Five A Day

Five A Day by haggisandchips
Five A Day, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

So, just to prove that I do have a little variety in my photography I thought that I would post one of my non-people shots.

If truth be told I used to love doing stuff like this and it’s likely I will go back to my roots a bit …

… because I’m now finding it really difficult to approach people and ask to take their photograph. At the end of my 100 Strangers project I found it pretty easy to walk up to someone and say “Can I take your photograph for a project that I’m doing …”, but now I’m not really doing it for a project the whole thing strikes me as weird. I know it shouldn’t but it does … and I’m sure that I’m missing out on some great encounters as a result but c’est la vie – I just can’t quite shake the feeling!

So recently I was challenged to employ a few tricks of the trade to photograph food and this is the result – fruit smothered in oil – looks good enough to eat … but I wouldn’t if I was you ;).

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USA 4 – 2 New Zealand

Today was my last chance to savour the Olympic atmosphere in Newcastle so I set off armed with my camera looking for a bit more passion – I wasn’t expecting as much as the men’s Brazil v New Zealand game as my last experience of women’s football was a bit flat to say the least but I was surprised to find quite a buzz again today.

I didn’t have that long to spend today so I didn’t hang about getting started and Mike was first up …

Ashley & Michael by haggisandchips
Mike, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

… an amenable enough chap but he wasn’t exactly oozing confidence about the game and I think if his brain had won the argument he would have predicted a win for the USA but ultimately his heart took over and he went for a somewhat hopeful 1-0 to New Zealand. Sorry Mike ๐Ÿ˜‰ … no can do!

Now compare and contrast smiles with Ashley and Michael …

Ashley & Michael by haggisandchips
Ashley & Michael, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

… a truly lovely couple that endured three photographers asking them to pose for them all in the space of about 100 yards and yet still the smiles were genuine and there for all to see ;). Ashley and Michael were in no doubt what the result was going to be – 4-1 to the USA … well sorry, again no can do, but I don’t think they’ll care – 2-0 saw them safely through to the semi-finals.

And finally, I simply can’t resist pointing out again that I effectively photographed Mike Ashley today – the irony of this as Mike, Ashley and Michael all marched into St James’ Park today will keep me smiling for ages to come ;).

For those that don’t understand the Mike Ashley connection – Mike Ashley is the current owner of Newcastle United and recently decided that the historic St James’ Park should be renamed after his tacky sports clothing outlet – as an Olympic venue though it is back to St James’ Park as the deal was struck whilst that was still its official name and moreover Mike Ashley’s company is not an Olympic sponsor and therefore the name would be against IOC rules (as I understand it). Some of my thoughts are expressed in this post

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Brazil 12 – 1 New Zealand

Yesterday, Olympic Women’s Football came to Newcastle so I went wandering around St James’ Park looking for tall attractive blonde women with the Swedish flag painted on their face – there were none to be had though and in fact I saw nobody that I wanted to photograph. In all honesty I was quite surprised at the lack of atmosphere … there was absolutely no passion on show at all.

Today, however, was entirely different – initially I chased after a bloke in the distance carrying a New Zealand flag but ultimately I changed my mind and didn’t approach him but this had carried me into the proximity of St James’ Park again and today there was a real buzz. Brazil v New Zealand – Olympic Men’s Football – and the Brazilians were up for this one!!! There was a real carnival atmosphere with loads of hooters, drums, Brazilian football shirts everywhere you looked (this is what was missing yesterday – I saw more Colombian shirts than Swedish or Canadian and the Colombians weren’t even playing).

There were leprechaun hats (well that’s what they looked like to me anyway), performance artists on stilts or juggling etc, flags, banners, and YES … there were one or two attractive women ๐Ÿ˜‰ … this is the passion I had been looking for!!!

Ximena
Ximena, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.
Tuila
Tuila, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

And New Zealand?ย  Well none of them agreed to be photographed and I was told on one occasion that what I was doing was “kinda creepy“. Ah well!

So 8 Brazilians and 0 Kiwis later the final prediction was inevitably a bit biased …

Brazil 12 – 1 New Zealand

… which perhaps flattered even Brazil, but I’m pretty sure they will be happy with the 3-0 they actually got.

Congratulations to my first couple ofย  strangers, Lucas and Helena that predicted the score correctly …

Lucas & Helena
Lucas & Helena, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

… almost as positive as my 5-0 champion …

Eric
Eric, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

… I especially loved his comment that it would be one goal for every World Cup Winners star emblazoned on his shirt !!!

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Peter

Peter by haggisandchips
Peter, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

“Family & Friends” …

… meet Peter, father of Melissa Tancredi – Olympian!!!

I spotted Peter’s lanyard with all the badges attached and hopeful of meeting someone with a strong link to the Olympics I was not disappointed.

Click on the image to read more …

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Sam

Sam by haggisandchips
Sam, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

The strobist in me starts to emerge … off camera speedlights, fastened to signposts using bungees and triggered via radio.

One year ago I would have laughed if you’d described this situation with me orchestrating it all.

One year ago I didn’t understand even the most basic concepts of flash – I thought they just made things brighter.

Today, I understand the “two exposures” concept and how to balance the subject against ambient and background light.

Sam’s portrait may not demonstrate either of those two concepts but I hope that it does illustrate that I am starting to give some serious thought to more creative use of flash.

Click on the image to read more …

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The Name Will Never Die

Via Flickr:
This video is in response to a challenge set by TheJadedSoul as part of the Get Pushed group. In Joel’s words …

"On to the push. Here’s the idea, a photo essay. I was thinking, since you have a little bit of everything in your photostream, why not tie them all together? The idea of the photo essay is to capture the feeling/mood of an event or activity in a series of 5 to 7 photos. Kinda like telling the story of the event through the photos."

… I must confess that I was filled with trepidation when I read this – waaaaayyy out of my comfort zone – concentrating on the conceptual rather than the technical which is what I think I enjoy but the thought occurred to me that I could build a story around a shot that I had had in mind for quite some time where a certain object would be unceremoniously destroyed. And so Joel’s 5-7 shots became 17 as I warmed to the challenge and sought out every pertinent snippet of history that I could find. I am very pleased with my end result (although I am no Spielberg) and I truly hope that this meets the spirit of the challenge – in a way this has reignited my interest in photography which was waning a bit recently as I had lost direction and focus – and for that I sincerely thank Joel.

NOTE: Joel has expressed a preference to see the images together on a single page so I have related my "story" in a montage as well.

______________________________________________________________________________

The background …

When Mike Ashley bought out Freddie Shepherd there was a lot of excitement in The Toon. The money grabbing **** was gone and the club could look to the future and indeed the future looked bright.

King Kev was brought back and things were on the up … until they turned sour of course – clueless idiots were brought in to run the club, King Kev was gone again and footballing decisions were being made by people with no more knowledge of the game than the corner post! And so a massive push to get rid of Mike Ashley and his posse was born!

This story isn’t about that though – this story is about more recent events when Mike Ashley was finally beginning to win the fans over – recently promoted back into the Premiership as Championship winners, some solid signings producing entertaining football and a frankly unbelievable league position hovering in and around a Champions League spot let alone Europa League and finally things were looking every bit as rosie as any Toon fan dared hope for …

… but then Mike Ashley spoils it by trampling all over the club’s proud history – bestowing his tacky, knock-out-for-pennies brand on the beloved St James’ Park !!!

That’s what my story is about – the travesty that is the "Sp**ts D****t Arena".

But to The Toon as one it lives on as St James’ Park …

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It’s Just Like Any Other Job Really

… well, any other job where you spend months under the sea, never seeing daylight – perhaps?

Click on the image to read more …

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Ewan

Ewan by haggisandchips
Ewan, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

I couldn’t possibly pass up those sunglasses for a quick impromptu selfie ๐Ÿ˜‰

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Beyond 100 Strangers – Jenn

100 Strangers done and dusted …

… I couldn’t just stop though – too many interesting encounters to be had.

Click on the image to read more …

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100 Strangers Montage

100 Strangers Montage by haggisandchips
100 Strangers Montage, a photo by haggisandchips on Flickr.

On 21 May 2011 I took my first portrait for a Flickr group called 100 Strangers. On 21 May 2012 I took my 100th and final portrait for the group.

It was an amazing experience, challenging me both socially and technically and the reception I received throughout was heart-warming with most people agreeing, many standing to talk with me for long periods of time and sharing a little bit of who they are.

I met some truly wonderful people and I took many photographs that I am immensely proud of.

The entire set can be viewed here.

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