The End of the Academic Year, A Unique Fringe Evening, and Working with my Photo Buddy!

The end of the academic year is here once again, and with it comes the annual Degree Show.  Every year the students of Media Production have a strong presence at the Degree Show, with films being shown and posters on display.  This year, in addition to the normal exhibition, we had elements from the sets of three films recreated in our Shoot Studio for visitors to take a look around, and get an extra experience from the degree show.  Pride of place was the set of James Parsons' western drama, 'Violet', and I had the opportunity to shoot a photo of James on the set, along with Director of Photography Ciaron Craig (Ciaron's on the left, James is on the right):

The Degree Show posters were on display in the Film Theatre foyer, as is traditional, and also in the newly opened Review Room next to the Shoot Studio.  Last year I took some portraits of the film-makers with their posters, so this year I decided to carry on the tradition, and capture some of the Class of 2012 with their work:

 Luke Fawsitt with the poster for The Bone China Formula

 Ewan Dyer with the poster for Circulate

 Rob Burns with the poster for Dead Rabbits

Jon White with the poster for Pancakes

The set of Degree Show pictures can be seen on Flickr here: Degree Show 2012

Running alongside the Degree Show this year was a new event, the Staffordshire University Fringe Festival.  The Friday night, June 22nd, was a working night for me, having been recruited by Unique Media Productions to help out with their closing night event, "It's A Wrap!", a celebration of the films of the Class of 2012 coupled with an audio-visual performance by local VJ and DJ outfit bITjAM, otherwise known as Carl Plant and Ben McManus:

The event was organised by Unique Media Production's Rachel Brewster, who not only organised the whole thing but also got the first round in!

After being heavily involved in the physical setting up of the event, the evening gave me a chance to wander around with my camera and document the visitors to give an overall view of the proceedings:

The full set of photos from the event can be seen on Flickr: "It's A Wrap!" event, Staffordshire University Fringe Festival

Today I spent the day in the studio, working with my former Phoenix Photo Buddy and great friend Lauren Freeman.  For a little while now I've been batting around a few ideas for themed shoots, and in recent weeks Lauren and I have been planning a day in the studio, and today was that day!  

The first thing I have to say about today's shoot is that Lauren was an absolute star.  She turned up early, having travelled down to Stoke, she did her own hair, make-up and outfits, took direction accurately every single time and built on ideas to make them her own. Considering that this was Lauren's first time in front of the camera on a shoot of this scale, I have to say that I couldn't have wished for a better model in front of my lens!

We covered several themes that I've been developing, and shot around 2200 shots over seven hours.  I've got an awful lot of editing to do, but I'm looking forward to it immensely!  For now though, here's a sneak peek from behind the scenes, of Lauren on the studio set, retouching her make-up:

Watch this space!

A busy day in Altrincham, a visit to the Dish, a trip to Bolton, and some monkeys!

It's been just over a fortnight since the last entry on here, but it's been a busy fortnight.  Or more to the point, one particularly busy day and a couple of outings with the camera since then!

Sunday June 10th was the busy day in question, with what turned into three separate photo ops to shoot.  First up was a return to familiar territory, the Altrincham Ice Dome, to shoot my recreational hockey team in action.  Having been off the ice for a few weeks, I wasn't selected to play in the game against the Altrincham Silverblades, and so I took the opportunity to get some photos of the Blackburn Buccaneers in action.

The game was a belter, a 2-9 win to the visiting Buccaneers, and from a photography point of view it was a great chance to not only keep my hand in with the hockey snapping but also a chance to get some action shots for the team.  But, since my style of shooting a hockey match is to capture what's happening away from the action just as much as on the puck, I naturally took the chance to get some 'experimental' shots under my belt as well!

For me, documenting a game is as much about the people involved as it is about the sport.  The people, the participants, the personalities, they add the extra dimension to sport, and documenting those people is something that in my opinion humanises the events, the matches, the games.  Sometimes those shots can be gotten during the play, but sometimes you have to get away from the playing area to get the shots that tell the story of the people:

The full set of photos can be seen here: Silverblades versus Buccaneers photo set.

The second photo op of the day was also hockey related, but this time it was the pro team in the frame.  Manchester Phoenix were hosting a player unveiling event at the Cresta Court hotel, which is happily just around the corner from the Altrincham rink.  The players being unveiled were Scott McKenzie and Jake Nurse, and my job was to get a few shots of the event. 

Sometimes, to get the shots you need, you have to just step up, ask, and take them.  That's my little tip for photographers covering events - don't be afraid to ask.  Before the event started, I followed the team owner Neil Morris and compere Pete Hagan down the corridor to the room that was being used as a staging area, and whilst there I had the chance to take a quick portrait of the two new players.  So I asked the players, and took the chance.  The shot was then used on the web article about their signing:

The event itself was well attended, but luckily I managed to squeeze into a seat right on the front row, directly in front of the main table.  This meant that I was able to document the proceedings from a good vantage point, and get shots of all of the main speakers at the event:

The photo set from the event can be seen on the official Phoenix Flickr page here: Phoenix, So Far event photo set,

Once the event was done and dusted, it was time to jump back into the car and head for home.  As I was pulling out of Altrincham, the sun was starting to set, so I decided to tap a new destination into the SatNav, and take a chance!

The chance to shoot Jodrell Bank's Lovell Telescope at sunset on a relatively clear night was one too good to pass up, and thanks to the passing points on the country lanes I was able to park up the car at several locations to get shots of the Dish from several angles as the sun slowly set.  A great opportunity, happily taken!

The full set of Jodrell sunset photos can be seen here: Jodrell Sunset photo set.

Last Thursday was the opening night of Bolton University's annual Degree Show, and one of the exhibitors at this year's Show is my former Phoenix photo buddy and good friend Lauren Freeman.  So Yol and I headed up the motorway to have a look at Lauren's work, and take in the show.  The photography exhibition is, on the whole, pretty good.  Lauren's work is naturally one of the high points!  Whilst there I took a couple of portraits of Lauren and her family in front of her work:

For anyone in the Bolton area, it's worth checking out the Photography exhibition, especially the bit with the hockey players in it!

Today was our work's annual Away Day, and like last year we went to Trentham Monkey Forest, giving me a chance to get the zoom lens out and document the locals!

Monkeys are such unpredictable photo subjects, but sometimes the results are so worth it!

The full set of photos from the visit can be seen here: Trentham Monkey Forest photo set

Thanks for reading!

Olympic Torch Relay

This past Wednesday, the Olympic Torch Relay passed through Stoke On Trent, my current home.  Like many places up and down the country, Stoke On Trent would be one of the overnight resting places for the Torch, and with that in mind the local council had drawn up plans to make it a day to remember!

The Torch was scheduled to arrive in Stoke early in the evening, but before that time there was a parade involving local schools and community groups.  The Parade's assembly and starting point was on the College Road Campus of Staffordshire University, which just happens to be where I work, and so with the early afternoon start time approaching the campus began to fill with volunteers as the preparations got underway.  Naturally, I took my camera out to get some shots of the work being done, and the people doing it!

A striking feature present on the campus was a giant blue marionette of a unicyclist, which was parked up outside the Film Theatre awaiting the puppeteers who would bring it to life.  But even in stillness, it was quite a spectacle to behold!

Once the schools and community groups started arriving, the procession was assembled and the preparations were well underway with plenty of excited people milling around on the campus.  Also in attendance were the local police, who were happy to be photographed:

Once the parade got underway, it was time to hit the streets and for the marionette to come to life!  Shooting in amongst a crowd of people can prove tricky, but luckily the number of spectators on the campus walls was pretty low, so I was able to shoot through and over the crowds:

In the evening, the focus shifted to Hanley Park for the Olympic Torch Celebration, an event with around 11,000 people in attendance.  The main stage was at the north end of the park, and the ability to shoot over the heads of the crowd came in handy once again!  Amongst the appearances on stage there were acrobats, trick cyclists, dance duo Twist & Pulse, and rock act Kids In Glass Houses. 

The height advantage was for nothing though, when the 'main event' came along.  As soon as the Olympic Torchbearer Imran Sherwani stepped onto the stage, every person in the crowd who had a mobile phone waved it in the air in order to get a shot!  Every child of liftable size was duly hoisted skywards, and getting a clear shot of the stage from my position about 40 metres back proved almost impossible.  But only almost!

Once the main event was over, a large chunk of the spectators turned tail and headed for the exit.  But those of us who chose to stay were treated to a frankly stunning visual spectacle, a performance by the New Vic Theatre Company, who filled the stage and the air with their piece:

The full set of pictures from the Olympic day of events can be seen on Flickr here: Olympic Events in Stoke On Trent photo set

Thanks for reading!