One minute he’s in sunny Spain on a photoshoot for the latest name in UK soul, the next he’s at the top of snow-covered Fleetwith Pike, battling 70mph winds to film a video of a singer songwriter playing her piano to promote her new single.

Then there’s the glossy ad work for big name brands such as Reebok, Samsung and Adidas, assignments on Hollywood blockbusters, and commissions for the world-famous fashion house of Alexander McQueen.

Peter Blair and his production company, Hue Media, are involved in a wide range of projects. That’s how he likes it.

Originally from Thursby, he has lived and worked in London for the past two years.

A keen fell runner and rock climber, although he misses the wildness and adventure of his home county, his camera and film career are focussed on London.

He says: “I love it down here. There is definitely a different kind of work to do here and there is so much range.

“I worked in Cumbria for two years and did well, but there were other - of work to do. music and fashion are my two ‘go-tos’ when it comes to work and the amount of opportunity for them in London is really good.

“Before I moved down to London I had not spent more than seven days in a city, no-one really knew what I was doing.”

Developing his career and getting a reputation is quite simple he says: “I was on a job and met other people who told me about some work with [Alexander] McQueen. I started at the bottom and and worked my way up to shooting some videos.

“It is a case of being in the right place at the right time, showing up on time, being a good person and doing a good job.

“It is not a job, it is too much fun to be a job. I love it.”

Organising or taking part in photo shoots isn’t a nine to five job.

The hours can be long and erratic. Peter says: “I never worry about staying up until 4am.

“I was on a shoot a week ago for a Hollywood film and with a full crew from America.

“To keep the actors from getting jetlag, we shot from 1pm until 3am.

“They were only here for two days and they stayed up through the night.”

The film is due out at the start of next year. It’s a psychological thriller, but he can’t say who is in it or what it is called.

Then there’s another short movie with some big-name British actors that is due out at the end of this month, but again he can’t reveal details.

It’s all a long way from his teenage years, which were blighted by chronic fatigue syndrome and meant he had to be home-schooled in by parents Sandra and David.

“I dropped out of school aged 13 because of chronic fatigue syndrome,” he explains. “I have had an incredibly supportive family.”

He managed to get two GCSEs and, after school, landed a range of “random jobs.”

He and a friend would take photos of each other and of other climbers at the Eden Rock climbing wall in Carlisle and they were asked to take pictures of climbing competitions.

He got more requests to take photographs until one day: “I was working in a shop in Keswick, I had a bad day and quit.

“I didn’t have anything lined up, but one or two people asked me to take some pictures, you do a good job and the recommend you to someone else and they recommend you as well.”

His business and skills grew until he decided to move to London.

“It got to the point where I was not going to get anything more out of it. I had a bit of savings and decided to move.”

Without any work or ideas, on just his third day in the capital he met a ‘friend of a friend’ at a climbing wall who was a film maker and took him under his wing.

“It’s great because he does work for me and I do work for him.”

He set up Hue Media two years ago and recently worked on the video and photography for the debut album of soul singer Laville - filming video for some of his songs.

Now 24, Peter’s work can range from that of production assistant to production manager.

He could be helping set up a shoot and arranging the lighting to actually directing the photography or film, or shooting it himself.

“I started as a minor production assistant and worked part time. Since then, I have worked on a couple of films, still shots and short films and worked in advertising for Reebok, Samsung, Adidas, and Arsenal - launching last season’s kit.

“I just try and do a little bit of everything, whether it’s lighting, working as a runner or anything.

“It has been an incredible story of winging it” he laughs.

In the long term, he would love to work in Hollywood.

He recently worked as part of the lighting team on the video for Simmer by soul singer Mahalia. It has been viewed almost eight million times on Youtube.

Earlier this year, he directed and produced the striking video for Penrith singer songwriter Melanie Baker.

It involved hiking up the 2,126ft of Fleetwith Pike with a piano to film her playing in the snow, 70mph winds and the -10C temperatures of an April dawn.

Melanie, told him she wanted a unique video for her single False Fantasies and Peter explained: “We both wanted to do something from where we are from.”

The four-minute film took months of planning and two days to shoot, but Peter is thrilled with the end result. He says: “It was quite an effort. We had to get up at 3am to film at 6am.

“We got the piano up with the help of Honister Slate Mine.”

While he enjoys his life in London, he does miss the opportunities to go climbing and fell running.

He lives in Islington, which doesn’t have a huge range of fells or rock faces to climb.

“I’m still running, but I struggle to run on the flat down here!” he confesses. “I can run faster on a fell than I can on the flat. Hampstead Heath is quite good.

“There’s a hill, but it is nowhere near the fells.”

His girlfriend Holly lives in Sheffield and he visits her regularly and returns to Cumbria every two months or so to get his fix of the fells.

“I love London, but I need the Lakes to stay sane down here. I need the balance to keep my mind and body.”

Peter says he is an example to others that you can still be successful without being academic.

“You can do well using determination and a willingness to work hard. Being somewhere at 4.30 in the morning and ready to go does not get taught at school.”