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.

The Characters of Wisbech, the Town in Decline.

You don't need a city to shoot street photography. You can do it in your home town.

Ive started to do it around my home town or village of Sutton Bridge.

If i had to choose my favourite nearest location though it would have to be Wisbech, without a doubt,

A town of many cultures. At least one third of the population is thought to be eastern european. 

A town in decline.

Even in my lifetime, I've seen the town spiral downwards, as the 'big named' stores have come and gone, the small local business have shut down. Mostly whats left is phone shops, coffee shops, Poundland x2 and Eastern european convenience stores, other store fronts lifeless or boarded up.

I suppose what i do like whilst at the same time hate about the place is the characters and the litter roaming the streets. 

Drunks, jobless' and bear cans strewn in the gutter. 

Maybe a paradise for those of us who like their hobby photography to be grimy, very different from my weekend wedding work.

I'll start with my favourite alley in the town, Scrimshires Passage. Some seriously old buildings with peeling paint, padlocked doors and an archway to provide contrast between shadow and light. I always head there hoping to catch someone walking through. 

This day i met something else, shoes, new shoes left on a window ledge. 

Only 10 seconds after taking this shot a drunk cyclist came through and asked me if the shoes were mine. I then had a conversation with her about how much i think she could sell them for. Good luck to her and her new items for sale.

The reason i love this alley so much.

When standing around in dark alleys for too long you start to get stared at, please, keep on staring.

Notice the beer can on the right

I manual focus a lot these days as it allows me to wait for someone to walk into the shot. I truly love this image.

Cool dude

The look, the 'why's he taking a picture of me' face.

Another can.

I wonder how long this couple have been in love?

Modern love?
Quick love?
Love you long time?

I still return to the penguin street art.

Whoever the street artist is, i do hope they continue.

Wisbech; the town i grew up in, lots of good times spent with mates.

Look after it.

Forever Your Rose, new film project for Holbeach Film Company

A new year, a new film for The Holbeach Film Company.

2016 see's the creation of Forever Your Rose, a romantic comedy, much different from 2015's Dishonoured' thriller-esc genre. Dishonoured is soon to be released by the way.

Being part of the Dishonoured crew, i was naturally included in news about the new project.
I want to help out where i can.

All films need a cast and crew, so its audition time.

There were people coming and going all afternoon, the waiting room filling up and changing round continuously.

The waiting game

I spent a couple of hours in the audition room, at some points literally hiding behind a sofa. I wonder what the budding stars thought when they walked into the room and saw me crouched behind the sofa?

Judging the auditions was handled by director, camera men, actor and actresses. Im sure their are different job titles in there somewhere.

There was fun to be had amidst the nervous faces.

I had to get behind the action and capture the gestures of the hopefuls.

The essence of photography is capturing the light. As soon a i see the spotlights in the room, the idea was a light bulb, no pun intended, moment.

Staring into the abyss

My favourite images from the day.
The beauty of shooting into the light.

I love the haze at the bottom caused by the light reflecting off of my silver Fujifilm X100T placed just under the Fujifilm X-Pro 1 that i was shooting with.

The lens flare on the left and the flick of the hair on the right, does it for me. 

My last objective of the day was to join the judges and use them to frame the candidates.

Use focus selectively to tell a story.

Many of the above photographs were taken with a 1980's Canon FD 50mm F1.8 lens that i bought years ago for £10. Manual focus of moving targets, at large apertures in low light is not an easy task, however its important to challenge yourself. The images are much more rewarding....which reminds me, i need to shoot some film again!!! Does anyone want a wedding shot on film???

For any more information on the local film being made, follow this link https://www.facebook.com/ForeverYrRose/

Its been a while since my last blog, hopefully this will be the jump start it needed.

Thanks for looking.