PurpleT Photography

Derby Photo Walks 2012

PurpleT — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:43:30 +0000

Derby (UK) Photo Walks

Starting in March myself and my photo buddy Gary are holding a monthly Derby Photo Walk

Each monthly photo walk has a loose theme that you can interoperate, or you can just do your own thing and socialize. The purpose is to explore Derby and surrounding areas and seek out its visual interest as well as being a social thing. There is also informal advice and teaching available as well if desired. After we hang out at the Quad and look at any exhibitions that are on (as well as the Derby Museum) and relax while talking shop in the Coors bar with a beer or coffee.

Where possible we try to choose routes that are suitable for people who are physical impaired or disabled, but please contact us for precise details for each event

Photo Walks start at 2PM from the Quad and last about 2 hours (map)

Themes

3rd March- Reflection
7th April- Faith
5th May- Street
2nd June – Shadows
7th July – TBC
4th August – TBC
1st September – TBC
6th October – TBC
3rd November – TBC
1st December – TBC

Mobile Phone Photography

PurpleT — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:15:54 +0000

Late last year my friend Gary gave me his old iPhone after he’d had an upgrade. The ideas was for me to get used to using it as a media tool for when we’re out and about and want to upload photographs, tweets, news, status updates etc.
The introduction of smart phones with decent internet access has seen quite a revolution in the constant use of phones by people on the go. You can keep in touch with what is going on constantly with friends, or around the world in the news. For me, having use of an iPhone has proved to be far more about the photography side. With various camera apps offering lens and film effects, it’s been quite a revelation.

There are some who obviously don’t like what has become known as iphoneography. A friend was critical of one of my first posts on Facebook as he said you can tell it’s from an iPhone. To me this doesn’t matter. In that photo i captured an image with an old effect that i’d been trying to get for a while. It was on a beach in Kent whilst visiting a friend, so i can’t keep going back over and over to try and create what i was after. The phone app and a little simple editing was all it took in the end. Of course it doesn’t have to size and quality that the DSLR offers, but it did get what i wanted.

A beach scene in Kent with an old fashioned look similar to what i'd been after for a while.

One of my favourite apps has proved to be the Hipstamatic. With several lenses and films it offers a very wide range of effects via different combinations. Each combination also reacts differently depending on the light. They may work well in sunlight, but not as well when overcast. Whilst this makes it complicated trying to remember what works best, and when, it does mean having to experiment, and photography has always been about experimentation.

An example of a light leak effect from the lens.

As some of the old style camera apps use the square format, it has forced me to look at how i compose an image. The square format is not new of course, but it’s not what i have become accustomed to using. Again this has made me look closer at what i want in the image.

The phone app has made me look at how i wanted the shoe in the frame with the shadow. I think it works well.

The square format made have to think differently as to how i wanted the shoe and shadow in the frame. I think this works well.

I also took this photo on my DSLR, but i felt this composition worked better in the square format.

I’ve also taken to trying out the iPhone in the streets. Again there purists out there who don’t seem to agree with this, but there also a growing number of people who are using mobile phones for street photography. The slowness of the camera seems poor against a DSLR, but it does make you try and look harder for the moment as you have to think ahead a little more. The lens also give serious restrictions when the light is low, but it’s fun trying it out.

With the sun on the crowds of shoppers the camera coped quite well.

Although this had the low winter light coming from behind the subject, and it was starting to get rather dull in the afternoon, i think the camera copes fairly well.

I also sometimes use the Leme Cam app. It again has a few lens effects, as well as different cameras. Here i tried it indoors in a shopping mall. In the low light it comes out a little abstract.

Taken looking down an escalator.

Back to the Hipstamatic.
Outdoors it copes well with a landscape. There’s plenty of texture in the wall, and again the square format works well.

Quite a nice moody landscape.

A couple more nicely composed moody images taken outdoors.

A nice dark brooding sky with the power lines stretching across the frame.

A lovely dark brooding tree photo.

This one is a little different, i’d just downloaded the infra-red film for the Hipstamatic and wanted to experiment as i was walking the dog. I thought this one worked quite well with a late afternoon light with the sky starting to cloud over.

An experiment with the infra-red style fim effect.

The last two photos are of the setting sun. The first is again taken using the Hipstamatic. It shows the square format in use again, and also the way the colour can work with an old film effect.
The second shows a regular photo. It’s taken using King Camera, though it could just as easily been taken on the plain camera on the phone, or something like Camera+. It has very very little editing, and goes to show what a camera phone is capable of, even though this old iPhone doesn’t have the greatest camera built in compared to the latest version, or some other camera phones available.

I really like the effect of this looking into the sunset.

For all the effects that are available on the iPhone via camera apps and film and lens effects, and also post processing, sometimes you just have to go with what nature gives us as it's so wonderfully beautiful!

Most of these photos have had very little post processing, though there are quite powerful apps that can be used, and most of the ones here have been edited on the phone, if at all. You can of course take the photos off the phone and edit them on a PC or laptop. For me it’s been a learning curve without trying to look at the editing side too much.

All in all i’ve had fun so far with the iPhone. The camera may not be the best, and there’s a lack of versatility that you’d get with even a compact camera, let alone a DSLR. But the camera apps add something extra. Of course there are those who will spurn the apps as gimmicky, or not real photography, but to me it’s about trying to create an interesting and/or attractive image. It’s about art. It’s about experimenting. It’s not about who has the best camera, or the best lenses, it’s about using the tool in your hand to the best you can. Of course i still take out the DSLR, it has features that the phone doesn’t. It has lenses to offer greater options, such as wide angle, or telephoto. I can make nice large RAW images. The quality is so much greater, but sometimes it’s not practical to carry around, and so you make do with what you have. A mobile phone with various apps is certainly a tool that can be used to create art, so i for one will be supporting the use of the camera phone as a true photographic tool.

P.T.

National Strike, Derby, 30th November 2011

PurpleT — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:29:03 +0000

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets across Britain in the biggest strike for over 30 years.
In Derby around a thousand took part in a march through the city.

The Tory led government are trying to alter pension agreements for public sector workers. This will mean paying more and working longer for less. We see the bankers yet again being awarded large bonuses, and the top earners in the city getting pay rises on average of 49% in the last year, yet the public sector have a pay freeze that still has two years to go, and then will only get a 1% rise in each of the next two years. It’s hardly surprising they want to protect their pensions. Surely everyone should have a decent pension when they finally retire.
There is a real anger that those who caused the global financial crisis are getting away with it, yet the people least to blame are having to pay.

P.T.

Rainbow Warrior III

PurpleT — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:09:00 +0000

A few months ago i blogged about a benefit gig i photographed for the new Greenpeace ship, Rainbow Warrior III. The ship has now been built. On 12th and 13th of November there boat tours of the ship as it visited London as part of it’s testing stage, and also to say thank you to all the supporters who donated money to fund the build. As Greenpeace get no corporate or government funding, then it’s quite amazing how many people donated money to have such a fine new ship built.
The Rainbow Warrior III is the first ever purpose built campaigning ship. It’s possibly the most environmentally friendly ship on the planet, can sail at around 15 knots, has masts over 50 metres high, is highly maneuverable, and has far too many technical details for me to remember, let alone talk about here.

I had the opportunity to visit the new ship on Saturday 12th. The tour was due to start at 5pm so i took in a photography exhibition along the way and arrived at around 4:15. It was almost dark by this time so there was no chance of getting any photographs of the ship overall, but with lighting on the ship i thought i could get something decent.

On the stern of the ship.

Volunteers waiting to give us the tour.

Everything is so new and shiny....

Visitors admiring the ship.

The bridge and masts.

A crew member showing us around the bridge.

These boats can do around 40 knots and are very maneuverable.

Looking back after the tour at the red lights of the masts and their reflection.

A Greenpeace video from the Rainbow Warrior III visit to London with comments from both Greenpeace people and visitors.

P.T.

Zombie Walk 2011

PurpleT — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:18:15 +0000

The first ever official Derby Zombie Walk took place on Saturday 29th October.

Derby Kids Camp
Derbyshire Association For the Blind
Save the Children

Organised by
Deafbox Promotions, Shaun Bunting, Richard Tabletop Hemingray, Jason Dozer Andrasi

Acording to the local newspaper they raised about £400, so well done to them all.

It was a good turnout, and everyone seemed to have a great time. I certainly had fun following with a camera
And i managed to not get eaten )

P.T.

Fade to Bokeh….

PurpleT — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:23:30 +0000

The word bokeh, from the Japanese, boke, means blur, or haze. In photography it generally refers to the out of focus area in a photograph. As the out of focus area can be just as important as the in focus area, then the aesthetic quality of the bokeh produced by a lens is also important, especially when using a very shallow depth of field. Is it smooth, rough, circular, or some other shape? So the behaviour of the lens can have an effect on the overall look of the image.

Sometimes photographers choose to make the whole image unfocused, and so perhaps use lights to create shapes and patterns, or maybe to create a dream like look to an image that is different to soft focus. Of course this requires a lot of trial and error to find what you feel works.
Although i use a shallow depth of field in photographs at times, i’d not really put much effort into making fully out of focus images. Of the few i’ve taken over the years the odd one would work ok, but mostly they looked pretty awful. Having seen quite few great photos of this type on various sites over the last year or two, i had been thinking about trying it out. So a few nights ago as i walked away from an event on a local park i saw patterns in the lights from a combination of street lights, a hotel, and a “Big Wheel” that has been set up in the centre of town. I decided it would be worth having a go. But how out of focus should it be? How much blur would look best? I decided to take several photos at different focus settings.

Here are four images, the first was fully focused, and the last fully unfocused. The other two roughly break it into thirds.

Full focus.

Roughly a third of the way through the focus.

Roughly two thirds of the way through the focus.

Fully unfocused.

So which works best? Do any of them work?
For me i think the second and third work best. Placed together it’s obvious one is blurring to the other. As an overall image i have to go with the second as i like that you can still see the scene.

I think a lesson learnt here is that it’s not just about de-focusing and image, it’s about how much you de-focus it for that particular image to work. In the past i’ve not really thought about that, and so it’s probably why most failed badly.
P.T.

Google, Facebook, Why The Problem With Art Nude Photography?

PurpleT — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 21:42:06 +0000

I seem to be on my pet subject here. I’ll try not to ramble too much as i have a page dedicated to to this already.

In the time i’ve been on Facebook it’s always aggravated me that when it comes to nudity there is a complete ban. I’m certainly not the only one as many models also complain about this. Having seen the nude work of many of these models, some are wonderful art nudes, some alternative style containing nudity, and some are erotic, but non that i follow on Facebook or other sites could be considered pornographic!

Through social media it’s now possible to get to know something of the models. They generally seem to be decent and intelligent people. They model because they enjoy it, and if they’re prepared to do nude work then good for them. Mostly they seem in control of what they do and are happy with it. I have a lot of respect for them. Yet often they complain of photos being removed by Facebook, or even that their page is closed down, even if they don’t show full nudity.

Photographers also complain about not being able to show their full range of photography if they do nude work. There’s rarely anything pervy about it, and often it’s female photographers working with female models. On the whole there is a lot of respect shown to each other. Yet many have photographs removed by Facebook, the same as models, because someone decides to follow them and then complains about the photos. Often they don’t even contain nudity. I see this as an insult to both the model and photographer.

Would it really be so hard for Facebook to have a photo setting that warned it contains nudity? Some blog sites do this for “adult material”, and photo sharing sites, if you’re lucky, will have and adult setting, and if you’re really really lucky, they have a moderate setting too

Now to Google
Google+ are using their Picasa Web Albums for photography. Here’s the relevant part of their terms.

PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY:

So simple nudity as art is placed alongside paedophilia, incest, bestiality, and child pornography. And it’s classed alongside commercial pornography. This really doesn’t make sense. I do some work as a life model, and have done for twenty years. If someone wanted to use me for a well lit art nude photo they wouldn’t be able to display it in a Google+ album.
From my personal view i find it extremely offensive that a photograph of me is placed in the same bracket as paedophilia, incest, bestiality, and child pornography.

I posted some experimental art nude photos of myself in a blog on Blogspot. This is run by Google. Some months later i happened to look at Picasa Web Albums and found an album of photos from Blogspot posts. It was publicly viewable, so therefore i was breaking the above terms without even knowing. Blogspot allows you to give a warning that the post may contain nudity, so i thought i’d followed the rules. I tended not to use Picasa as i really don’t like it much, and to find photos from blog posts were public in that way was quite a surprise. Fortunately by not using Picasa then there were hardly any views of the photos, but what if someone had seen them and complained?
Now i think the default setting is private….

I now use Google+ and would like to be able to show art nudes, and also to see what other photographers are doing. There are plenty of us out here that appreciate the art of the human body, so why are we not allowed to be grown ups and both show, and view, art nude photography? All it takes is a way of warning viewers so they don’t have to look if they don’t want to. Is it really that difficult?

The body should be free, not a hiden captive!

We should have freedom of bodily expression, not be caged!

P.T.

Playing Around With A Lensbaby

PurpleT — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:32:53 +0000

Whilst at an event recently i suddenly saw an opportunity to try some artistic photos using my Lensbaby Composer. I’d not really had much opportunity to use it lately, but looking at a small group practicing their drumming, i started to see how it might look, so out came the Lensbaby with the f2.8 aperture ring.

I moved the point of focus to the bright coloured drum stick. The effect of the lens together with fairly high colour and contrast editing gives it quite a dramatc look.

P.T.

Imelda

PurpleT — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 12:10:57 +0000

I very rarely get the opportunity to do portrait photography. Most of my people photos are random, quickly taken photographs in the street. Recently when talking to a student, Imelda, who is taking an art and design course at the college i work at, she said she’d like to do some modeling. So for once i had someone to photograph.

We discussed it more, and as she really likes photography i said she could use my old DSLR for the day, after we’d finished the modeling part. This gives me the opportunity to also offer advice if she needs it, and to talk about her photos, so hopefully help her to develop her own style and improve.

Here’s my favourites of Imelda from the day.

Imelda likes to look serious.....

It's been said that Imelda looks like 1920's movie star in this black and white photograph. I think she has a very photogenic face.

Again she's looking very serious....

Although not part of the photo shoot, i couldn’t resist this one as Imelda sat with my old camera and used the screen as a mirror to check her hair.
Such vanity

Imelda checking her hair in the camera screen whilst taking a break...

We had a really good day, and a lot of fun. Hopefully we’ll get do more, and i can get her out and about to try different places and styles of photography.

P.T.

Back To The Pylons (And No It’s Not Odd To Photograph Them)

PurpleT — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 23:01:52 +0000

Back in mid January i posted a blog Is It Odd To Photograph Pylons?
Part of my reason for taking the photos was due to the absurdity of peoples complaints against wind turbines, mostly that they can see them, though of course people claim they’re noisy, cause a flicker effect, kill birds, and most bizarre of all, that they scare people.

Since my last pylon blog i’ve still not had the opportunity to get really close up to a wind farm to get really decent photos. This perhaps goes to show how few there are compared to the several million pylons we have strutting around the countryside. I have however seen several applications for wind turbines struggle to get through planning. The most ridiculous being a relatively small turbine at a new library on a park. I think the size would have only been about 10m, or 15m at the very most. It would have helped generate energy for the new library and so helped keep costs down in the long term. The main objectors were a local bowls club, and their biggest objection was that the blades “whizzing” round would put of people playing bowls, and would also make people feel they could get hit by the blades. I can only assume they might fear getting their heads cut off like a rambling group once claimed.
Of course, cars coming and going in the car park, other players moving about, and even the wind in the trees would probably cause more disruption to their concentration than the slow moving blades of a fairly small wind turbine. Never the less, the turbine plan was shelved due to time constraints, so the loonies won!

Although i’ve not been able to photograph turbines, i did see some on a recent visit to Kent, but could only get to within about 400-500 metres of them, and just couldn’t find a place to get a decent photo……
I did however notice that i couldn’t hear them, saw no flicker effect, and they certainly looked far too high to cut off a persons head!

The area was also near to the Dungeness nuclear power station, so of course, there were a very large number of pylons marching across the countryside, and it’s always easy to get near to pylons, so photos had to be taken…….

Strictly speaking i guess these aren't actually pylons. They do come from pylons (seen in the distance) that come direct from the nuclear power station at Dungeness, so they are at least a part of the system. On the horizon to the right hand side of the photo you can just see the wind turbines.....

A fairly classic type photo looking through from one pylon to another...

Although they look symetrical, it's almost impossible to get a truly symetrical photo of a pylon. There always seems to be something that doesn't quite line up!

Another classic style pylon photograph.

A slightly more unusual view looking up a pylon.

After a lot of comments on my previous post, i thing the general view was that it’s not odd to photograph pylons, especially when done in an arty way.

P.T.

Sunrise/Sunsets

PurpleT — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 22:19:43 +0000

Whilst visiting a friend in Kent recently i had the good fortune to see a rather good sunset. There have been many glorious sunsets, and sunrises, i’ve seen over the years, but not always at times when it’s possible to take photos. This was one of the occasions i was able to.
Such beauty always leaves me in awe, and desperately trying to justice to such beauty!

This made me look back at a few other sunrise and sunset photos i’ve taken, so here’s a few, starting with Kent……

I felt the sun setting between the trees made a nice composition.

There was a glorious golden light for a while that just had to be captured.

A very spectacular sunset. I was out with my girlfriend (at the time) and we had to chase the sunset to get to a good viewpoint.

The same sunset as above, but zoomed in to show the light on the clouds.

Although primarily a photo of the moon, it was the start of the sun setting on the Winter Solstice 2009. The clouds catching the early pinky/redness from the sun works well with the blue of the sky.

The same sunset as above taken on the Winter Solstice 2009. I walked to the top of a hill to get a better view.

Another photo taken during the early part of a sunset. I was on a walking trip in Yorkshire with friends. Heading back the campsite this view grew in front of us as we drove over the brow of a hill. Although too hazy to get a deep red or golden sunset, the light at this point was very beautiful.

This was early morning at the end of a music festival i used to work at. We'd been up partying all night when i wandered out for some air and saw this wondrous sight. It had been raining and i had to rest the camera on a wet table, so caught some of the reflection too.

The same sunrise as above, but a few minutes later outside.

P.T.

Low Light……..New Lens

PurpleT — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 23:50:39 +0000

Last Saturday i found myself standing outside a hall that was holding a folk festival.
Having just tried to capture something of the event with a hundred or so people singing in an acoustically wonderful foyer, and realising that you just can’t capture that wonderful sound in a still photograph, i stood around looking for something else whilst listening to the music.

It was late at night and very overcast with rain in the air. Standing under the shelter at the entrance to the hall allowed a view towards two areas lit by street lights. This is the kind of lighting i love as i feel it creates a great atmosphere, especially when there are few people about.
It was also a chance to try out my new lens in low light, the one i had to buy quickly to replace the one that broke recently. With limited finances i eventually decided on the Sigma 18-125mm f3.8-5.6 HSM with Optical Stabiliser.

Here’s a couple of my favourite photos whilst standing outside.

I love the darkness of this one, and the slight movement of the couple as they walk along. To me it has an unfriendly feel to it, a little unpopulated and lonely as the two people head home.......Taken at 1/30 sec at 110mm, handheld.

Looking this direction with both cars and pedestrians leaving, it looked somehow less sinister to me. The headlights lighting up the green of the grass, and the red rear lights reflected in the water on the road seems to give it more life......Taken at 1/30sec at 73mm, handheld.

Generally the new lens worked well in the dark. I wasn’t trying to push it too much at full zoom due to the slow shutter speed, but at 110mm handheld at 1/30 second, then the optical stabiliser seems to work ok as it should at least be taken at 1/200 second at that focal length (considering the crop factor of the smaller sensor). Being able to use 6400 ISO also helps, and although the noise level is fairly high, it also helps give it some atmosphere.

P.T.

Street Photography?

PurpleT — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 22:53:34 +0000

There’s always a lot said about what constitutes “Street Photography”, but who’s to say who is right? Does it have to be portraits? Do they have to be candid? Or can you get up close and personal? Do there have to be crowds? Or can the street be empty?
Well i was in a street, and i photographed the street. The people were purely incidental, but just happen to help make a decent composition. So i think this definitely qualifies as a street photograph……..and i like it!

A street photograph.....

P.T.

Death of a lens…..

PurpleT — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:41:20 +0000

Today my all purpose lens decided to give in! The Sigma 18-200mm with Optical Stabiliser. As an all purpose lens’ when unable to carry a full bag of kit’ it has proved to be great. Image quality has been good for such a long zoom range, so i’m quite sad it’s broken.

The zooming ring suddenly stopped working, it turned but didn’t zoom the lens. I was having to photograph whilst cycling in a large group of people, so there was no chance to stop and see what was wrong. The lens still moved, but i wasn’t to keen on that with the zoom ring not working. But slung over my shoulder the lens slid by itself, so i locked it. I still managed to take photos as we cycled around, but at the end when i tried to take a few photos the auto focus stopped working, it went a bit crazy! Manual focus worked ok, but by now i really didn’t want to use it until i’d had it looked at by professionals.

Sitting on the train on the way home i had a look at it and could hear something rattling around inside, and that really has to be a bad sign.

As much as i’d like to be able to get it fixed, i do wonder if it’s worth it. It often costs just to have it looked at, and repairs can be expensive. Even if i did get it fixed i’m not sure i’d really trust a lens that’s had bits rattling around inside. I’m not sure, but i think the Optical Stabiliser had also stopped working, if so then that would also be quite bad.

In the meantime i need to get something to use as an everyday lens. I’m thinking of a standard zoom of 18-50(or 55)mm, but that leaves me a bit of a gap in lenses, so a 18-125mm may be worth trying……….

If money were no object then there’s many lenses i’d consider, but unfortunately money is so often tight.

P.T.

Reflection……..

PurpleT — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 00:16:31 +0000

I probably don’t look at reflections as much as i should, but walking with a friend on a local park the other day gave me the chance to see this in the river.

Sometimes the reflection offers an interesting viewpoint that's just a little different.....

P.T

Creepy

PurpleT — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:55:42 +0000

This is a photograph i took recently after a night at a friends birthday party. Even trying to rest the camera on some railings it was almost impossible to keep it still, especially as the gap was barely big enough to fit the camera in. I think it gives a slightly creepy, or maybe sinister, look to it.

Sometimes a little camera shake works ok.

A fire escape at the rear of a building in very low light. With a little camera shake i think it looks a little creepy, or sinister....

P.T.

Sad Bastards!!

PurpleT — Fri, 27 May 2011 23:49:45 +0000

This isn’t the best photograph i’ve ever taken, and if it wasn’t for the comment from the losers in the photo, then i’d probably not even be showing it.

I was looking at reflections in an empty shop window. This isn’t too bad as it breaks down into three sections, but like i said, it’s not the best.

These three lads had no idea what i was doing. They had no idea i was looking for reflections, but as they walked past they saw me taking photos. There was a comment about photographing a window, then they called me a “Sad Bastard”.

Well if it’s sad to try to look for something different, something interesting, or something that may be aesthetically interesting through its composition, then i guess i am a sad bastard.

If, on the other hand, being someone who does try to see something interesting in the world them, and tries to capture this in an interesting image, makes me a sad bastard, then just what does it make these totally unimaginative losers..??

Not bad, but not brilliant. But at least i'm trying to make something interesting of the world around me rather than just taking the piss out of those who do, such as these losers who thought it good to insult me!

Mobile Portraits

PurpleT — Wed, 18 May 2011 23:26:11 +0000

Whist out taking photographs in the street i started to notice just how many people are using a mobile phone, whether talking or texting. It started in London during the Royal Wedding whilst taking candid style portraits. Looking at the photos on the camera i was surprised at just how many were using a phone. Even if they’re not using it they’re so often carrying it at the ready.

Working at a college with students then i’ve come to expect use of a mobile phone to take precedent over pretty much everything else. For many young people it seems life can’t carry on unless they have a phone at the ready, it’s a scourge of the classroom. But it’s becoming more and more noticeable that people of most age groups are now using mobile phones wherever they go. What is really disconcerting is that most don’t really look where they’re going. It’s now well known that using a mobile phone is very distracting when driving, but pedestrians walk into the road quite happily in front of vehicles. It can be quite frightening to watch.

Walking around town today photographing people using a phone became my theme for the day………

Taken in London during the Royal Wedding after i'd noticed how many people i captured on the phone. I loved the colours against the tree, and the fact she was oblivious to pretty much anything going on around her.

Happy in her conversation.

How does she juggle the bags and folder, and still use the phone...?

Texting away with no great concern for who, or what, she might bump in to.

Lost in conversation.....

Talking rather than looking where he's going.

Doing a business deal perhaps..? But Is the Market Place the right place..?

People on phones rarely seem to be looking where they're going. So often they have their eyes down....

Walking across a road without a care in the world.

Another phone user with eyes down.....

P.T.

Royal Wedding 2011

PurpleT — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 23:58:23 +0000

As Propergander-Art, myself and Gary decided the royal wedding was a good opportunity to head London and do some street photography and capture something of the people going to the big event.

A 3:50am coach was booked, so with very little sleep, off we went.

Walking the streets proved to be harder than we’d thought. With tight security the roads were kept clear forcing people to walk only on the pavements. We soon realised that we could easily end up blocked in, so tried walking around a bit more to look for the crowds as they came into the area around Westminster. It was still hard to find good places to photograph, so thought it best to head towards St James Park near Buckingham Palace. Even that proved difficult, but the walk gave us the chance to start taking photos. Something we notices were all the flags being handed out by people from certain magazines, so everyone carrying their flags were giving them advertising, so blatant commercialisation of the royal event, and something i personally found quite tacky.

Ready to celebrate, yet walk along advertising Hello Magazine. A sad reflection of commercialisation.

Once in St James Park there was quite a mass of the red, white, and blue of the Union Jack. Flags of various sizes, hats, shirts. Not a sight you often see in this country any more.

Two girls very well dressed for the ocasion

A mass of Union Jacks, but even here there's the word SUN advertising the daily newspaper.

A woman photographing herself, a very typical thing nowadays since the introduction of digital compacts and camera phones.

A young woman uses her boyfriend to help balance so she can see over the crowds.

It was very very busy!

We were never likely to find a way through to see the carriage as it passed along The Mall.

It was obvious that we wouldn’t get to see anything of the procession unless we chose a spot and stayed there, so we spent some time trying to relax amongst many others who were eating and drinking on the park, or just walking around taking in the atmosphere. Then the wedding party were due on the balcony, and the traditional kiss between the happy couple. All the prime positions had been taken hours earlier, so again we settled for photographing the people, especially after the balcony appearance when we chose a position on a path where perhaps a few thousand people were walking by. It was a bit crowded for photographs at times, but we still had the chance to pick people out in the crowds.

A happy reveller.

I stole their smiles as they posed for a photo for their friend.

Even the tree celebrated with a flag....

Two ladies learn the meaning of the term "The Royal Wee".

An interesting cake hat she has on.

Another couple enjoying the day.

The Union Jack was proudly warn by many.

We'd seen theis guy earlier in the day. A completely over the top outfit, but i think he had a good day...

Taking it easy in the park after the wedding.

We took a walk back around the park. There was a band playing the great British music such as Jerusalem, Land Of Hope And Glory, and of course, the national anthem.

A woman getting into the spirit of the ocasion whilst a ban played Lang Of Hope And Glory.

Finally we decided to move away from the park, find a cafe, and then look for more photos around the streets.

Two or three hours after the wedding and poeple were still crowding the streets.

Royal family masks were being worn by many.

A reveller near Trafalgar Square looking like he'd had a few drinks, but was in good humour and gave me a big smile after taking the photo.

He looked like he'd had a good day, but was ready to go home. He was looking for a particular shop, which fortunately i managed to direct him to.

Eventually it was time to head home after a long hot day.

As a photographer this had been a good chance to take photos around a national event. From a personal view it’s something i find hard to do. I take a lot of photographs in the streets, but i tend to avoid people quite a lot. My past involves having been the victim of violence on many occasions, and only last summer, as mentioned in a previous post, i was victim of a violent mugging. I don’t like crowds, and i’m not very trusting of large groups of people. To stick a camera in front of strangers is something i find very hard to do, i guess it’s why i prefer the more candid photos. I think this has started to help me get a little more used to photographing people in public, and so that’s a good thing.

As Gary is using a particular technique he’s been working on that means getting in close to people, i have to learn how to work around that so he doesn’t get in my way too much. I like what he’s doing so can’t complain, and it’s just a part of learning to work alongside another photographer using a different style. We did realise something we can do where we work as a team, and something i don’t think anyone else is doing at the moment. It’ll mean going to large friendly events, or tourist places, but i think we’ve hit on something that will prove interesting. But more on that at a later stage as i don’t want to give anything away for now.

Something else that was good about the day was they way people wore the Union Jack. For most of my adult life people wearing it have tended to be drunken football hooligans, drunken holiday makers embarrassing our nation, or people involved in extremist groups or political parties. April 29th 2011 showed how the people can take back the flag from the thugs and extremists. I’m not a monarchist at all, and i’ll not get into the politics in this post, but for one day it was damned good to see the flag of my homeland used in a good, peaceful, and celebratory way.

P.T

Propergander Art-Street Photography Collective

PurpleT — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 16:45:45 +0000

After much conversation with my mate Gary, and after viewing thousands of images during the Format International Photography Festival in Derby, we decided it was time to set up a collective. Not only was this years Format Festival based around street photography, we realised much of also came via photography collectives. As much of what we do is based around observations from walking around towns and cities, then street photography seemed a good theme to base a collective on. And so, Propergander Art was formed!

“The group is dedicated to the promotion of photography in the East Midlands with the creation of joint projects running in different cities, showing life in public places. The collective is also responsible for its own curation, for the purpose of exhibitions and publications as well as education and the promotion of compelling and vivid contemporary street photography.“

The name Propergander Art comes from the slang, to have a gander, or to have a look. This certainly fits with some of my earlier posts such as “About Town”, “The Rise Of The Machines”, and “London Underground” as examples of just wandering around with a camera and looking for something interesting, either as a single image, or images that can be put together to form a narrative.

In time we will be looking to run workshops, especially for beginners to photography, and to help people get the most out of compact digital cameras and camera phones.

We will be photographing our own area, but also will work on personal projects. The area of street photography is quite vast so we hope to be diverse, and to show our different styles through our work.

The website is still being worked on, but feel free to book mark it ready for when it’s fully up and running. We also have Twitter and a Facebook page Propergander-Art Please take a look and give us support as we steadily grow and develop.

P.T.