Backstage Nicholas Oakwell Couture

This is a very small taster of my photos backstage at the recent Nicholas Oakwell Couture show for SS12. A beautiful array of gold, diamonds, feathers and some very big hair! Some great reviews including this one on Vogue.com.

Angelika

I stumbled across Angelika Grohmann yesterday in London Fields on my way back from a shoot. She was talking to her friend in the beautiful frosty afternoon sun and I was compelled to ask her could I take her photo. Turns out she is a Yoga teacher at Yoga Body of Light. Her friend Rachel King kindly emailed me later to give me all Angelika's details and described the day as having had 'such beautiful air and light'. A lovely way of summing up exactly what I had been thinking as I walked across the park on what was supposedly the most depressing day of the year!

Jeni's Roast Dinner

Yesterday I ventured to Hither Green for a Roast at my friend Jeni's new house. Checking out her blog 'Surfing the Silver Spoon' may give you a clue that Jeni is an amazing cook. Above is her beautiful roast beef, purchased that morning from Blackheath market. But the star of the show was the fresh horseradish sauce, made from scratch by her own fair hand. And to think I laughed at her making her own mayonnaise! Dessert was courtesy of Ginny and her famous Chocolate Hazelnut Gateau.

East London Feature in Virgin Australia's 'Voyeur' Magazine

This is a my East London feature in December issue of Virgin Australia's 'Voyeur' Magazine. It was lovely to have a reason to photograph my area and its coolest places such as the Albion Cafe, Les Trois Garcons, Lounge Lover, Village Underground and the amazing 40 Winks Hotel.

Cathcart Christmas Party

Legendary Cathcart Christmas Party courtesy of Rosie and starring her curried eggs, poached trout, cinnamon pavlova and Black Forest Roulade, made from my Auntie Marion's recipe in her book 'The Egg Cookbook'.

Vogue UK Shoot Production

I was brought back to my Photo Editor days when I recently covered for Mike Trow doing shoot production on Vogue UK. An amazing experience. Check out the January edition out now to see the shoot I organised above of Tali Lennox (Annie Lennox's daughter) and her father Uri Fructmann. This was shot in LA by David Mushegain, who by a stroke of luck collected vintage cars and had this unbelievable old school bus painted in rainbows which was perfect for the road trip/Burning Man festival theme.

For the Dec issue I organsied the above shoot of Jessica Ennis shot by Jason Bell up in Sheffield. Lets just say I am now very familiar with every rock formation in the Peak District in the research to find this perfect 'rock with epic background' at Higger Tor.

MEATliquor, Welbeck and Henrietta, London

The crazy busy, slightly too cool MEATliquor. We were debating if it may be a good place to take a date? On the one hand its so dark you can hide any blemishes you may have, it's so loud you don't really have to bother making conversation, but eating their burgers is so messy that it may not be the most attractive thing having them drip down your face. I think you will be so happy to be in there and not in the Queue though, that all experiences are enhanced.  The deep fried pickles are worth it alone. Also pictured above is the off menu 'Crack Pie', apparently favoured by models as their staple diet.

Address: Welbeck & Henrietta, London, W16 0BA

www.helencathcart.com

Soif Restaurant - Battersea Rise

Yes, I ventured all the way south of the river to photograph Soif restaurant, a new offering with a french feel from the creators of Terriors and Brawn. The beautiful food above which looks like a piece of art, was the starter of black pudding with chargrilled squid created for me by Executive Chef Ed Wilson.

Address: 27 Battersea Rise, SW11 1HG

www.helencathcart.com

Medcalf Restaurant - Exmouth Market

I photographed Medcalf Restaurant recently for an East London food story I was pitching. They kindly cooked me their famous Bavette Steak with horseradish, which was amazing. It has some great traditional British dishes with a modern simple twist. Exmouth Market is a really interesting place at the moment with lots of lovely restaurants, bars and independant shops. The wonderful 'Caravan' is also here.

www.helencathcart.com

Copita Time Out

I photographed 'Copita' recently for Time Out Magazine. A new Tapas restaurant in Soho on 26 D'Arblay Street. The dishes were amazing. Pictured above are the razor clams, anchovy fillet with broadbean ice cream, baked duck egg with girolles and my favourite the Ajo blanco - Andalucian white soup made from almonds with a hint of garlic and roasted beetroot.

www.helencathcart.com

Le Cool Cover

Bit slow in putting this up but this was my Le Cool newsletter cover shot. If you are not already subscribed, do so! They asked me to contribute myinterpretation of London so I went out to Columbia Road flower marketand photographed my beautiful sister Lilee who epitomises London cool.

Jen's Chocolate Cherry Cake

A beautiful creation by my sister Jen, baker extraodinaire, made especially for me on my recent trip home to Ireland. We won't tell anyone that she dropped the first one on the floor taking it out of the oven.

A little picnic shoot in the garden

Roast chicken on sourdough bread with whole grain 
mustard, Camembert, watercress and cherry tomatoes

Blackberries, raspberries and blueberries with 
creme fraiche and toasted almonds

Smoked Salmon and 
Asparagus Quiche