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Tag Archives: Year

2019 seems like such a long time ago now. It’s history and by looking, I’m looking back. I find that I don’t do that as much as I used to. Possibly because I now prefer to look forward. What was quite nice though was to look back and see what I had experienced throughout the year. It was certainly very busy and to look back at some of the imagery brought the pace home.

We do quite a lot of portraits here, although I use the term portrait quite loosely. Many of them a little more than passport photos, we get the chance to be a little more interesting. Working in both the studio and on location a big part of the job as a photographer is dealing with and portraying people… or pigeons.

Sometimes you see a character that just draws you in. Often at the most surprising times, like the man who came dressed as a poppy on Remembrance Sunday in Banjul, Gambia.

I do love a good expression. In this image, the situation is not obvious at all, but the look on the young mans face tells a story, especially with his right hand lightly touching the bar, I can feel the tension.

Photographers get the chance to experience life outside of your normal boundaries. The annual Gurkha Dashain festival, is, by all accounts very different to the event back in Nepal, but when held here in the UK, they are vibrant colourful and great fun to experience.

It’s not all about bullets and bangs, there is often a subtlety in play when you have to try to tell a story in a visual way.

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.

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

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

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

300th Anniversary of the Personal Union

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

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

British Army says farewell to German town

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

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

UK COMMITS TO MAJOR POLISH EXERCISE IN SUPPORT OF EASTERN EUROPEAN ALLIES

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

UK COMMITS TO MAJOR POLISH EXERCISE IN SUPPORT OF EASTERN EUROPEAN ALLIES

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

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

British Army Flexes its armour in Poland exercise.

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

British Army Flexes its armour in Poland exercise.

The feet on the ground, every conflict needs them.

British Army Flexes its armour in Poland exercise.

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

British Army Flexes its armour in Poland exercise.

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

Throwing a spanner in the works

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

Inter-Service rivalry hits the slopes of France

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