I got tagged on by Nelly Nero the other day to write some facts about myself. I thought it might be fun, despite me being quite boring. I wrote a list on Flickr, and thought it might be good to post them on here as well, along with a new(ish) self portrait. Anyway, here goes…

1: I have been into Photography literally for my whole life. We used to have a dark room in our loft at home, and I used to help my Dad with printing when I was a kid. I really didn’t utilise it as much as I should have. That’s one of my biggest regrets, but being up there with my Dad is one of my happiest memories.

2: I have a degree in Illustration which I did at Herefordshire College of Art. Best three years of my life – and I constantly miss those days. So much fun. I love Illustration and Graphic Design, and they are both a massive inspiration to me. I still do my own illustration work, and I would love to do some more commissions in the future. Some of my favourite, most inspiring Illustrators include Tim Marrs, Kate Miller and Laura Quick.

3: I am a pretty obsessive music fan as well. I like a whole range of stuff from acts like Tool through to Jurassic 5, but there’s certain bands who I have a maniacal devotion for. My top three would be Manic Street Preachers, The Tragically Hip and Wintersleep. I have gone out of my way to see all three live, which has included travelling into Europe and the US.

4: Other than Photography, Illustration and Music my life and imagination is occupied by climbing. I totally love it, especially bouldering. I love travelling to experience different climbing spots around the world. Last year I went on a two month road trip around America to climb at some classic spots like Yosemite, Bishop, Hueco Tanks and Joe’s Valley. It was incredible, and I really want to go back! I’ve also been to Fontainebleau in France many times – arguably the greatest bouldering spot in the world! I also really hope to get out to Thailand and Rocklands in South Africa in the future. I also run a climbing website/blog with my mate: www.b2climbing.com – We make amateur climbing films of our exploits on the rocks. It’s great fun!

5: I live in South London with my Girlfriend. Her name is Snooky (yes, that is her real name) and she’s great. When I was at Uni I always vowed that I’d never live and/or work in London, until I got a job here. Now I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love it here. I am also quite fickle.

6: Incase you haven’t already worked out. I have an incredibly obsessive personality. When something sparks my interest I get totally engrossed in it. Some things last, others don’t, but I feel I have to try and learn as much as possible about the chosen subject. I also think this is why I would never do drugs or smoke. I definitely think it’s a good way to be though. Everyone should have something which they feel totally passionate about.

7: My only “phobia” to speak of, is when potatoes get those horrible sprouts in them! I absolutely hate that!

…That’s pretty much me. I can’t really think of anything else which is even remotely interesting. If you made it this far, well done! Thanks for reading.

Victoria Embankment, originally uploaded by Ben Grubb.

Shortly before Christmas, my Dad and Sister came up to London to spend a day with me trekking round taking shots for Hannah’s Uni project. I’m not sure (at time of writing) that her brief has been finalised, but she wanted to base part of it around London based imagery. So, we headed out into a sunny but very cold London to take in some of the sights. I wasn’t born in London, so I guess technically it’s not my “hometown” but I have lived here for about three years now, and it definitely feels like home to me. I have made a real effort to get out and see a lot of the sights around the city, and being a photographer I’m motivated to get out there and capture it! Although I live up here, whenever I’m out with my camera I can’t help but feel like something of a tourist, and that was especially true when Dad and Hannah were with me too. We visited a lot of places that I’ve been to before, either by myself or with Amy or Phil, but I find it good to try and revisit places and try and get a shot which you didn’t notice before, and force yourself to experiment. Anyway, we had a really successful day, and covered a lot of ground! I got a small set of really great shots which was great, and they also gave me more of a chance to experiment with the Photoshop actions which I’ve written about before. I hope there’s a lot more to come!

Happy New Year, originally uploaded by Ben Grubb.

Hello all. Happy New Year and all that! I hope you had a good one, and 2010 has started off well for you. We took a trip to Fontainebleau in France to see in the New Year. Sadly, we pretty much got rained off on all but one of the climbing days, but we still had fun. It’s always risky heading down there at that time of year, but it was worth it.

So, that’s 2009 dispensed with, and I for one am pretty glad really. Obviously, there’s ups and downs in every year, but looking back objectively, there definitely seemed to be more down than up. The big turning point was (fairly obviously) getting made redundant in March. This basically shook up my life hugely, and I’m still feeling the effects from it hugely. I never expected to still be out of (full time) employment by the time 2010 rolled around, but here I am. I had no idea how hard it would be to get in somewhere else, and it’s a lesson I’m learning the hard way. Although my last job wasn’t perfect, I’m incredibly grateful that I got it. I made some fantastic friends, learned a lot and got some valuable professional experience on my CV. I really don’t know where I’m be without all that. I’d be lying if leaving there the way I did was how I expected (or wanted) it to happen, but sometimes you need to have the rug pulled for under you – and rugless was exactly how I ended up.

As shocking as all this was, it did of course mean that I got to go to America for two months, which is something I wouldn’t have changed for the world. That trip for me was the very peak of the year, and maybe it’s because that was so great that the low points felt even lower. I’ve spent many a rainy Wednesday afternoon at home, staring ta rejection emails and wishing I was back in Bishop or Hueco Tanks. All good things have to come to an end I guess, and I’m hugely grateful to Snoo, Ashby and especially Benny for making the trip so great and giving me someone to share it with. It was definitely a trip of a lifetime, but I just hope that it is actually possible to have more than one trip of a life time. I hate to think that I’d never be able to have something like that again…

I have made a decision about where I want to take things though. It’s becoming increasingly apparent to me that I should be doing photography for a living. I shot my first wedding in September, and I loved it! I was really nervous, wasn’t sure how I’d get on with it, but it turned out to be great. Big thanks for Lee & Chloe for taking a chance on me on their big day, and luckily they seem to be as happy with the results as I am. I have a couple more lined up for this year, and I’m really looking forward to them – I’m certainly keen to do more as well. I need to get my act together and become better at the gritty world of self promotion now – something I’ve never been good at, but it’s time to start.

It wasn’t a terrible year by any stretch of the imagination, but in all honesty I am glad to see the back of 2009, and sincerely hope that 2010 is better. Aside from everything I’ve mentioned above, I do have a few resolutions which I’m actually quite excited about. I’m looking to get myself a new fixie bike once we’ve sorted out where in the flat we can store them. This is partly to get around town easier, but also to try and lose some weight and body fat to help with climbing. I’m still trying to finalise a tick list for 2010, but I’m more psyched than ever to really try and push myself with my climbing this year. I’m still unsure of the specifics, but I’d definitely like to get some classic Font 7a’s ticked, as well as some stuff in The Peaks. There’s also routes at Bowles which I can’t wait to get back on when we get some good weather. I’ll keep you posted.

So, there you go. Sorry for the self indulgent post, but it feels good to get something down in writing. It’ll be good to look back on this come this time in 2011. If you read this far, I applaud you! But, enough about me: How was 2009 for everyone else? I’d be interested to know. Have a good one!