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.

Flickr Meet - Roseberry Topping

This month's flickr meet started out at The Buck Inn @ Great Ayton. It was good to meet up with everyone again and after a brief foray into the town for Ice Cream (true to form - I opted for a cuppa instead), we drove to the base camp and started the long trek upwards. I'll post some pictures later of the more traditional type, but once we got to the top, I unveiled my tyre - clearly I couldnt leave home without one and carrying a full size tyre up the topping would have been out of the question so I borrowed one from Alvin's remote control truck - it had to be done - really - it did have to be done - I am making a mental note never to leave home without one. For the discerning reader who doesnt know what I am going on about - take a look here.






The other bit of silliness on the top involved parachutes and moo cards. For those unfamiliar with Moo cards - they look like this....


When attached to a parachute, they look like this during launch....




Some people find them a little strange, perhaps hard to figure out...


...but when in full flight they can be both graceful and beautiful...


...and even have their own strange mating rituals....

Newcastle and beyond

Sometimes, you just have to get out, even when you dont feel like going anywhere. Saturday was one of those days, so I wandered northwards to Wards Graphics just below the Metro Centre for some mount boards and suitable tools - having made the decision to mount a couple of images each month and then to organise an exhibition. Having made the trip, I ventured down to the Quayside in Newcastle. It is one of the places I seldom travel to, perhaps because of my almost complete lack of knowledge about the geography of the place - its one of the few places I seem to always get lost in the one way systems.

My main hope was to get some pictures of the Silver Slug and Millenium Bridge, which I did, but I think the bridge has much more potential at dusk - definitely worth a repeat visit!





Whilst wandering around, it turned out there was an Americana concert at the Silver Slug (aka Sage).




After a brief (but torrential) downpour, I headed east, to Whitley Bay, one of those places I had heard of but never visited. I hadnt realised it has a beautiful lighthouse and I was really blessed by good light and interesting skies :-)



Whitley Bay seems to have that common feel of most seaside towns, most of which have seen better days, but it is quite a beautiful spot. The past heydays of the 50's and early 60's, before international travel became so accessible seemed to be embodied by the old derelict Spanish City building.



It is nice to see that this has made Grade II Listed Building status and that it is due to be cleaned up and renovated. I will have to make a return trip to see the finished result.

Nightime wanderings

Photography is good for the soul. The night before last I went for a midnight wander with the dog and my camera down to one of my regular haunts on the beach. Surprisingly there was no rain and the stars werent entirely obscured by the clouds, though the low light levels (no moonlight) meant 30 second exposures at F4.5, focussing was guesswork.





As I wandered across the beach I came across some very unusual sandcastles, with a nefarious tyre standing guard.



Needless to say, I circled carefully!

Middlesbrough Mela 2007

Middlesbrough's annual multi-cultural festival event organised by the Tees Valley Community Media. A great family day out, with a wide variety of music, food and a wonderful atmosphere despite the rain.











For more shots of this, pop across to my flickr set, or have a look at Pie-Girl or CWR's shots of the same event.