Diwali in the Square 2012

Highlight: Seeing fellow photographer in full Diwali get- up playing the Dohl Drums

Lowlight: Thinking that wearing a sari would be a good idea.

Fill in: It was a cold weekend, but I thought I looked pretty cool in my hiking boots, leggings, Superdry coat and woolly Airwalk hat in a sort of Benetton colours of the World sort of way. Apart from the dancing and singing on stage, I also had to photograph the sponsors stalls and the crowds, and I duly went off into the heaving throng. One of the stalls was a community affair where seasoned indian sari wearers offered their saris and dressing services to the general public. I jumped the huge queue to photograph the dressing up area and found myself being cajoled into wearing a sari myself. Despite my protests that I need to walk, kneel, squat and move freely to take photos in less than five minutes I was trussed up in a bright orange and gold affair, and together with my hiking boots, woolly tasselled hat and my camera bag on wheels I looked more like a mad bag lady than the super cool photographer that I am.

Still I didn't take it off and spent the rest of the day looking like I'd been Tangoed. It was a long, cold day and my spirits were wearing, but perked up considerably at the sight of a fellow Gillmans and Soame photographer in full Diwali dress, complete with Dohl Drum. She looked a lot cooler than me, but I was behind the lens and she was in front of it so it all worked out.

Tech spec: On a dull day on camera flash a must to perk up the colours and light. I used TTL fill in and aperture priority for the crowds and stalls and manual, no flash for the stage shots. Spot metering also necessary on stage as the lights were shining right into the camera. I tried to make sure I got a head in front of the lights if possible to give a great halo effect.


For more info:

The Musicians Union March 2012

Highlight: Excellent Jazz music all the way from Embankment to Whitehall.

Lowlight: Not making it all the way to Hyde Park

Fill in: This was the first time I'd ever been on a big protest march and had no idea the atmosphere would be so festival like. People dressed up, singing songs, dancing and best of all, being with the Musicians Union part of the march we had our own Jazz band to accompany us all the way.


Tech spec: Wear a rucksack. When you are walking backwards (as I was most of the way) it provides a cushion when you walk into anything and people tend to sense you coming when you have a bag on your back. My rucksack is a roller bag as well and great for when your back gets tired.


For more info:

http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk

St John's at Hackney Curch

Highlight: The choir singing.

Lowlight: Getting up early on a Sunday! Boo!  For the Second week in a row! Double boo!

Fill in: Emily Alice Ovenden gets me out of bed early on a Sunday yet again, this time to shoot the Sunday services at St John at Hackney Church.

Tech spec: It's a big church so on the plus side a lot of space to wander round without having to intrude too much on the service, but a long lens was needed to get tight compositions. The light was streaming all morning through the windows, which made it hard to get overall shots as the exposure range was way past the capability of the camera.


For more info:

http://www.stjohnathackney.org.uk/home.shtml

National Poetry Day

Highlight: Managing to grab some raspberry meringues before they all went

 Roger McGough

John Cooper Clark

Megan Beech

 

Jamal Msebele 

Phil Jupitus

Lowlight: Having to stuff them in my mouth whole, as no plates left.

Fill in: This is a job in two parts - the morning being The Winners of the Young Foyles Poetry Competition, where I have about three hours to get 100 young poets, two judges individually, in various sized groups, in one big group as well as them reading and networking. The afternoon is spent photographing poetry performances of various established poets then trying to waylay them as they come off stage to get a portrait as well as getting the various stands and activities going on around the Festival Hall which are laid on to celebrate National Poetry Day. Most poets are shy and unassuming and are always a bit puzzled as to why you should want to photograph them. I try to keep it simple relying on the light and a shallow depth of field to add interest to the shot and letting them just sit as they feel comfortable. I find, stairs, bannisters, and window ledges make great perches as opposed to chairs, which tend to make people slump.

Tech spec: A lot of swapping around with lenses and ISOs on this job. I use the 85mm F1.4 for all the poets portraits, as it throws the background out of focus and makes me concentrate on the composition. The Festival Hall is a great place for light as there are lots of floor to ceiling windows and long stretches of corridors and open spaces so you can get the background nice and blurry. The performances are taken on a 70-200mm F2.8 and ISO 6400 which is not ideal but beggars can't be choosers. The light is very saturated so I correct in Aperture in the post processing to calm it down a little. It's on camera fill-flash for the press portraits of the Young Foyles winners as the Poetry Society likes the Thames skyline in the background, so we take all the shots on the balcony which is in shade. Even so it is still tricky to balance the light as the river is brightly lit by sun. The casual shots of networking are on a 24-80 F2.8mm and shot with on camera flash.


For more info:
http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/info/npd/history/npd12/