Shirt Launch, All Hallows and a surprise encounter with a Lightning

Last Sunday was the annual Manchester Phoenix shirt launch, and I was there as a second snapper (alongside Nick Ogden) to get some pictures of the event. Nick's main job was to get the photos of the new team shirts for the team website, so my role was to get a general feel for the event, and go for a more candid feel. This to me is the best approach to take - I've never been much of a fan of posed photos (don't get me wrong, there's a time and a place for them) but I'm much more in favour of spontaneous shots, capturing moments, and taking photos of people being themselves rather than grinning for the camera.




After the end of the last hockey season, there was a need for an overhaul of how the Phoenix photography was made available for the press, and how the pictures were distributed. I put together a proposal for some changes to the infrastructure, and the first step in its implementation was the establishment of an official Phoenix Flickr page, which is where the shots from the shirt launch event can now be seen.

Yesterday, Yol and myself took up an invitation to visit Michael and Sarita Ainsworth for a barbecue and a look around All Hallows Church, in Mitton, Lancashire. Those of you who've followed my blatherings for a while will know that for some reason I've developed a bit of an interest in shooting churches, cathedrals and places of worship, despite registering largely on the atheist scale. Michael and Sarita were kind enough to give us access to all areas of the church, and this proved to be a great opportunity for a "spot of shutterbuggery", to quote Eric Idle! The church itself is lovingly looked after, and very interesting on the eye.





Michael was also kind enough to give us access to the top of the church tower, and to see the stunning views that the elevation afforded us. To the east of the church is Pendle Hill, the home of the Pendle Witches in the 17th century, and all around were landscape views to take away the breath and to give the soul a moment's pause!




Thank you to Sarita and Michael for their generous hospitality! The album of photos from the visit can be seen on Flickr here.

The trip to Mitton also provided me with a surprise encounter that caused me to turn around the car, park up and get the camera out! Regular readers will know that as well as churches, I also like to photograph aircraft, and being a Grimsby boy born in the flightpath of RAF Binbrook I've a soft spot for the Lightning. So it was with pleasure that our route to Mitton took us past the BAE Systems site in Balderstone where there is a Lightning on display in the grounds.



The plane was behind a security fence, so I had to get as close as possible to the barrier and shoot through the chainlinks! Quite tricky, but totally worth it! The shots of the Lightning can be seen on Flickr here.

Thank you for reading!