I really enjoyed covering a recent corporate day for Dutch company LeasePlan at the Bedford Autodome hosted by Palmers Sports. All of the party raved about the day and the adrenaline highs they experienced going from off-roaders to go-kart to racing cars and more. Now, it could have been frustrating just recording the day (rather than being involved) but I did get to travel very quickly to the best vantage points around the race tracks! Most of the staff there are clearly frustrated racing drivers and didn’t hesitate to take the corners as quickly as possible to get me there…

It was such a pleasure to meet and shake hands with the great man on his flying visit to Leicester to receive his honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University during degree week. He had a punishing schedule coming from and back to Cape Town in one day but was charming and patient throughout with an infectious laugh. Before joining the rest of the press pack at De Montfort Hall, I spent some time with him at the University Chaplaincy and then on his journey to the David Wilson building for lunch. A BBC radio interviewer had told him earlier that he’ll always be associated with a lower second class degree and he had the good humour to congratulate the graduating students on getting their firsts, two-ones and ‘what people call a Desmond.’  You can see how the Leicester Mercury covered the story here.

I’m pleased that one of my pictures has appeared on the front and inside pages of June/July’s Independent School Magazine. I recently covered a day of events to celebrate Stoneygate College‘s 125th anniversary that included the releasing of 125 blue and white balloons you can see here. It’s a great bit of PR for the school in the leading independent school title and you can the story on page three and full issue here

I was really happy to help out Just Fairtrade and Newenglish Design at their fashion show held at St Martin’s House on Saturday night. Over 200 guest enjoyed the event that showcased the work of local fairtrade designers like Braintree and Patchouli Fair in a fun and refreshing way using ‘real people’ of all ages as models, as well as explaining more about what can be achieved through the fairtrade movement. As well as those above and below you can see the full set of images from the great night here.

Last week I could be found at The Future Network inaugural event at the Curve in Leicester with Newenglish Design. And once more caught on camera when I much prefer to be on the other side! Still, there are times to work. And then times to network… It was a well attended event with some old familiar faces and other new contacts to be made. I look forward to more events for the network to grow, develop and show its different approach.

With my photography hat on, would I have covered it differently? Maybe. I’m a big fan of the reportage approach but might have suggested a few more ‘staged’ shots of networkers together as such events benefit from the combinations of people that come together. These events are all about interaction and engagement – and the more that could be shown, the better.

Better late than never… The Percy Gee building at the University of Leicester was officially opened recently with a high profile ceremony that included VC Bob Burgess, President of the NUS Aaron Porter, lots of mayors and mayoresses and the family of Percy Gee. The event focused on the unveiling of the Touching Pair statue by Deidrie Hubbard and the official opening plaque; and also included team shots of the those involved in the design and construction of the impressive building.

To mark its 125th anniversary celebration, Stoneygate College is holding a number of events including a Gala Ball and, just recently, a Victorian Apprentice competition. Teams of students in the Upper School were given Victorian toys to market and sell to the modern consumer. Apprentice finalist, Jo Riley and her fellow-Apprentice, Sandeesh Samra were advising the teams throughout the day and had the tough task of choosing the eventual winners. Oh and I took the pictures…

Update 11.3.11: You can see the best of the shots from the game here. It was quite entertaining for an 8-0 scoreline and impressive to see some of the ex-players who made it look easy. I enjoyed the shoot but, for the future, must remember not to get too involved in the game and appeal for decisions when I’m meant to be taking pictures!

10.2.11 As a big fan of the show, I was pleased that Nick Osborne Photography got a mention on the latest Spurs Show* podcast by friend and regular Sean Singleton of Skive. I’ve offered to take pictures at the Spurs Legends charity game on Sunday 6th March at Waltham Abbey when they take on the Spurs Show team including Sean and hosts Phil Cornwell and Mike Leigh.

Playing for the Legends team will be Mark Falco, Tony Galvin and Garry Brooke amongst others. Should be a great day, followed by the Spurs vs Wolves game on TV. I’ll post some pictures on the site after the event. COYS.

* You can download the show or subscribe by going to Playback Media or searching for The Spurs Show in iTunes. It comes highly recommend – there aren’t that many football podcasts where you get Mick & Keith impressions thrown in…

The Labour Market Studies event at the University of Leicester welcomed distance learning students at Doctorate level to a series of talks, workshops and seminars (I hope I’ve got that right!). They’d travelled from all parts of the globe and were studying a range of diverse subjects – the Barbados banking system since 1974 stuck in my mind. The event also included a talk by Vice Chancellor Bob Burgess on ‘Exploring Ethnography’, which was a real treat for someone that read his books as part of Sociology ‘O’ level in the dim and distant past…

The main event of the Literary Leicester Festival brought feminist icon, Germaine Greer, to the University of Leicester for a talk on Forty Years of Feminism and Fun, followed up by an unexpected book signing.