The Annual Tea Dance

Oh goodness me, this was possibly the cutest, most lovely event I've ever been too never mind photographed. I had an absolute ball. And so did all the guests - it was great fun. The Mayor even popped along to show off his moves..

I was very impressed with the Mayor's dancing skills.

Some of the ladies dancing the afternoon away with students. This is one of my favourites from the afternoon even if it is a tad yellowy.

If I remember rightly, this was the barn dance. 

I don't remember which dance this was but these two were very much enjoying their dance. I really the depth of field on this too. 

A long shot of the table to the left. Above and Below the same with a serving of tea.

Picking out a lucky raffle winner..

Two of the happy RAG raffle winners, both with a nice bottle each ready for Christmas.

I know this isn't a very good photo technically but this student asked the gentleman to dance and it made me smile, and miss my Bingo crew back home as well. 

Now this pair were very into their dancing and I don't think they left the dance floor very often. I love the stance in this shot, even with the slight motion blur. 

I managed to sneak up to a high point somewhere (still not sure where..) and get a nice overview of the dance floor and the guests. 

Our VC also paid a visit to the Tea Dance, making the guest feel welcome as he and the SU President made a speech.

Another favourite of mine, I love the repetition in this image with the couple behind in a very similar pose.

One talented keyboard player.

This very happy couple asked me to take their photograph as they said they "couldn't remember the last time they had such fun dancing". Always a nice thing to hear. 

I really did enjoy my afternoon at the Tea Dance, I don't even know what else to say. I took so many photos, but these are my favourites. 

Now this afternoon, well I have to head back up to Hesters Way and shoot some more for my stories. Last minute I know, but I'm looking forward to shooting with flash - something I've put off before now due to lack of experience and unsurity (if that's even a word) or the reaction I'll get. Flash can seem intrusive.

Flat 47

In case you haven't already heard I've started to do a documentary, one I can work on in my spare time. Title, "Flat 47".

I want it to be a black and white documentary, and whilst I've started it on digital a few shots here and there could end up being done in film. Maybe. I can't decide yet. Probably not due to expense though.

Anyway, I started some shooting for it this weekend...

Thursday 8th November.

This was my most successful shot of the night and I'm still not overly fond of it. However it does demonstrate the style I was originally out aiming for. I've since sacked off the square format. 

Saturday 10th November.

I believe this collection of bottles (and cans) has been growing since the start of term and I haven't even captured it all yet.

Family shot? I like this shot. Turns out once you get the hang of a Metz Flashgun they can be quite useful. I'm still practising though.

Something was funny. 

Now this shot would be easy to turn in to a Square format image which I intend to do at a later date. However it isn't one I want to turn Black and White because I love the burst of colour in it. 

Another group image, it's just a shame one person wasn't paying attention.

This project is definitely going to be a long one as it keeps going. And I think it's definitely going to take a while before my camera becomes ignorable. I mean ...

Clearly not appreciated! Sadly the photo didn't turn out or this would be quite a mugshot.

Updates!

As you know the end of last week was pretty busy, especially with shooting two events in one day. I'm still weaving my way through some of those photos. Which with an extra shoot on friday for my project and the family down to visit this weekend takes longer than usual. And the blog has a new look if you hadn't noticed already.

However, we all know about the crisis with Redbrick, well that's finally come to an end. I got my apology in an email and I got a published correction.

I still don't believe it should have taken them as long as it did but we got there eventually.

 

I also found out yesterday the final amount raised by the Big Pink Predrinks on thursday night, an impressive amount I must say.

But that is all for now, I shall leave you with a quick photo... It's an old one of my baby cousin Menna.

You like? She's a cutie.

 

I'm off to Manchester tomorrow for a few days so I'm not sure when I'll next be able to blog. I have an election to fight, Welfare Zone Committee... please vote for me?! 

Lighting Session #1

We had a lecture today introducing us to working with different types of lighting. I found it really interesting and whilst image wise the photos aren't amazing, I was surprised by the different effects you could create - although we didn't delve too much in to that this today.

Natural light, next to a window.

Natural light, next to a window with some reflection from white wall opposite.

Channelled natural light through the window using a black board.

Flash gun, two stops over what would be required for this distance usually. 

I want to start using my flash more, getting to grips with bouncing the light off of other subjects and so on. I really enjoyed today's session, I found it really useful.

I Protested Outside the Tory Party Conference

Sunday was an interesting day, a protest in Birmingham. The TUC organised for a protest to happen outside the Tory party conference to show them how angry numerous people from all sorts of backgrounds are about the cuts they are making to the public sector. I'm pretty sure to them it won't make a blind bit of difference but we gave it our best shot and it was great to see so many people coming together in unity for one thing.
Here are some snaps from the event.

I love this photo just for how clearly the woman stands out against all the other dark colours. 

These were some very angry musicians, especially the banjo player (as you can see above). They were singing on their way round the protest.

Onlookers watching from the balconies.

Another musician - Brum surprised me with how musical they are. This young lad was more than happy to pose for a photo.

And the age of the musicians varied all the way round, as did their instruments. 

Fire Bragade Union were out in force at this protest, shouting to everyone just how the cuts are affecting the vital services. 

Some more musicians on the march in the city, these two images I think show how far and wide these cuts reach.

Old and young coming together.

Onlookers again, stood in Victoria Sq. watching the march come to an end. Some of the people had been with us for the duration.

This image is just fabulous in my opinion for no reason other than the banners. Grannies against the cuts - I often forget how it must affect them as well.

All of these images to me show how the actions the Tories are taking, along with the Lib dems in this coalition is causing everybody anger and frustration. It also shows how little the Tories are doing to change this, instead only making it worse. But it also shows how people of all ages and backgrounds can come together in force when there is a point to be made. 

People At Work

We were set a little task today in our lectures to photograph people at work. I headed out to the High Street and hit the Charity shops, I went to find people that were working to help others. These are the results I got, my favourite two images.

When I first went in to this shop - Oxfam (it was very well hidden) I wasn't entirely convinced I would be able to shoot. It turns out however, that this woman knows a lot about photography and so was able to tell us some stories about her own personal experiences - including one about a friend which had her in stitches, as you can see.

This lady was very lovely, and very softly spoken, to stereotype she's the type of lady I would expect to find in a charity shop, she was lovely to talk to as well, and very interested in what we were doing.

In order to keep these portraits as natural as possible, I had Ellie to talk to them and keep them distracted whilst I was taking photos, this way they payed less attention to the camera and became less selfconcious.