Skateaway - 2

Here's another shot from our walk yesterday around the Winter Wonderland in the Old Market Square.

There still weren't that many skaters on the rink. With the big smile on her face, this girl was certainly having a great time, especially as she just about had it all to herself.

She was whizzing around with her blonde hair flowing and her Christmas cardie flapping in the breeze. I've seen lots of Christmas jumpers, but never a cardigan. Maybe she's a trendsetter.

Pretty In Pink

It looks like the Left Lion got a nice bit of attention from this girl, who was wearing some very brightly coloured clothes, as she is caressing his front paws.

Pink appears to be her favourite colour today. It's just a shame that she couldn't find a matching laptop case, as the black one she is carrying just looks so boring for her.

A Welcoming Smile

Say hello to Yashika. I met her today while I visited the Calcutta Club, a curry restaurant situated in the city centre. In fact there are a number of curry houses in the same area. The Calcutta Club has one each side. Then there are another two around the corner.

I went there to take some photos of a friend's lunch party, and I was met by this smiling and happy lady when I walked through the door. She said hi, and took my jacket. I saw my friend and the people that he had invited for his lunch.

While I was taking photos of the guests, I thought I would take a couple of shots of Yashika as well. As I always enjoy taking photos of people, and she does have quite an infectious smile.

Love Me, Love My Docs

In recent years Dr Martens boots have become quite a style icon, with both men and women. You can always see people wearing them around town. Maybe every seventh or eighth person will have a pair on. Usually either in black or brown and with of course the famous bouncy sole.

I at the moment don't own a pair, as I'm basically put off with the idea that you have suffer with blisters on your feet for a while, while they are broken in. But they are meant to be very comfortable after that, and you don't realise that you have anything on your feet.

It looks like this girl in the Old Market Square has bought herself a pair recently from the store round the corner, and still uses her special cloth bag that they come in. Even more so, now that shops charge 5p for one of their plastic carrier bags.

Smile For The Camera

My final photo from the Photography Show is this shot of a model that I took using a new speed light that this stall were demonstrating.

It was a bit different in design to normal speed lights in that it comes with an external  battery pack and its bulb is much brighter than normal bulbs. In fact it is more like a small portable studio light. There were various modifiers of different sizes that were available to buy.

 It took me a couple of goes to get the photo almost right. The first effort was a bit overblown, as the power had been tired up a bit too much, while the second attempts too dark. But this one is just about right.

In A World Of Her Own

If it wasn't for the mobile phone, you could be mistaken that I had taken this in the 1960s, with the girl in her wooly jumper and duffel coat.

Don't Mess With The Ladies

I have just been reading on the Internet that there had been a demonstration at the premiere in London of the new film about the Suffragettes.  Apparently over 100 women ran onto the red carpet while smoke bombs were going off. They were highlighting against the cuts in services for domestic violence. This ties in well with the theme of the film, as the Suffragettes demonstrated over the fact that women were't being allowed to vote.

I was at the Broadway Cinema on Wednesday, at a short photography workshop. After the lesson was over, I was walking down the stairs to leave, when I saw someone carrying a large stand that was advertising the film of the same name.

I stopped to talk to her, as I had noticed her clothing, which reminded me of a sailors uniform. She said that her name was Jess. I asked if I could take her photo, and kindly posed for me next to the big piece of card that she had just moved.

Lucy

I went to see my favourite local band The Madeline Rust tonight at Rough Trade; a record store that opened earlier this year. It was quite an intimate gig, as the space wasn't large, but the devoted audience loved it. As they usually do. The band have quite a faithful following of friends and fans alike.

Here's Lucy, the singer and bassist with the band. Whilst she sports a unique, dramatic look, she's one of the loveliest people I know. Her hubby Gavin, also photographs the band in action, and we often do a sort of photographic dance, as we move around and swap places at the front of the stage, to get different views of the action.

The whole band are great fun to chat to, and I do hope that they get the opportunity of going on to bigger things with bigger audiences, as I think they are as good, if not better than some of the headline bands that are out there these days. But that's just my biased opinion.

Lily

Besides the many stalls and entertainment on offer at Beeston's carnival, there was some music too, in the form of the local pipe band, and this young lady called Lily.

She was entertaining everyone with songs from the Second World War, including the rather rude ditty "Hitler has only got one ball".

Oddsocks

Pagan Pride today up at the Arboretum. The yearly gathering of Pagans and non Pagans enjoying the good weather, the music and the love of the worlds oldest religion.

Last year when we went, it chucked it down with rain, and we had to shelter under a tree for a while, until it stopped. This year there was no problem with the sun not shining.

I was watching and photographing a local band called Cadence Noir, when I saw this girl appear with a camera and started doing the same. What interested me wasn't the camera she was using, but the fact that she had different socks on her feet. And where were her shoes?

Mysterious Girl

Who is this very pretty girl hiding behind a decorative face mask?

Maybe, I'm not going to tell you yet!

Thank Heavens For Little Girls

There were some mad antics in Beeston this morning, as two 'French waiters' were running amuck with the shoppers, handing out chocolates and I Love Beeston bags whilst having some banter with them.

It was all part of a business promotion to support the shopkeepers and traders whilst the ongoing tram works drag on.

I just happened to be in the right place at the right time again, as I bumped into a friend of mine called Kaylee and her dad, who were out looking for a new mobile phone. It was great to see Kaylee up and about again, as he has been rather poorly recently.

Model Material

What happens if you mix five photographers with a dozen models in a great studio, with lots of sets, lights and props?

The answer is hopefully some great photographs.

Well that's exactly what Gail and I have been doing for most of the day, at this converted factory in Long Eaton.

And what fun we had. Being given a model to work with for about 30 minutes, and using the different backdrops, such as bedroom, barn, hospital and with a real motorbike.

This particular model is called Lily and very good to work with she was too. She had not been modelling that long, but was very relaxed in front of my Nikon as we played around with the sets and poses.

Before anyone asks, no she wasn't naked, but was wearing a tight cream coloured latex dress. The power of the camera eh!

Melissa

Gail and I went to a local studio last night for a shoot. We weren't sure of the name of the model we would have to work with for the evening. But we were happy to find out that we had a very lovely young lady called Melissa waiting for us.

Melissa gets her dark looks from having an Indian father and great bone structure from her German mother. And what a stunning combination. Melissa also has a very nice personality and was a pleasure to work with.

She changed into three outfits for us. But I really like the mix of white shirt and her fantastic glossy black hair. Hope you like it too.

Chaos Theory

I have come up with this weeks Headbanger theme, and for some reason decided on 'chaos'. I have no idea why. Possibly because Gail and I are having a bit of a spring clean, and as I was typing the email to let everyone know what the theme is going to be, my eyes fell on a pile of boxes that need to be gone through, and the idea sort of stuck.

So what has the theme got to do with a crumbling ruin? Well the answer is political chaos and the building is the remains of Beauvale Priory.

Imagine England in the early part of the sixteenth century. Henry the Eighth is on the throne and there is turmoil across the land. He wants to many Anne Boleyn, but because of the Catholic faith that runs through the country he is not allowed to.

So what does he do? Well he states that the Pope is no longer the leader of the church in England, he is, and anyone disagreeing with this new order is basically murdered.

This is where Beauvale Priory comes in. The Priors of this Carthusian monastery John Houghton and Robert Lawrence, together Augustine Webster  travelled to London to ask if their order can be excused this new rule. The king says no, they must recant. They say that they cannot, so they are killed in the most barbaric way.

So begins the disillusion of the monasteries and the Carthusian order is disbanded. The king marries Anne Boleyn until she is executed in 1536 and then marries Jane Seymour until she is succeeded by the other three wives.

Do pop over to see how the others have fared with this possibly tricky theme.

Todays blog post is a somewhat happier affair, with a shot of the lovely and talented Georgia Rose, who entertained us last night whilst the judges were deciding on the winner of the music competition.

She was very good, and probably would have won if she had entered. Here's a demo recording of one of her songs

Fashion, Turn To The Left, Fashion, Turn To The Right

We both spent an enjoyable evening tonight shooting burlesque dancers and alternative clothing models at an event called Eclectic.

It took place at the Pitcher & Piano; a converted church, that is now a pub. A little bit ironic really, considering how the many of the worlds religions view alcohol as the work of the Devil.

There were quite a lot of people there, and the front of the runway was clogged up with photographers and video people. So much so that it was difficult to get a good shot. Gail had sneaked herself near back of the stage at the point where the artistes enter. I followed her, and we pretty much had this area to ourselves.

Obviously the lighting wasn't as good here, but we managed by cranking up the ISO etc, or waiting until the models were in a good spot. Like with this one, who is wearing an outfit inspired by nature.

Posing In The Park

This is Stevi,  a goth model who may look rather formidable, but is actually a bit of a sweetheart. She isn't a full time model. Stevi is actually a student nurse who is specialising in becoming a midwife, and has so far successfully delivered a dozen babies. This only goes to show that looks can be deceptive.

I took this photo while she was posing for another photographer. She is sitting on the steps that lead up to the rear garden of Wollaton Hall.

Catching Up

I've been going through Blogger tonight and deleting all the spam message that I get. It's nearly as bad as my Hotmail account for rubbish messages. I also realised that I've missed publishing a number of posts, for one reason or another.

So here's the first of these posts. This is Emma, one of the many models that I have been shooting this year. Very pretty girl, and love her 'toxic' jumper.

Fairground Attraction

As I explained last night, I primarily went to Goose Fair to seek out some interesting people to photograph, but didn't really find any.  I did however come across this rather attractive young lady.

It looks like she has just won a cuddly duck.  There were lots of cuddly toys on offer for testing one's skills. Hoop-la, shooting, lucky cards etc. I wonder how she won hers?

She was right to wear a scarf, as it was quite cold last night. Still it is the time of year now for cold nights. It's raining while I am writing this. I quite enjoy listening to the sound of the raindrops falling on the windows. Just glad not to be out in it though.

Sharp Shooter

This entry was originally meant to have been posted on September the second, but Blogger is acting oddly and so has appeared today instead. After our excitement yesterday in Chester city centre we spent Sunday at well known photographer Damian McGillycuddy's studio. It was a great experience to be talking to a professional photographer, as he took us through the steps in creating an exciting and stylish photo. Setting the scene, sorting out the lighting and posing the model. He uses an Olympus OMD camera, and a rep from the company had come along with some, so that we could have a go with one. It is quite a small camera. A micro four thirds one, that has been based around their film cameras of the 1970s. It took some getting used to, as the layout is a lot different to the Nikons that I am now used to, or even my two Panasonics. The camera has a neat trick of producing a photograph in twelve different styles simultaneously using the built in art filter programme. I took a shot of Lois here, using one of the filters. She was lit by an off camera flash which faced a wall of glass bricks, which has added to the dreamy shot