Urban
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A Taste of Malta and Gozo
Visit to Malta, June 2015 Malta I was lucky enough to be invited to Malta as the guest judge and speaker at the Malta Photographic Society in Valletta. We spent six days there in June and our hosts were most generous in taking us around the islands and taking care of all our needs. Whilst many British people, arriving for the first time in Malta, might expect it to seem rather British, in fact, it does not! Although there are red telephone boxes and post boxes and the cars drive on the left hand side, there are so many other influences in the culture and architecture of the islands that result…
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An Evening at Salford Quays
It’s become a bit of a Joke that club meetings with Wigan 10 have been blessed with fantastic weather and outings with Oldham Photographic Society have been invariably subject to poor light and heavy rain. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when OPS members met up at Salford Quays last Thursday evening to interesting and improving light. I had arrived late afternoon, before some of the other members and was treated to some good early light. Around 5ish, the sun went behind clouds and the light became dull, so a couple of us went for a pizza and an hour later the light had returned. Gallery 1 (click on thumbnails to enlarge)…
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Saddleworth Band Contests
The Whit Friday Brass Band Contests take place every year in the Saddleworth villages during the afternoon and evening of Whit Friday. From around 4.00pm, bands are coached in from all over the country and some from overseas. If you haven’t been and want to get a flavour of it, try watching the film “Brassed Off”. The Band Contests date back to 1884 and have been described as “The greatest free show on earth”. Usually the weather is cold and bleak, but this year, Whit Friday is later and, last night, we were treated to some fine and warm weather, though the clouds were heavy in the evening, making light…
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1940s re-enactment shoot
I was contacted by a young couple whom I photographed last year at the Saddleworth 1940s event, asking if I would be interested in doing a shoot with them. Definitely would! Last weekend they were away at the Normandy D-Day Commemoration event, so we planned the shoot for this week in between me shooting birds and dragonflies. “We’ll pick you up” they said…and I just after lunch time today, I was invited to take a seat in the front of a 1942 Willys Jeep…no roof, no door and definitely no seatbelts. Fully and recently restored, it looked fantastic. A few minutes later we were trundling through Saddleworth on route for…
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Playing with monochrome
This photograph was taken in France a few years ago and I came across it whilst looking for something that would make a monochrome conversion. I really enjoy creating monochrome pictures, though it isn’t what I do most, so probably doesn’t come as naturally as montage… but it is very refreshing to create something where it’s the tones and lines that are the most important feature and not where the story is most important…it’s also quicker 🙂 and the next shot on the same day… I just love the cloud patterns in the next image – makes the whole thing a bit confusing so it takes a while to decipher.…
