Photo news for Cambridge Photographer Phil Mynott over 30 years of Professional experience producing quality photo imaging

This seasonal flame coloured canopy of trees firing up the treeline with flame coloured canopy was captured by camera drone. I took this photo to highlight UK national tree week 2023. A campaign which provides great opportunity to highlight the importance of existing trees and the need to preserve our urban nature. Trees Provide numerous benefits such as cleaning our air and supporting our mental wellbeing - urban trees are vital to a thriving, healthy community and just as important look splended at anytime of the year.

One of the most joyous of all photo assingments, is a shoot I always feel, is a privilege to be on hand with camera to record the emotions once a personal goal has been attained. I've always enjoyed capturing the happiness and relief of a young adult when they are faced with the reality that the next rung up the ladder of future ambitions has been accessed.

Out of the Blue... located alongside the River Cam and Chesterton Road Cambridge are the currently chilly waters of Jesus Green Lido sparkling in the early spring sunshine a quick dip certain to leave any but the hardiest of swimmers blue in the face. The lido opened in 1923 and at 91 metres in length is one of the longest oputdoor pools in the UK. It was designed to mimic swimming in the waters of the river alongside. It is known locally as Jesus Green pool. @philMynott/ Pilot:Terry Holloway

Arrived home from a shoot this afternoon to be informed by a neighbour that HRH Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh had earlier been spotted arriving by helicopter in our village for a low-profile visit to meet Duke of Edinburgh Award participants, as a former participant of DofE I thought it only right to leg it down to the rec , where I arrived just in time to capture the departure.

This is a portrait I took of Betty Boothroyd when she was deputy Speaker of the House of Commons ( She would move on to become the first female speaker of the House of Commons). It was a commissioned portrait taken for a national publication to illustrate a feature about her role. It was created it in the garden of her home in in the South Cambridgeshire village of Thriplow. I opted for a low angle of view so that she was standing over the viewer, my aim was to show how poerful a person in politics she was and as such across the UK as a whole. I used Ilford XP4 film uprated to 800ASA printed on Ilford multi-grade paper. Baroness Boothroyd (Born 8 October 1929, Dewsbury, Died 26 February 2023, Cambridge) was a British politician who served as a member of Parliament for West Bromwich and West Bromwich West from 1973 to 2000. A lifelong member of the Labour Party.

HM Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband Prince Philip, the then Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, open the new Sainsbury Laboratory for Plant Sciences in April 2011. Photos copyright © Phil Mynott Photographer

From time to time I'm asked what's my favourite early morinng or evening light? Answer has to be "both, my choice is dependant on the time of day" . Scientifically there's not any difference in the physics of the light from source although , depending on the time of year, as the day goes along there may be more particles in the air which if enough, can in theory, effect the light between the sun and it's final point of contact. Of course the biggest difference are the opposites of East or West depending on the time of day. This shot was taken early morning, a simple composition which allows the light to be the star.

Already? whilst on this morning's walk there was the realisastion that the seasons are gently changing. You can view more no-commissioned images here.

I enjoy the challenges of conference photography, it's the combination of making the best of the available light - however liminted that may be, along with the story telling process of capturing a series of images which convey the theme of conversation and also the opportunity to study facial expressions and emotions. I took these photographs at a Cambridge Symposium about the repercussions for todays society of Slavery, and Colonialism, in conversation with keynote speaker Sonita Alleyne the Master of Jesus College Cambridge. The conference was one of the events of this year's ongoing celebrations for the centenary of Wesley House, Cambridge.

Feather Light loop the loop, a discarded bird feather takes to the morning breeze, back lit and dancing against the summer sun. You can view more of my non-commissioned Art images - I've created for my own ongoing quest for photographic fulfilment. Some of these images, are now on walls and offices of various workplace environments as 'Art ' prints, as I'm always happy to provide such images to my clients. You can view more of 'ART' photo work by clicking here.

Not being one to rein it in when it comes to creating good photo story oppourtunities, I was first past the post when it came to photographing Two Suffolk-based amateur jockeys, who are in training for a prestigious charity race, when they were given a reminder of the difference they’re making when an Addenbrooke’s cancer nurse used her day off to meet them at a racehorse stable.

Macmillan skin cancer nurse Vicky McMorran went to meet local amateur racers Kerry Humphries, and Lucy Horan, after they were both selected to take part in the 10th Macmillan 'Ride of their Lives' race.

The resulting photographs achieved plenty of column inches in numerous printed press and on line news and specialist publications, hopefully a good omen for both Lucy and Kerry in the 'Ride of their Lives"
Not being one to rein it in when it comes to creating good photo story oppourtunities, I was first past the post when it came to photographing Two Suffolk-based amateur jockeys, who are in training for a prestigious charity race, when they were given a reminder of the difference they’re making when an Addenbrooke’s cancer nurse used her day off to meet them at a racehorse stable.

Macmillan skin cancer nurse Vicky McMorran went to meet local amateur racers Kerry Humphries, and Lucy Horan, after they were both selected to take part in the 10th Macmillan 'Ride of their Lives' race.

The resulting photographs achieved plenty of column inches in numerous printed press and on line news and specialist publications, hopefully a good omen for both Lucy and Kerry in the 'Ride of their Lives"
Not being one to rein it in when it comes to creating good photo story oppourtunities, I was first past the post when it came to photographing Two Suffolk-based amateur jockeys, who are in training for a prestigious charity race, when they were given a reminder of the difference they’re making when an Addenbrooke’s cancer nurse used her day off to meet them at a racehorse stable.

Macmillan skin cancer nurse Vicky McMorran went to meet local amateur racers Kerry Humphries, and Lucy Horan, after they were both selected to take part in the 10th Macmillan 'Ride of their Lives' race.

The resulting photographs achieved plenty of column inches in numerous printed press and on line news and specialist publications, hopefully a good omen for both Lucy and Kerry in the 'Ride of their Lives"

As a professional photographer I go out my way to avoid photo hoarding - it's the term used to describe taking decent photos in a speculative manner then just leaving them archived in your own archives for no one else to view, a far too common occourrence in these digital days of a trillion photos worldwide and counting. Fotunately for me the term photo hoarding is about to be transformed into an exciting outdoor gallery of super sized images.

The Castiglione family owners of the Maypole Inn freehouse located in the historic core in the cetre of Cambridge have commissioned me to create 22 photographs of 'a walk through Cambridge' which will be displayed on a tempoary hoarding between their premises and a neighbouring construction site.

Despite it being a cold I was more than agreeable to meet with Anastasia to discuss the finer details and measure up for the mammoth quality prints which will be printed and mounted by Create signs - I've had the pleasure of my photos being turned into works of art by Eddie Watson and Craig Parmenterwho own Create Signs for many a year now , so I'm quietly confident the final gallery when hung will look stunning.

The new district of Cambridge City, Eddington has the appearance of being located on a peninsula in this shot as a result of sunlight and a gap in the clouds. I shot this image, earlier this week, during an air to ground photo shoot from a fixed wing aircraft. I'm always happy to discuss futiure photo assingments of a similar nature with clients.

Back'light-footed' prance .. When's the best time of day to capture the best light is a question I've been asked a few times over the years. At the risk of sounding a 'smarty pants' I usually reply "now". Because you never really know if you will catch the same composition if you wait a while for another day and hour.
Photography for me, is a profession where any regular daily routine and same location is a rarity, having said that, there are times when habit and familiarity is useful in photography. For example this shot of the backlit prancing dog, only happened as I know that every day he runs across this bridge to catch up with me and I also know at this time of year the sun rise, when there's few clouds about, can produce this glorious back lit effect on the bridge - so putting the two together I knew I stood a good chance of grabbing this pleasing shot.

It was up, up and away for me this morning doing some air to ground photography. When it comes to aerial photography I much prefer the hanging out of a fixed wing aircraft approach, rather than the drone approach, it's always a team effort and good results can only be achieved with a pre=flight briefing followed by concise inflight communication between photographer and pilot. Aircraft means we can go places drones aren't allowed we can also chase the sun and avoid the couds - although sometimes I will ask pilot Terry Holloway ( with whom I've been flying on photo missions since the mid 1990's) to circle and come around again so we time it so that I can use the shadows of the clouds on the ground to frame my main point of focus. Today's autumnal angle of sunlight created a 'picking out' effect with the shadows of the many visible raised human made structures and natural subjects - I rather like this shot of a unusually traffic free monday mid-morning Junction 25 of the A14 - this photograph makes it appear more like an architects model or a model car layout rather than the harcore trunk road it is.

To continue my forty years as a priofessional photographer rectrospective - photo'versary theme, here's a not very comprehensive list of some of the better known names I have photographed during the recent 4 decades. To make the list - I decided that all the names included had to be photo subjects where the shoot has been a one to one at some point throught our meeting and that I had to have been the sole photographer in the room and as such I had enjoed a conversation with the hoto subject, also I remember the shoot clearly. Which is why HM Queen Elizabeth II is not included - despite having photographed her mutiple times. The list is far from comprehensive, it's sole aim is to, hopefully, point at some the fun I've enoyed over the first part of my career, so here goes in no logiacal order :

Maurice Gibb, Kevin keegan, George Best, Chris Boardman, Paul Young, John Peel, John Major, Steve Wright, Simon Mayo, Johnnie Walker, Wayne Sleep, Princess Diana, Al Gore, Jane Asher, Kenneth Clarke, Gordon Brown, Roy Castle,Robin Day, Ronald Reagan, John Simpson, Linford Christie, Sally Gunnell, Fatime Whitbread, Paula Radcliffe, Lester Piggott, Franike Dettori, Marti Caine, Marti Pellow, Daley Thompson, Margaret Thatcher, Yehudi Menuhin, Will Carling, Terry Whaite, John McCarthy, Judith Chalmers, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett, John Brown, Chris Evans, Neil Kinnock, Michael Crawford, Ron Atkinson, Christopher Biggins, Ross Kemp, Frank Bruno, William and Kate, Willie Thorne, Linda Robson, Griff Rhys-Jones, Pauline Quirk, Charlton Heston, Suzanne Dando, Mary Archer, Jeffrey Archer, John Prescott, Pete Postlewaite, Gladiator Jet, David Jason, Barbara Knox, Douglas Hume, Norman Lemont, David Steel, Paddy Ashdown, Willam Hague, Debbie McGee, Patrick Moore, Colin Pilger, Michael Foale, Peter Purvis, Gary Newman, Cherie Blair, Norma Major, Betty Boothroyd, Virginia Bottomley, Dion Dublin, Tony Hadley, Hale & Pace, Johnny Biggs, Mark Thatcher, Anna Karen, Linda Lusardi, David Coleman, Bill Beaumont, Glenyis Kinnock, Lenard Bernstein, Cynthia Payne, James Watson, Ian Botham, Bill Wyman, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Jones, Tom Robinson, Al Stewart, Roy Orbison, Prince Philip, Evelyn Glennie, David Icke, Duke of Westminster, Dick Strawbridge, Eddie the Eagle, Angela Griffin, Leslie Grantham, Maurice Wilks, Arthur Marshall, Gary Webster, Keith Castle, Ben Hardwick, Germaine Greer, Ranulph Fiennes, Henry Cecil, Steve Cauthen, Duncan Goodhugh, Sharo Davis, Stephen Hawking, Jools Holland, Geoffrey Howe, Mike Burrows, Hazel Blears, Patrica Hewitt, John Gummer, Barbara Cassandra, Prince Edward, Alan Sugar, Wen Jabao, Koo Stark, David Bellamy, Michael Barrymoore, Red Rum, Prue Leith, Rufus Wainwright III, Mick Cave, Jeff Banks, Anglea Hartnett, Prunella Scales, Mike Reed, Rowan Williams, Sonia O’Sullivan, Victor Spinetti, Tommy Walsh, Robert Swann, Gerald Ratner, Jerry Greenfield, Edward Bono, Jacqueline Gold, Alistair Campbell, Al Murray, Terrence English, Deidre Saunders, Fu Ying, Louis Smith, Victoria Pendleton, Karen Brady, Glen Torpy, David king, Charlie Luxton, Frances Pym, Levi Roots, Derek Jameson, Jamie Cullum, Ravi Bopara, Suzie Quatro, Trevor Nunn, Bill Gates, The Aga Khan, Shirley Williams, Wayne Hemingway, Sandi Toksvig, Michael Portillo, Jacqueline Wilson, Lady Hale, Albie Sachs, Helena Kennedy, Mark Elder, Warwick Davies, Heinz Wolff, Joan Bakewell, Ed Balls, Nick Clegg, Karan Billimoria, Nicholas Crane, Lucy Worsley, Greg Winter, Princess Takamado, Michael Morpurgo, Hugh Laurie, Tony Blair, Fred Dibnah, Richard and Judy, George Clarke, Lady Butler-Sloss,

... to be continued.


Portraits from left : Mary Archer, Yehudi Menuhin and Betty Boothroyd.

Forty years ago today I began my photography career. August 3rd 1981, aged 16 (pictured insert) I strolled into 10 Milton Rd, Cambridge and what a career to date it has been. I turned down the offer of unconditional entry (which had been offered to me simply on the basis that I was my secondary school's Head boy- rather than for academic reasons - what simple times I grew up in) to both of the local Sixth Forms, many thought I was mad, but I wanted to follow my heart and turn my photography hobby - caught from both my parents - into a career.
Due to my particpation in The Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme, I was very lucky to have been offered a £30 per week, three year indentured apprenticeship with the highly regarded Cambridge based photographer Michael Manni, and his wife Chris who ran the business side of things - occassionally Chris would support me when the boss gave me a well-deserved b***ing!, Mike and Chris employed a team of other photographers and photo technicians all of whom generously mentored me in all things photography and about the confusions surrounding life when growing into adulthood.
For the first six months it was hard work, long hours and to be honest unsatisfying as I wasn't allowed much access to cameras and was confined to the wet processes of the darkroom and hand printing other photographer's pictures, the only time I was allowed to see daylight was when required to lug the heavy camera gear and lighting - but what a great way to learn about lighting and composition by focusing on other people’s work.
Then bit by bit my boss allowed me out of the darkroom to cover less important shoots for clients - once or twice I made a mess of things, but they were all amazingly forgiving and patient. Gradually I mastered a complex ever-wider range of jobs- photographing shop floors in factories, making dull looking stuff look exciting, social events and press jobs for the national press - such as the pitch invasion at Cambridge United posted here. Whatever the assignment was I soon realised the one element I relished most was the interaction with people - something I believe is still very much the main draw of photography for me to this day.
I still remember the great feeling of pride and the thrill I experienced the first time I saw one of photos on the front page of several major national newspapers on the same morning - it was as good I'm certain as that felt by a gold medal winning Olympian.
Fast forward to today and I'm so grateful to have the career I have enjoyed to date, the many people I've met and worked for and with. So many of you have helped and supported me over the years - I've no idea why you keep booking me but a big thank you to you all - and to my wife Jane (RIP) whom although no longer with us was the key to us setting up our own business (prior to which I was for 6 years a senior press photographer at the then much respected award-winning Cambridge evening News).
A big thank you to Francine who despite running her own SME, now that I'm trading as a sole trader, has become if somewhat unplanned, my new unofficial advisor 'line manager'.
I will, throughout this month, try to make the time to post some highlights of the first 40 years of my photography career - based solely in the Cambridge UK area (how’s that for a geographical lack of career ambition).
Perhaps, one day I will - to use the expressions often said to me - get a 'proper job' but until then I'm more than happy to keep ‘just pointing a camera and snapping' .
Thank you all and it is now time for you all look this way and smile.

I was commissioned to photograph the new sculpture by artist Matthew Darbyshire that has been installed outside Cambridge North station. It depicts Greco-Roman deities Hercules and Galatea and is intended to challenge traditional perceptions. Galatea is shown as the “strong, dynamic and empowered figure challenging Hercules, who is sculpted to appear rigid and dated”.

The Joy of photographing sculpture is that usually it is static and rooted firnly in one position, which means I can revisit the location at various times over a full day, or if required days, to watch the light changes photographing the art in the light best suited for that each piece of public art.

'always look for a different angle of view whatever the subject' was instilled in me at the beginning of my photography career by my then mentors, something I've held true over the last four decades. So when this London Eye looking ferris wheel ‘landed’ on Parker’s Piece Cambridge rather than take the cliche shot of it close up I decided to bide my time and see if an alternative view point would come my way. My self-control was rewarded a few days later when a corporate photo assignment location offered me this shot. It shows the greenness of Cambridge and also has a War of Worlds type feel to it, Is the wheel unattached and rolling free? Has the natural environment overgrown an abandoned piece of engineering?