There was a time, when I used to travel by plane quite a bit, mostly short haul within South-East Asia. Most of the life to be seen was outside the window- hence my hundreds of views from above photos, but sometimes funny moments happened on the plane. My neighbour and I never really did meet. Might have been a character.
I saw these guys as I got off the river bus in Bangkok. Judging by their boots, I think this must be their beat.
The canals are popular thoroughfares in Bangkok, with the river buses carrying thousands of commuters to work every day. A river bus journey is quite spectacular, with the noise of the engine and the speed of the bus itself.
This photo dates back to a session I did with Gavin Goff. We visited a number of markets and temples and Gavin got in there and approached people and interacted. I think this was the main thing I learned from him. Strange that this was just a grab shot then! Here, I was using another technique which he popularised, by panning with a fairly wide angle lens.
On the road at the moment – so this strikes a chord. I don’t enjoy flying, but I do enjoy looking out the window. I believe Julianne Kost (a well-known Adobe person) is the same – I enjoyed a book of her aeroplane window photos.
When I was young, I used to watch aeroplanes flying overhead, wishing that I was on them (this was the 70s – they were probably quite nice). Here I wish I was on the ground, walking through the jungle.
I don’t usually like doing concert photography. Getting a decent spot can be difficult and there usually isn’t much opportunity to take a different kind of photo. Having said that, I quite like the look of this.
I have only been to Bangkok a few times. But on one of them I managed to get a couple of sessions with Gavin Goff (a noted travel photographer).
Gavin’s approach was very proactive: talk to people; get closer. So when we got to the produce market and I saw this man, his advice was clear – get in there!
I rather like this portrait, the dark background and his white hat. I also like his amulets, which he wore in a chain around his neck.
Once upon a time, I used to photograph actors for Spotlight (a actors’ directory).
This picture comes from a session I attended with a photographer called Steffano. The model was Kayt Webster-Brown – who is a professional photographer now.
I like the simplicity of the image, although most of the things which make it interesting have nothing to do with me. I really like the contrast of the red lipstick with the very pale skin.
Sometimes you look for pictures: sometimes they come to you.
At the last minute, I had flown over to Bangkok to take a session with Gavin Goff (a noted travel photographer). I believe I was with him waiting on the platform of the metro when we met these young men. Much like supermarkets on Sundays, if you wait long enough everyone will pass. I’m not quite sure what they were up to – but they appeared to be having fun.
Thanks to Katie Melua, most people tend to think of Beijing as a place with lots bicycles and 30 years ago, that was probably true. No so much now. Mostly cars.
But, there is lots of street life, which I was trying to show a little bit here. And there is a bicycle.
Sometimes, when I look at my photos I try to imagine a narrative about what I can see. In this case, I imagine that it is a mother and son, coming home from dinner. And they seem happy, which I like.
I’m afraid it isn’t perfectly asharp. A few years before I did a session with Gavin Goff (a noted travel photographer), who became known for a while for doing sharp panning shots of street life. To make it really work you need a fast wide-angle lens, be quite close and use a slowish shutter speed. Done just right you get a sharp figure moving through blurred surroundings – which looks good.
Too many landscapes lately – so I thought I would post from a concert.
One of the nice things about less formal concerts, is that you can get a decent view of the stage, so it is quite easy to take pictures. Technically, concerts are quite difficult, because there isn’t a lot of ambient light and the light there is, is usually from a spot source. I was using a Canon 50D and a 35mm f2 lens, working at 3200 ASA @ f2.8 or so. I’m pleased I caught his hair with what was probably quite a long exposure. Anyway – liked the bouncy hair and the grimace.
