Creating a New Challenge

All photographers need inspiration. A little while back, at the recommendation of fellow snapper Christine Willis, I joined the Extreme Challenge Mania group on Flickr, a small group of photographers looking to each other for inspiration by setting a weekly theme to use as a brief. The themes are set by the members, and each week there's a new topic to draw inspiration from.

This week, I decided to put my neck out and make a suggestion, and I put forward the idea of "Professional Portraits". The notion was to go and shoot a portrait shot of someone, and from the shot it should be apparent what that person does for a living. The theme has had a couple of people taking a stab at it, myself included, and I started out by shooting one of my work colleagues Chris Leese, whilst we were setting up our Shoot Studio for an upcoming Open Day event.



After shooting Chris (so to speak), I decided to venture a little further away from the office in search of people who could be readily identified in a shot in terms of their profession, and it didn't take me too long to find a couple of willing subjects:




Many thanks to Anup, one of the baristas in the Squeeze Box Juice Bar, and to PC Keith Emery for allowing me to capture their likenesses.

Both of these fine gentlemen were found within fifty metres of my office at work, so I guess that the message I'm trying to put out there is that sometimes you can find inspiration closer than you'd think!

My Flickr album can be found here - thanks for looking!

Past and present, and hockey kitties

It may be officially summer, but we're still in the Spring Cleaning phase of the year, and that's been extended to sorting out our storage unit and tidying up the shed. It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it....

Whilst sorting out the storage unit, I came across my graduation photo. It's been sixteen years since I picked up my Undergrad, the summer of 1995 when the world was at my feet, and a fresh faced young man stepped out into reality. The years may have changed, but it's nice to see that the smile is still there!:



As I've mentioned in previous posts, I carry with me a point-and-shoot camera pretty much at all times. I like to carry my main camera, my Nikon D40, as often as possible, but that's not as often as I'd like! When I'm at work I have access to the Uni's D90 stock, but in order to make sure I've always got the ability to shoot I carry with me a Samsung ES28.

Whilst clearing out the shed, I laid out some of my spare hockey kit bits on the lawn to get them ready for sorting, and this is when another reason to always carry a camera occurred. Lucy and Lola, our two cats, like to climb inside things and sit there. No matter what it is, if they see an opening then in they go! So when I placed my spare hockey shorts on the lawn, it was a free-for-all!:




There's a school of thought that says you need to have the best equipment, the best kit, the best camera to get great shots. I think that sometimes it's not the kit but the subject and how you capture it that makes for a great shot. Judge for yourselves - I think this is a great shot, taken with a point-and-shoot, and it's a shot that makes me smile!:



But then again maybe I'm biased! ;)

My Flickr feed can be seen here - thanks for looking!

Shooting a German Footballer

Here at Staffordshire University, one of the many courses that we run is a Sports Journalism course aimed at professional and ex-professional sportspeople, and on the course this year is footballer Felix Bastians. Currently with SC Freiburg, Felix has played in Britain for clubs such as Nottingham Forest, Chesterfield and Gillingham and is no stranger to the British game.

Last week, Felix was looking for a photographer to do an impromptu shoot with him in the Media Centre, shooting some portraits of him using the equipment that he's being trained on as a part of the course. Felix had been contacted by Bundesliga Magazine in Germany, they were looking to do a feature and needed some shots, and my colleague Stuart Hadley put Felix in touch with me.



The shoot with Felix was done somewhat on the fly, we only had about fifteen minutes to get it done, so we went through the Newsroom looking for some photo opportunities that would suit the brief. We did a couple of shots at a workstation, a couple in the radio studio, and some with the studio cameras, trying not to go for anything too cliched but in the end having to resort to tried and tested poses!




Whether any of the shots make it into Bundesliga Magazine remains to be seen, but website GiveMeFootball.com has published an article on Felix and used one of my shots so far!




The article can be seen online at GiveMeFootball.com here.

The full set of photos can be seen on Flickr here.

Thanks for looking!

Media Production Degree Show 2011

The end of the academic year is here once again, and the Media Production Level 3 students stage the annual Degree Show where their films are screened for the cast, crew, friends, family and anyone who wants to see them. It's the night where their talents are showcased, their films get their public debuts, and their film posters are put on display.

Craig Bruce with the poster for "Living Burlesque In Britain".

One of the posters on display features some of my shots from the ice hockey; Vicki Smart's documentary "The Other Side Of The Plexi" is about the match night volunteers at the Manchester Phoenix IHC, and being one of the photographers (and one of Vicki's Uni staff) I was interviewed for the film. Vicki needed some production stills to use for the poster, so naturally I obliged!


The Degree Show's opening night was last Friday, and the Show remains open until next Saturday (18th June). The show is staffed by the students themselves, and on Sunday I popped in to see more of the show, and to photograph some more of the film directors with their posters:

Abby Walklett with the poster for "Mesmer"

Dan Bidmead with the poster for "Masquerade"

Sam Rainey with the poster for "Priceless"

The set of film poster photos can be seen on my Flickr page.

The students that make it through Media Production go on to careers in the film and television industry, these people are the future of British media! If you're able to get to Staffordshire University, check out the Media Production Degree Show - you won't be disappointed!

Trentham Gardens - sights, scenery and decapitation

One of the best things about the weekend is finding yourself with enough time left to squeeze in an impromptu trip with the camera and the better half! The trick is to find somewhere within easy reach, and sometimes the best locations are almost right on your doorstep...

I've lived in Stoke On Trent since 1992, when I came here as a student. I've been to Trentham Gardens many times over the years, but only as an attendee at Graduation ceremonies. Sure, I've been to the shopping village next to the Gardens many times too (that's what middle age does to you) but I've never been into the Gardens as a photographer before. So when Yol and I were looking for somewhere to take a walk and get some shots in, we figured we'd give the place a go.



In short, the place is a heaven for photographers! Whether you like shooting buildings, scenery, creatures, plants and flowers, statues, water, birds, or even people, there's plenty there to keep your lenses bobbing up and down. I like to try my hand at a range of styles and techniques, and Trentham Gardens gave me a chance to try several in what was ultimately a very enjoyable afternoon.






The nature trail that goes around Trentham Lake is a two mile lap, with several stop-offs for photo opportunities along the way, including Twitching Houses (for bird watching, not uncontrollable jerking movements), and the passenger catamaran gives snappers a chance to see the sights from on the water, including a close pass of the island with its nesting herons (and some of the smaller residents!)




One of the central features of the Gardens is a full-sized replica of Benvenuto Cellini's "Perseus with the head of Medusa", a statue dating back to the 1550s, which is currently housed in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, Italy. It's something that should be out of place in a setting such as Trentham Gardens, but strangely it looks perfectly at home next to the Lake, a beautiful image of violence and gore set beside the relative tranquility of the grounds. Complete with severed head and neck-protruding gristle, the statue depicts a moment from Greek Mythology when Medusa the Gorgon is defeated and decapitated by Perseus, but not ending her power to turn men to stone with her stare.




Grim, but beautiful!

The album of photos from the trip can be seen on Flickr here.