Richard; a Street Portrait

It's important to challenge yourself.

Force yourself into doing something your uncomfortable with.

Doing this will hopefully lower your inhibitions and make you grow as person and it should be easier next time.

Ive been really busy lately, by advertising myself. Ive released that not everyone is going to come to me just by word of mouth, though its proven very successful. So those local to me will no doubt have seen my adverts popping up on various Facebook pages. Result, more business.

Because I've been busy, I've let my blogging fall behind. Its not like i don't shoot regularly, i have a camera with me at all times, though today walking the dog in the hail i didn't feel like getting the camera out.

So, a mental note to keep blogging.

A time recently where I've challenged myself is to talk to a stranger and ask if i can take their portrait.

I spotted Richard sitting on a windowsill on St. Benedicts street, Norwich, nursing his cider. At 1st i thought about grabbing a candid shot of him. I walked away with my tail between my legs. After going in a shop looking for bargain CD's, i noticed that he was still sitting there, i just had to talk to him.

Go for it, whats the worst that could happen, he might just say no.

Very politely Richard, told me his name, told me that he lived just up the road , told me his story and agreed that i could take his photo.

I gave Richard my card and my details, to which he replied he doesn't have a phone or a computer and so wouldn't be able to see the photo. Now that i think about it, i should of took his address and sent him a small print as a way of saying thanks for his time.

Some people in a worse position than you, may still be willing to give you a hand, just for a little bit of time.

Shooting street in the big city; Camden Town.

I love London. I always have since I first visited as a child; going on the tube for the first time was a great experience. I used to visit my brother regularly in my late teenage/early adult years to go out and get...well...smashed.

I love the hustle and bustle, the sights, the people, its a cool place.

On a recent visit I really concentrated on street photography. I went to Camden and of course, there was lots going on; tourists, bored kids, street art and the artists themselves creating their next piece.

In the chaos of the busy of life, 1 person taking photo's of strangers doesn't get noticed like it does in the quieter parts of the country or world like my home town and surrounding locations. The fact is that in the touristy big smoke every other person is carrying a 'big' camera, so my 'little' Fuji helps me blend in that little more.

 

I really appreciate street art, be it graffiti or stencils. I like the idea that there's a meaning behind the work rather than just tagging a name.

This one guy was painting all day and every now and then I went back to see how he was getting on...he's probably still there.

Down the same street were people hanging out; if that's what you call it, may be a little too much 'party'.

Waiting for people to walk in front of something in particular is both a big waiting game but rewarding when it finally happens. Im still waiting for that show stopping image though that's going to be recognised world wide as a real moment of time, a real stroke of luck/right place right time, uncanny genius. Maybe that wont happen!

In Camden Market there are vintage shops and stalls all over the place. What got me was how much people try to charge for things like old camera's....woah!!!

These 3 boys caught my eye. they sat there for about 10 minutes really bored waiting for someone, I just had to freeze their boredom.

Looking down on the world is great, people don't know your there, in a place like Camden 100's of people pass underneath you (not counting the tube) every minute.

My companions on the trip did wonder why I photographed so many strangers though............maybe not enough selfies for them?

Great Yarmouth Hippodrome Circus

Long time no see!

Here's the final instalment of what we got up to when we had a few days off.

Laura and I have been talking about going to the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth for years, so this time during our stay in Yarmouth we went.

The building itself was completed in 1903 and has been used as circus ever since but also at times is used as a theatre, cinema and during the war it was a shooting range (I do hope they were blind folded).

We went to the 2pm showing and it was pretty awesome with all sorts of entertainment from acrobatics, motorcycles, slapstick and swimming amongst contraptions of all varieties being used including a revolving ???thingy???.

During such performances lighting is sparse, usually the stage is dark and is lit only by spotlights. So available light for photography is poor but if your clever the spotlights can be a photographers best friend; the subject stands out from the dark background.

I used my favourite combination of equipment on this day; my 5Dmkiii and Sigma 70-200. High ISO; mostly ISO1600 and large apertures; f/2.8 and f/4 where used to gather as much light as possible. It was a real balance of settings in order to let in light but still get sharp hand held shots in the dark.

 

If your ever in their neck of the woods I thoroughly recommend catching a show. Well worth the money. http://www.hippodromecircus.co.uk/index.html

Lots of blogs coming up soon as I've been a very busy boy.

Loving photography right now.

Spending my birthday in Sheringham with my wife, the dog and of course my camera.

Thursday 27th February, my birthday, Laura and I took Ella to Sheringham, Norfolk for a walk in the sea air.

As always my camera was hanging round my neck.

We walked up a hill/cliff next to the golf course to where half a dozen benches are situated next to a look out post for the coast guard. Its a good view from which you can see for miles along the coastline on a clear day.

At one point as we were walking along the muddy and puddle strewn trail to the top of the hill the wind picked up and grey clouds rolled in, we were thinking we were about to get very wet, luckily the clouds blew past and out came the sun again. Laura would of well moaned about the rain if it did come down....phew! 2 minutes of peace!

The day was nice, followed by a curry on the way home, yum!

The Abbey B&B, Stowbridge, Norfolk

Sunday 2nd February I went over to Stowbridge and took some photo's of The Abbey Bed and Breakfast.

The grounds were once the site of Crabhouse Priory and the original buildings were mostly demolished during the reign of Henry VIII.

The weather was nice and clear with not a drop of rain in site, albeit it was a tad chilly outside.

I enjoyed taking photos outside as the gardens were vast and there were some great trees and foliage to use in the shots. The owners had made every effort to dress the areas for the day and make it look homely and welcoming, very well prepared and some of the these set ups are my favourite shots.

 

So I started by shooting out side because the weather was so bright and I didn't want to get caught out by the rain which never came despite different weather reports for the day. Because its new and because its such a cool lens the fish eye got a lot of use.

Because of the south facing garden and the bright low sun shadows were a bit of a problem.  I wanted to look back at the house but I couldn't get my shadow out of the shot, until I made use of this tree's shadow.

The moment I saw these leaves in the garden I knew I had to use them in the foreground.

I just had to accentuate the way this tree was leaning over.

 

Damn I do love that lens. I love how much can be crammed into a frame.

 

Anyone fancy a picnic?

 

At the edge of the grounds is the river Great Ouse, I climbed up the bank and took this shot.

 

Great texture in this 'magical' doorway. Does it lead to a secret garden?

 

The house has loads of quality paintings hanging on the wall and antique furniture in every room.

 

 

My favourite shots of the day were taken in the dining room. The light shining in through a large window was very overpowering but once I found a way to utilise the light ive took some shots that I really like.

 

I may have too shoot some more flowers considering how much I like these.

 

Thanks for looking.