Hi you've a few ways of taking ing cuttings,
Ive four redrobin hedges and one i let grow 20 feet high as a feature in the back border and its a very simple task to do the cutting natures way by whats called layering,

All you do is to cover a bottom (nearest to the ground as possible) new twig ,
Do this so the twig is covered with soil in the middle section so you still have 3/4 inch sticking out at the end,
So you've the twig attached to the tree, then the middle of the same twig is underground covered by soil 2 inch covering and the twig held down via a peg "wider than the twig to stop the twig escaping, and the rest of the same twig continues to be above ground enjoying all it can see
"light and recieve "water".

What happens is the under ground section of the twig grows roots and after a few months this twig can be detached from the main tree and potted on,
in time (photinia do take time to really start to grow)
you'll have a small plant to grow on.

It's how nature grows a lot of her plants/shrubs /trees.

Hi Tom, if you want to learn how to take cuttings scroll down to the alphabet at the bottom of the page, choose C then cuttings, you will find lots of helpful advice, questions and photo's there.