So 2016 was the year i took a break from blogging to focus on producing more work and defining my style. Next year promises to be one of a lot of action focussing on more portraiture and long exposure photography. Many thanks to all who’ve supported my work with encouragement. I am eternally grateful. Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!
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My first panorama from the Calella Viaduct.
“This is La Familia” Calella 2015
My shots of the awful thick smoke choking up the area. Hope no one has been hurt by this.
More merriment than you can shake a stick at!!!
Once again Rochester’s annual Sweeps festival is back full of all the characters, noise and beer its famous for.
Merry men and women dancing, The Bruncles and a winged steampunkette caught my eyes this year. Enjoy
Revolutionprowrestling.com/events/best-of-british-2015
Fan shots from the Best of British event in Sittingbourne.
Sunday 26th April 2015
Dockside Chatham, where the fierce winds blow pigeons and slices of bread alike in every direction. 50mm lens ranging from 1.8 to 4 for better bokeh.
HIGH STAKES
YORK HALL
www.revolutionprowrestling.com/events/high-stakes-2015
Again RevPro pulled it out of the bag and it’s probably the best one I’ve seen to date. Seems York Hall really has got a massive presence once it’s packed to the walls with fans, noise and fighters! My second time there and although I was not as close to the front as last time I still could not resist snappin a few quick shots. I have to admit it I’m proper back into wrestling now.
Big thanks to all the recent subscribers from the world of wrestling on Twitter. Your comments and reposts have been gratefully received, Glad you enjoy the snaps. Peace
www.revolutionprowrestling.com
Sunday in Sittingbourne was again another awesome line up!
Some of the highlights include 2 Unlimited vs The Wolves, Lord Gideon Grey vs The mighty Flatliner, Marty Scurll, Sha Samuals, Josh Bodom and NoamDar.
Thanks again everyone at RPW!
Roll up roll up!
Front row seats this year as the circus came to town.
Brilliant night! Here are the highlights.
Facebook.com/billysmartscircusuk
www.visitmedway.org/events/rochester-christmas-market
Taken on the last Sunday of the festival using 20sec exposures at F18 to truly capture the glow and movement of the rides as they lit up the night.
Over looking the beautiful countryside you may never see a more immaculate tribute to the fallen with its perfect symmetrical design and open peaceful space.
 
www.revolutionprowrestling.com/uprising-2014
The shear talent out there and the fact a lot of the events can be reached in and around Kent means I can’t resist taking a few fan shots when we go. Many thanks to all the hard working fighters that slug it out in the squared circle.
York Hall, Bethnal Green
This year we took a trip to Belgium to visit the key sights of the Battle of the Bulge also known as the “Battle of the Ardennes”. It was a powerful trip to say the least, to visit the graves, memorials and towns that held some of the bloodiest battles in World War 2. To find the trenches softly reclaimed by nature in what felt like an enchanted forests in Foy left me wondering how it could have been a part or the dreaded Siegfried Line. To think soldiers were hiding down in these dug outs to avoid gun fire and bombardment from shelling brought us a very different perception on how they lived throughout the campaign. It was quite a chilling image against what was to me one of the most peaceful and calming places I had every seen in my life. Over the next few weeks I shall be posting many of the images I took during our 4 day tour through the Ardennes. Thank you and enjoy.
Forest of Foy
 
Once again another fantastic event at Chatham Dockyard. Salute to the 40s 2014.
With more patience than I thought I had I managed to get close enough (and quiet enough) to catch this beauty.
Mr Rose is a Flatlander and this is my first time actually seeing this style of BMX riding with my own eyes. The shear technical aspect of the gyroscopic nature of what flatland BMX can do truly makes it a unique genre and I cannot deny I was very impressed.
What was the first BMX you ever owned? was it a particular style?
How big is music a part of your riding?
Pick 3Â songs that would make the soundtrack to the moment if?
Only you and your bike were between Godzilla and a city from being destroyed?
You are raging from the 4th puncture in one day.
You just found out your van was a transformer (flying is optional)
Any final words and shout outs?
Always looking to express their unique dub style The Objectors are branching out in different mediums such a video to connect further with their rapidly growing fanbase. This Sunday consisted of me trying to re-acquaint myself with video after several years away from the record button as the gang smoothed out some tracks from the recent online release of their debut album Overruled whilst I cautiously avoided tripping over leads. The photography was taken whilst the video camera rolled on tripod in the corner with a 2 speedlites set up with diffusers.
Recently a billboard has been removed from the side of a property in on Maidstone road Rochester. When it was taken down there appeared to be posters from the 1950s behind it but sadly they were torn straight off the wall by the workmen. What looks like layers upon layers of posters I managed to get one shot of what was left. Persil. I’ve googled Persil adverts and although I could not find the exact match there advertising campaigns followed a theme that changed with the times making it very easy to find the decade. Wish I’d had the chances to separate and photograph them.
Patterns of products lined or stacked as many a character passes them by. You have to be really on your feet to get that good shot and sometimes that really good shot finds you as someone smiles and poses against the background of the masses.
Here one can move about to zoom as much as they wish as the traffic of buyers carry you along the aisles of stalls.
My camera settings for the shoot were mainly ISO 400 Aperture priority f1.8 Camera Raw monochrome. I tried to get near and far shots to get an idea of what Bokeh I could create and found myself really enjoying the possibilities.
Taken whilst hanging the camera out of the car window as we left London. Its funny I was not expecting a delightful smile or someone cycling backwards through bus stop crowds with the least of effort. Slick.
Coming soon I will be posting a nice big blog explaining why I have been so enthusiastic about using this wonderful lens of late and why every photographer should have one in thier arsenal.
Watch this space…….
More 50mm street photography from the Sweeps festival.
Rochester once again hosted its ever growing festival The Sweeps. With more stages for busking this year there was a broader variety for everyone to see and participate in. The Bruncles were playing and many a Morris man and woman were out in mass amongst a crowd in its thousands. The images within this post are part of a larger project to be revealed soon regarding the art of using a fixed 50mm lens and why it is still is one of the most essential lenses you could ever own and one of the cheapest. Enjoy.
A few months ago I got the chance just before leaving our studio at Nucleus Arts in Chatham to photograph an extraordinary character. The Warrior, a man who takes part in themed role-playing. When the opportunity came up for him to bring all his cosplay and weaponry to the studio all i could think about was creating the ultimate movie poster based on the genre. Middle-earth, Skyrim and Conan the barbarian, massive battle sequences and lush landscapes I’ve always wanted to find an excuse to create something like this.
We took about 40 main poses from swinging battleaxes to drawing swords and slaying foes. It’s gonna take me a while to get them all done but here is a taster from a first try this morning.
Many thanks to The Warrior for this opportunity. Peace.
It was difficult to decide which days sunrise I photographed would be submitted. I narrowed it down to two, this one has more of a wider view than the last. Enjoy in all its HDR glory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalonia
Hey bloggers I’m back from Spain with a lot of holiday snaps to share and inspire. I’ll try to release them all as quick as I can but please be patient I busier than ever these days lol.
This Church is one of the tallest buildings in Calella and is over 400 years old. I’ve photographed it every time I’ve been in town but have yet to be satisfied with a single shot. This year was to be different though as it appeared to be level and in view of my hotel room balcony. This gave me the opportunity to capture a 3 shot HDR image on a monopod of the sunrise right next to the church!. Trust me you have no idea how lucky I felt that morning when I awoke with a hangover to peel back the curtains and find such atreat. Enjoy and please comment as always. Peace
In the midst of many things after our holiday in Calella last year I forgot to process several days of photography I took back then.
So here’s a few street shots, foot-stomping flamenco dancers, dogs and jousters.
