Exercise 11: Standing Back

For this exercise I used mainly a 100-400 with occasional use of the G10 compact on zoom. I have used images from three different situations: an outdoor music concert, a visit to London and a friend's wedding.
These first images were taken during a beer and music festival weekend at Hartington Hall Youth Hostel in Derbyshire this July. I was keen to take some pictures of the two bands that were playing. The 100 - 400 was ideal for this as I could stand well back and not be intrusive and still isolate individual band members. The concerts were in the evening, however, so
fading light was somewhat of a problem in that shutter speeds were very slow, even at wide apertures. I had to use high ISO settings of 1600 and 3200 so noise was also a problem. I anticipated this and had already decided to do a black and white conversion in order to try and recreate the grainy film effect of music club photography. Despite being a non smoker smoke drifting up would have enhanced this effect.



In order to compensate for slow shutter speeds I used a monopod which I felt would be less noticeable than a tripod.
























Here the guitaist and vocalist loses himself in his music.












The drummer in both bands was the most difficult to get acceptable pictures of. They seem to move a great deal and many shots were too blurred to be of use.










I like the positioning of this guitarist in the second band.












Again the drummer was difficult to get acceptable images of.













I cropped this image to highlight the use of the harmonica.











In this picture the young (and talented) guitarist and lead vocalist is giving his all.












During the concert I took pictures of the audience enjoying the music and was fascinated by their different reactions to it. I decided not to covert these to black and white and have selected images with least noise. I like this picture of the couple swinging to the 'cool tunes' of the first band who played fairly laid back jazz.








This person appeared to be more interested in the beer aspect of the evening!











I think that this lady may have been more interested in me than the band - something I am alsways conscious of in this type of photography.











A look of concentration here as she enjoys the music.













I like this photograph of the man enjoying his pipe and conversation with friends. This shot highlights one of the problems of using long lenses in that occasionally people, or bits of them, get in the way of the shot you would like.








This man is really concentrating on the music.












Towards the end of July we had a day in London. I used the Canon G10 to take this picture on full zoom from across the road. This enabled me to get a shot that wasn't looking upwards and also free of pedestrians and onlookers.









Another Canon G10 shot on full zoom enabling me to get a picture of these policeman outside the Houses of Parliament that perhaps wouldn't have otherwise been possible.









A shot with the Canon G10 at mid zoom to take these street musicians.











Towards the end of August we went to the wedding of the daughter of some close friends. I was asked if I would take the informal photographs at the reception in their garden. For some of the shots I used the 100-400 lens. I found this very useful for isolating individuals from the crowd without being obtrusive.


































































I love the picture of this bridesmaid who appears to be a world of her own.






































Using telephoto lenses is useful as it is possible to stand well back and not be noticed. They also make it easier to isloate individuals and can render a busy background pleasantly out of focus. Some of the problems I have mentioned above. Other people can get in the way of the shot and low light brings with it the challenge of slow shutter speeds. high ISOs and associated increased noise levels.

Exercise 10: Moment and Gesture

I have enjoyed this exercise and get a great deal of satisfaction out of capturing the 'decisive moment' but have had as many if not more failures as success.



I recently took photographs at the wedding of the daughter of a friend of ours. I noticed one of the young bridesmaids blowing bubbles and took a series of shots attempting to capture the moment of bubble release. I am pleased with shot and like her expression as she gazes at the bubbles.







A neighbour and close friend of ours is a tree surgeon and I maintain a feeding station down there for some of my bird photography . I also enjoy photographing the life of the woodyard. In this picture I wanted to capture Stuart log splitting. I wanted the maul to be at the top of the swing and I also chose to use a slow shutter speed to give an impression of movement. I am pleased with this picture but I had to take a lot of shots with the camera set to continuous in order to capture the effect I desired.




In the photograph on the left I had been photographing my daughter whilst we were on holiday in Biarritz in the summer. I didn't have any particular effect in mind just a pleasing portrait. She decided to have some fun and I love the expression that I caught.

In the picture on the right we had been watching the surfers (who were better than we were!!!) and Beth was running in and out of the surf having great fun. I stood well back with my 100-400 zoom and photographed her unawares and I think that this is a super natural expression for a young lady who doesn't enjoy being photographed.











These were the surfers that we were watching above and that is what I had gone to take pictures of. I had in mind a classic surfing action shot and to this end I took many images with the camera set to continuous. Many were failures but several were just what I had envisaged with that decisive moment captured perfectly. The picture below right pleases me as it shows the relaxed but tired surfer in a reflective attitude at the end of a good session.













My daughter again. This time an opportunistic shot that again captures a super expression of her having fun with her brother who is out of shot.











The following three pictures were taken on a recent school visit from my wife's school where I was helping as a volunteer. I took these two pictures of Alan, the Deputy Head at lunch time. They are both examples of times when the decisive moment has just been missed. In the left had shot I have caught him with an unfortunate expression and in the second although in some ways I have captured the moment he probably wouldn't appreciate a picture of him about to put a crisp in his mouth. I am more pleased with the picture below of one of my wife's pupils playing on a swing. I had taken lots of similar images but was happy with this one where she is at the apex of the swing.

In the following pictures I had been fortunate enough to be able to watch and photograph the Tour de France. The first two pictures are taken during the prologue time trial and I happened to be standing at the spot where there was the only crash of the day. I had been photographing each rider as he came past with the camera set to continuous and each time managed two or three shots as they passed in front of me. As Stuart O'Grady came by he hit one of the central barriers and came off his bike. These two pictures show the sequence of the accident. Fortunately he was fine and climbed back on to finish the race. A case of being in the right place at the right time.

After the prologue we went on holiday to France and managed to watch two more stages of the race. 'The Devil' on the left is a well-known character of the race and I was able to take some portraits of him. Shortly before the race came through he performed his 'act' for the television cameras and I was able to capture the moment. I could see it about to happen and so was prepared for it. Even though it is a distant shot I think that it captures the essence of watching Le Tour!

This is a shot as the lead group come through and I was able to take only a short series of shots as the action is over in seconds. I was fortunate to capture the moment when Michael Boogerd looks round to study the faces of his breakaway rivals before attacking and making a dash for the finish.




In this shot the main peleton come through and again there was only a few seconds to capture the right moment. Here I have them as they spread out across the road and with none of the lead cars or other spectators too much in the frame - always a problem.

This final shot of Frank Schleck was taken during the final time trial of the race. I had been photographing the riders all day taking some time to judge the correct moment to press the shutter so that the rider was correctly positioned in the frame. Here I have caught it just right and I like his expression which is a mixture of pain and concentration.

Exercise 9: A Comfortable Situation

For this exercise I decided to visit Lincoln on a pleasant day during July this year. Lincoln is always busy with locals and tourists and I thought, correctly that the fine weather would encourage large numbers of visitors. I chose to concentrate on the old part of the city round the cathedral and Steep Hill, the main thoroughfare from the shopping centre up to the cathedral, as it would be busy with tourists. I felt quite comfortable in this setting as it would be easy to appear to be photographing the tourist sites while actually taking photographs of people. I also chose to use my canon G10 compact as it would be less obtrusive than a large DSLR with a large zoom lens.

In the above pictures I felt very comfortable taking the picture of the couple looking in the window and they are completely unaware of the camera and concentrating on the shop window. The gentleman in the centre image is, I think unaware of the camera but his head is turned to one side and the picture is missing something. I like the image on the right of the couple talking. They look very relaxed and it is nearly possible to feel part of their day.

The ladies in the left hand image above are engrossed in their conversation and not aware that they are being photographed. The young man in the centre image is also unaware but I have caught him in an unflattering pose. I really like the photograph of the three boys sitting on the bench talking. I wonder what they are looking at?

In the two left hand images the subjects do not seem to be aware of the camera and are involved in their own activities. In the right image, however, I think that this father and daughter (?) are aware that they are in the picture but they appear not to mind and to be totally relaxed.

The gentleman above may be aware of the camera and I do not feel he looks comfortable at all.

The images below were all taken on the same day during the interval of a concert at Lincoln's Drill Hall. All of the subjects are engrossed in conversation, presumably about the concert, and all look relaxed. I certainly felt comfortable taking these pictures.

This was an interesting exercise and one which I enjoyed. Although I felt in a comfortable situation, it was always at the back of my mind that someone might object and this is somewhat unsettling. All of these people were complete strangers that I have met before.

Don McCullin - In England, National Media Museum

"Don McCullin is one of Britain's greatest photographers. He has travelled the world, capturing raw powerful inages of war, famine and disaster but throughout his career he has also photographed his own country. This exhibition presents McCullin's portrait of England created over 50 years. It is a dark, often uncomfortable vision of a nation divided where the gulf between rich and poor remains as defined as ever. However, McCullin balances his anger at social injustice with great humanity, compassion, lyricism and occassional humour." (National Media Museum)

I love McCullin's work in this exhibition. His work is exclusively black and white and produced with tradional film techniques. He completes all of his processing himself. The contrasty black and white images are superb. There is a huge contrast between poor people in Bradford in the 7os where there is violence, protests and poverty and stunning landscapes. But even his landscapes are gritty and raw and he prefers to shoot in winter snow rather than the verdant conditions of spring and summer.

In a video clip he expresses anger towards the "haves" and is happy going back to the underprivileged. He came from a poor background and he says this made him tough and resilient. He says that studying the work of other photographers was his way forward and an early influence was Bill Brandt. He, himself, was self taught.

He says that if you cannot feel what you are looking at, then you are never going to get others to feel anything when they look at your pictures. This philosophy shines out of his work. He obviously forges a close rapport with his subjects.


He photographed the gangs of his youth. In this image "The Governors", Finsbury Park 1958, he grew tired of his gangland friends constantly pestering him for snapshots of them in their Sunday suits. One summer Sunday afternoon, while hanging around on the street corner waiting for the start of the Astoria Cinema matinee in Seven Sisters Road, he persuaded them to pose in the skeleton of a bombed out and vandalised house

This image of a down and out was taken in The East End, London in 1973. He says "For six weeks in the winter of 1969 I appeared at dawn on the streets of Whitechapel in London's East End.............Communication was difficult at the best of times, for I was dealing with acloholics and schizophrenics who were sometimes violent and dangerous... Stealing pictures of these people with a long lens was not my style. I wanted to be close to them, to feel their plight and to convey the emotion of contact with them. I wanted their trust and to become their voice."




Towards an Iron Age Hill Fort, Somerset, 1991.
"I love the winter - not the climate, but the struggle, its abrasiveness, the nakedness of the landscape."

His landscapes, beautiful though they are, reflect the style of the rest of his photography.



Don McCullin to me is an icon. He may photograph the raw and ugly but his pitures are wonderful

Edinburgh Photographic Society International Exhibition of Photography.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the Edinburgh Photographic Society's 147th International Exhibition of Photography. As with all exhibitions there was much that I liked and some I didn't. I was surprised by the number in the exhibition that had been digitally manipulated and some of these have a surrealist bent such as 'Gone for a Swim' by Reid Urquhart and the black and white "An Allegory" by Swanendu Ghosh.
























There were some stunning wildlife images, which is my favoured genre, and I particularly like this one of displaying Ruffs by Mick Durham from Scotland. I have photographed these birds myself in winter when they can be found on the Lincolnshire coast but without their fabulous breeding plumage.

I also liked many of the other wildlife images that I have not been able to show here. I thought that the standard was very high.

There were some excellent landcsape images as well such as the contrasty black and white Cryb y Ddysgle by Tom Dodd


Portraits were also of very high quality and particularly liked this one by Kwok Hung Gary Chan entititled "The Ball is Mine"


I noticed that many of the portraits had good eye contact with the photographer.