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!