Saltburn Folk Festival

Another Tees Valley Community Media event. Not usually my type of music, but then again, neither was most of the MELA or SIRF!
Having been unhappy with most of my images from the SIRF and with me feeling my photographs are becoming a little stale, it was time to try and focus on stretching my people shots, I made a mental note to try and get closer, crop tighter, in camera. On the whole, I feel happier with the shots from this event.

SIRF 2007

I wandered along to the annual Stockton International Riverside Festival last Sunday as a volunteer photography for Tees Valley Community Media. Now people shots, crowds, bands, etc isnt really my type of thing, so volunteering for these TVCM events is an attempt to stretch my photographic abilities further.
There were flags everywhere on the approach.

I took a wander through the fairground first, watching the spinning rides, watching the way long hair was flung outwards by centrifugal force

As I came back through past the main fringe stage I was surprised to see Paul Weller and the New Jam on stage!

I took lots of shots, way too many to post process, somewhere in the region of 250.




I'm still getting used to asking people in the crowd if they mind me taking their picture, it feels a little alien to me, but every now and then, you come across someone who comes and ask you to anyway!

I think my favourite act of the day was Grupo Puja, with a band on stage singing (chanting?!?) strange haunting sounds and a seperate team performing aerial acrobatics.

Nic and Kirsty's wedding

I was asked by a friend at work if I would come and photograph his wedding. So a week ago I wandered along to Whitworth Hall, a deer park and country hall in County Durham. The weather stayed good all day, surprising given all the floods of late. Nic and Kirsty were incredible, they both had a great sense of humour which was shared by all their family and friends, it was one of the nicest weddings I've been to.

At the beginning of the ceremony, I was shooting with no flash, high ISO to try and be less intrusive.

Once the Bride and Groom were in position, it became clear that the large window they were stood in front of was going to become a problem, so I switched to a SB600 external flash.

After the ceremony was complete and everyone had had a drink, it was time for some confetti


Normal formal shots were done, with lots of input and special group requests from various guests, then we gathered all the guests together for a large group photo.

All in all, a lovely day, though I find myself feeling exhausted afterwards, I think I put alot of pressure on myself to try and get the right shots.