photos of my hand or random person then i’m sorted for qa while but for some this might not be the case.

See you all tomorrow.

Castaway Paradise 

The recent tragedy of the Costa Concordia cruise ship has made me think back to my experience on the Disney Magic. For those of you outside of Europe (or those of you that live in a hole), the cruise ship Costa Concordia owned by Carnival hit a rock off of Italy’s west coast. The ship was sailing from the port of Civitavecchia which is the main port of Rome. The boat I was on done the same journey as this one for 3 months so I know the area well. The death toll currently stands at 11 but there are still many people missing.

I was lucky enough to only have one emergency (but many medical emergancies, a story for another time). We discovered a fire as smoke pored through the ceiling in the atrium where were were taking photos. I won’t bore you with the procedures but basically we told the bridge and had to act like normal. If didn’t help that they announced “red parties”, a code term for fire, over the pa system that meant everyone was asking us what was going on. A fellow photographer said to a 6 year old boy that it meant that we hit a whale to much amusement to everyone around.

In the end the fire team put it out very quickly. It was caused by welding in the room above which set alight an empty stateroom. 

This photo is another from Castaway Cay in the bahamas. You can see the Disney Magic cruise liner in the background docked at the disney island.

Happy New Year Everyone

Ok first things first, Happy new year everyone! I hope you had an eventful new years. Mine consisted of working into the early hours but I did get a front row seat on a Thames boat for the London fireworks. I had never seen the fireworks in person so it was a great sight. Between that and taken me over 3 hours to get home (normally 45 minutes) I had a great time.

Now I guess its the time of year to think of resolutions not to keep (although I fully intend to this year… as always). I want to travel more around the country. I haven’t really travelled outside London in the UK although I have been lucky enough to visit many places abroad. My UK travel record is terrible so first on my list is Wales. It has a great coastline and many national parks that will keep me busy for way more then a week.

Here is a place that we haven’t visited in a while. Key West never had a great sky for photos. No clouds were ever in the sky which might seem perfect for some propel not not for us photographers. I never tried surfing although I think I would be terrible at it.

A Disney Paradise

Who ever knew that it was so hard to post a video. Due to copyright issues to the soundtrack from torn in my time-lapse, some countries are not able to view it. I had to post it on a different sight that you can see here.

Right now onto todays photo. Another from Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas. This jetty is just as you get off the ship on the way to the main part of the resort. You can see the typical Bahamian sky as great as ever.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Smoke at Castaway Cay

The ship never shuts down its engines while it is in port. I have no idea why so perhaps someone out there can tell me. This was taken, like many photos before, at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. You must be getting fed up of pictures from here. I have shown you so many but it really is a paradise island. I had more fun here they any other place we went and got to be here every week while we were in the Caribbean,

Palm Trees in Paradise

Another photo from the Disney Island, Castaway Cay. Many of you have seen lots on images from the bahamas that I have posted that I took on my travels. This is from a place called Pelican Point looking back onto the Disney Magic ship.

It was taken while I was walking up the beach front taking photos of guests as they enjoy themselves on the island. I always carried a separate memory card so I could quickly swap for personal use. I had to be quick on changing to shooting to RAW aswell and not forget to change back which actually happened once.

Deck 9 on the Magic

I had such a great time working on the Disney Magic Cruise Ship. It is an amazing place to work at as you can imagine. Disney does do all things that you thought impossible.

I think HDR is the only way to do the ship justice. It captures all the colour and texture of the surroundings which is made more intense at night.

Crew Members Only

A Photo from the Bahamas today taken on Castaway Cay. For those of you who haven’t been following me that long, this is the private Disney Island. I worked onboard the Disney Magic cruise ship for 6 months visiting all over the Caribbean and Europe.

This was taken at the entrance to the crew beach. I would spend all my off time on the island here. It wasn’t that much (perhaps an hour per visit) but it was the best hour of the week.

Mickey’s Rusty Hand

A sign on Disney’s Castaway Cay. Their private island in the Bahamas. Mickey is doing the Disney point as usual. For anyone that doesn’t know the Disney point is where you use your index and middle finger to point in a direction. It was drilled into us working there, so much so that I still do it now. I don’t think that i will ever loose that part of Disney.

The falling tree.

Still St Thomas on the same beach, same storm.

Just Relax

Here is that 50mm 1.4 in action. It is such a quick lens. Too quick for the Caribbean one might say. It was so relaxing on this beach.

I miss the crew beach. I he highlight of each time there was getting cookies to eat from the restaurant. A simple guilty pleasure I know.

Paradise Steps

Still at the same bar in Cozumel for this shot. Divers would use this area to practice and train beginners but we also used it as a place to swim

This is my favourite image from the Malaysia trip. This was in the same secluded beach. Priceless!