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.

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. 

Movement

I thought I'd try something new today and use slow-ish shutter speeds in daylight. I've not done it before. I set my ISO to 100 and my shutter speeds varied between 10/1 and 6/1 with an average aperture of 9.

A very busy shot, this was one of the first I took. I don't like the angle, looking across however I do like how many people there are and the variety as some people move and others don't.

This image is much quieter than the previous, and most of the activity takes place on the right hand frame. I should have cropped this image a bit further to remove the exits of the shops in the background, even though you can only see the floor of them.

This image I think is much less obvious that the blurs are people as they just look like splodges of colour. I'm fond of the the change of texture throughout the floor - I think it keeps the shot interesting.

A busier shot with people flying in at a few directions, even if you can only see a small part of the foot on the right hand side of the shot. 

Out of the four images I prefer the latter two, because of the angle, looking down.

To all of the images I have reduced the saturation before uploading them and increasing the lightness a tiny bit, I do like the effect it has given them, it makes the frames look much colder, silvery almost. 

Tomorrow I'm off photographing a protest in Birmingham - so excited!