I realise that in the last couple of years I have not fulfilled the commitment of a BLOG properly. Now I could make every excuse in the world, but who am I kidding.

I sometimes wonder what is the point of this blog? Am I trying to reach anyone? No, not really. This is much more of a diary really, an opportunity to put some thoughts down, ideally thoughts I don’t mind others knowing about, that is.

So after a relatively poor show for some time, where do you go to try to kick it all off again?

The last twelve months have been busy with one thing and another. There have been some really interesting trips away, a lot of mundane work, but then that is the lot of essentially being a staff photographer.

Here are some images taken pretty much in the last year, I will add a notation explaining them.

The year has tended to start with covering the Divisional championships in France.

An unusual trip to Cyprus and the last European divided city, here the tour piper uses the solitude of the roof to practice.

The military do occasionally do this kind of thing from time to time.

The summer saw the spectacle of the Queens birthday reception in Hannover, with all the pomp and ceremony you could imagine.

Sport and competition is and always will be a big part of the military experience, this was from the British Forces Germany athletics finals.

The final pomp in the small spa town of Bad Oeynhausen.

Army restructuring brings with it new training opportunities and part of that is seeing exactly what the kit is able to do.

Poland has been a big part of this year, with two exercises being covered.

‘Green eyes’, or Night vision can make for an interesting shot.

This year has been a whole lot of ‘last one’s’, here is the last British Army Polo competition in Germany before the withdrawal.

A second visit to Poland saw our largest armoured deployment for an exercise for decades.

The feet on the ground, every conflict needs them.

A soldier moves as quickly as he can over open ground during the exercise.

A British Challenger 2 can move very quickly over rough terrain, one of the fastest.

Army boxing is in good form and an amazing experience to see.

The last bookend, back to skiing, this time an Army snowboarder makes some shapes against a dramatic backdrop.

Boxing and capturing raw emotion

February 26, 2015

Sport / Action

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It’s not very often, but occasionally I will get the chance to capture a boxing competition. What could be more fun than shooting two teams trying to belt the living hell out of each other?

Well fun is the wrong word I suppose, It’s not fun. These competitions are tense, in fact the air feels thick, it’s an effort to move around.

Capturing these things can be difficult, but I think you have to put the time in, spend time with these boys in the build up. The afternoon is all about the bravado, the image, the focus. Young men with little experience but a big heart and weeks of dedicated training. Too much effort to just let it all go.

Then the evening comes, the tension just gets worse. Making eye contact, looking for a glimpse of an emotion, but the discipline is good, just focus.

The bell goes, the crowd erupt. I wonder if the fighters even hear it all. I try to be in the ring with them, to pre-empt the attack, it’s not easy trying to be inside someone’s head.

Three two minute rounds sounds like a breeze, a token effort, but that is not what the faces say. Now the fight is on the masks slip a little, on some more than others. The chatter between rounds seems pointless as you feel the fighters know now how it is all going to go. Have they got the measure of their opponent?

Still, it only takes one hit, lucky, maybe. You make your own luck. All those hours of training seem distant, has it all been worth it?

The fight ends, the final bell. What now? The fighters seem lost. Who won, dare I believe? There is no certainty, only confusion. Two confident boxers believe, but they can’t both be right, so who saw what? What did the judges see? The crowd silenced in anticipation.

As the referee calls the competitors forward and grabs their wrists, the fighters regain composure daring to anticipate. The ref holds up the winners hand and then for a moment the story reveals itself for a briefest of moments. It’s all over, this time.

Was it really worth it? Don’t ask me, I bear no bruises from this one.

It’s not real, is it?

September 26, 2013

Military work

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Charging through the forests of Germany, being thrown about the back of one armoured vehicle or another, it would seem that there is not a flat driving surface anywhere here. This exercise seems to be calm anticipation with periodic madness, blink and you will miss it. No pressure…

This is a joint exercise with British and German units training along side each other. It is armoured, so there are Tanks and AFV’s (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) rolling all over the place. The safety staff are beginning to HATE me, as I dart around from one shot to the next, so what? If I get run over, I probably won’t even feel it… As a photographer it comes with the territory to have a good all round awareness. Gone are those early days when all I did was look through the viewfinder, now I feel like my photography is more about instinct and premonition. I am sure that is not entirely true but hey!

I have covered these type of exercises before and come away with very little as the action is not really easy to pinpoint. You can spend your day around a group of soldiers who may not actually be involved in much. Reality…

Photographically at least, this one worked perfectly, we ran around like seemingly headless chickens, knowing the kind of things we wanted to capture but not confident that they would present themselves. It is an instant that is at times one of the more frustrating parts of the job but also gives you some excitement. Will I or won’t I?

The great thing about these kind of days is they tend to be as much training for you as the others. Trying to interview (getting a few words) young guys who are as alert as they can be on their surroundings.

Yes it is fair to say that days like this make me happy as I search for the images.

I hope you like them…

Landscaping and inspiration

May 18, 2013

Landscapes, travel

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Landscape photography is I think in many ways one of the hardest genre’s of photography and certainly one of the more difficult to make a living from. The search for a photograph is demanding and very time consuming and nothing beats experience.

Whilst in Las Vegas we have the opportunity to visit the gallery of Peter Lik, arguably one of the most prolific landscape photographers of our time. Now there are some amazing landscapes out there to see if you look hard enough, digital photography has certainly made the skill more accessible.

To see inspirational imagery in the flesh is always very inspiring for me, the internet and books mostly sell the real stuff short but to see these images as the photographer intended can be great fun. I have to say that the way Peters’ images are displayed is nothing short of amazing and has given me ideas for presenting some of my own work.

Inspired I decided to make some landscapes of my own. These are not in the same league as his dedication to capturing the greatest of images is overwhelming and shows you what it takes to succeed in this, at times, fickle industry.

I don’t really do many landscapes but I would seriously like to rectify this if I can. Maybe 2013 will be a year for landscapes after all.

A very Las Vegas wedding!

May 12, 2013

Wedding

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Ask any photographer, well nearly every one and they will tell you they are always tinkering. New ideas, new shots, new cameras or lenses, different venues. There is simply no shortage of things you can adjust.

Now before I go too far here, I was not the official photographer, and the chapel did not want any other photographs taken, so I was simply a guest (which was lovely). So this time I left the camera in the hotel room and took my iPad instead. I have been shooting a bit with the iPad this week anyway.

I have to say, these shots are a bit of fun and the iPad is not the best for taking photographs but with some snapseed action some of them came out quite well. So here is a selection.

The cheek of the job!

March 7, 2013

Military work, Portraits, Sport / Action

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Just a quick one today. As I wait once again for the computer to keep up with me, it is an ideal opportunity to post some images from a recent Skiing competition I was covering.