Over the last year I have visited Askham Hall, near Penrith on a couple of occasions to provide commercial photography.  I have also provided photography services for their pub and restaurant the George & Dragon Clifton too.

During these sessions I have photographed food, interiors, the lovely garden spa, and most recently to a delicious fish dish, set to feature in The Great British Cookbook.

I really enjoy working at both of these venues – Askham Hall is a beautiful old Peel tower, set in glorious gardens overlooking the river Lowther. The George & Dragon pub is an old coachhouse in the nearby village of Clifton – offering lovely food in a relaxed, but very appealing setting.

The main purpose of the shoot was to photograph one particular dish which will be included in The Great British Cookbook.

On arrival I had a chat with chef Richard Swale regarding styling & accessories.  Most of my photography is shot using natural light, so while Richard got on with preparing the dish, I worked out a suitable location in the restaurant that would compliment the food.  We worked on a series on images, before moving onto the final photographs, which included a lovely buttery, foamy sauce (this smelled delicious!).

Once captured, Richard asked if I could take a shot of the kitchen team, to include newly appointed Nicolas Chieze – their Front of House Manager, previously of the Sharrow Bay Country House Hotel.  This was an absolute pleasure – the team at Askham are a friendly bunch, and obviously enjoyed taking a little time out to have photos taken in the grounds of Askham.

Having got the main shots ‘in the bag’ I took the opportunity to capture some imagery of the gardens too.  At tea-time the sun was a little lower in the sky, illuminating some of the flowers beautifully. I particularly enjoyed photographing the alliums, which look like big fat purple pompoms – are are particularly relevant, as the Askham logo is indeed an allium.