Corus Steel

Steelmaker Corus has announced today that it will end production at its Teesside Cast Products factory, putting 1,700 people out of work.

It had been announced in May that the 150-year-old Redcar plant was to be mothballed, an announcement that brought about a demonstration through the streets of Redcar to raise awareness and began a fight for the survival of the factory.

The news of this closure today will devastate many families from the region who have employment with the factory.

Below is my multimedia slideshow I produced during the demonstration march in Redcar.

Apache Multimedia

Arizona

The huge expanse of desert in Arizona has to be seen first hand to be appreciated, I only had a limited amount of time to get a few pictures of this environment because of my other photo requirements out here but it would be worth a trip back to explore it further.

Arizona Apaches

Apache Attack Helcopter crews train in the harsh desert conditions in Arizona in preparation for operations in Afghanistan. The desert environment is very similiar to that which they will encounter when in Afghanistan and allows them to train and practice and perfect their drills and procedures.

An Apache Ground Crew take cover from the down draft after re-arming the aircraft.

A Forward Air Controller directs the Apache crew onto a target.

An Apache flies over the vast Arizona desert.

An Apache Attack helicopter fires a missile onto a target.

Apache pilots.

Sit Here and Rest Awhile

Sit Here and Rest Awhile

The remembrance ceremony at Wylye in Wiltshire took place today. Rather than a large event I wanted to cover a smaller village event and show, through Wylye's example, that throughout the towns and villages across the country people are remembering the servicemen and women that have made some sacrifice towards what we call freedom.




See the next entry for a multimedia piece from Wylye.

Busker Jack

Keeping the shoppers in Salisbury entertained and recently back from a performance on the Fourth Plinth in London, 'Busker Jack' does his thing in Salisbury city centre.

Ride to the Wall

Dressed in a tatty, faded denim and leather jacket adorned with patches and Harley Davidson badges, oil stained and worn out jeans, with dark shades masking his eyes and heavy boots crunching on the gravel he walked forward.

Eyes fixed on the wall in front of him.

He stopped, then bent forward and laid a wreath of red poppies on the ground in front of him.
Taking a few steps backwards he bowed his head in a moment of silence - reflection - thought, before turning and walking away.

After him came many more, all bikers, all sharing a passion for motorcycles, coming from many parts of the United Kingdom, from towns in Wales and Scotland. Some were ex-servicemen, many had never served in the military, but they had all come together for this gathering.


The event - 'Ride to the Wall' - Close to ten thousand bikers from all over the country descended on Drayton Manor Theme Park in Staffordshire for the start of 'Ride to the Wall 2009'. An event that even though it's only in it's second year is rising in recognition and support all the time.


The event sees the bikers, from many different 'chapters' and clubs, ride the eleven or so miles from the theme park to the National Memorial Arboretum in a long procession of motorbikes.
The National Arboretum is located in the heart of the country within the National Forest near Lichfield.


It is the home of the Armed Forces Memorial, a striking and emotive structure that gives recognition and thanks for those who have died whilst on duty or as a result of terrorist action since the Second World War and acknowledges the enduring sacrifice of those who mourn their loss.


'Ride to the Wall' is the brainchild of Martin Dickinson and aims to remember those that died during these times and remember those that can, "No longer ride beside us."



Exact numbers attending this years event and the amount of funds raised is still being worked out, but if this year was a sign of the increasing popularity of this amazing and moving show of support and recognition, then next years event is something well worth attending - whether you ride a bike or not.

For further information see....

Ride to the Wall - http://www.rttw.org

The National Memorial Arboretum - http://www.thenma.org.uk

Teach a man to fish...

Duncan Weston has been a professional fly fisherman for over fifty years.


Working as a freelance fly fishing instructor for a Hampshire company called 'Fishing Breaks', founded and owned by Simon Cooper, who is also a very experienced fly fisherman, Duncan teaches the art of fly fishing.

I spent Saturday at Fishing Breaks in Hampshire and with Duncan as he met up with four guys who wanted to give it a go...

Click the arrow below for a multimedia piece on Duncan...
'Teach a man to fish'.

For more information visit www.fishingbreaks.co.uk

London - Covent Garden

From Chinese shop workers to doormen to waiters to day-trippers to artists to a strange dancing woman to colourful transvestites on a birthday bash there to see 'Pruscilla - Queen of the Desert' - One thing that is for sure is that when it comes to street photography Covent Garden offers plenty of subject matter to keep your photographers' eye working.

The hustle and bustle of a big city especially in an area such as Covent Garden offers much for the photographer, even in the current climate where photographers are treated, at times, with suspicion, if you use the right approach you can still work freely and hopefully get some good shots.

The beauty of working in an area of a big and bustling city like this is, for me, the sense of freedom that comes with it. You can be anonoymous and you almost feel that you can do anything you want and nobody will give you another thought - within reason. It is a very liberating feeling.


My approach in this kind of environment is to be very upfront when I photograph and to try and act naturally, with confidence and present the appearance of being someone who is exactly where they are supposed to be! If you act suspiciously or without confidence then people will pick up on this, act naturally and you won't draw unwanted attention.


Sometimes I take candids, sometimes, in fact often, the person will know they are being photographed, my initial approach is to allow them to see the camera, I lift it up making sure they will see it, more often than not I will have, hopefully, a friendly smile (rather than a manic grin) on my face and will quickly move into taking pictures. Occasionally a comment to relax the subject, depending on what I think might suit each particular situation and when I have finished I may, not always, offer my hand for a quick handshake, thanking them quickly and then moving on.



This approach worked fine yesterday in Covent Garden, it's an approach that has worked in other places that I have photographed but don't think that it will always work, always be prepared to change your approach to suit the situation.

A lot of it is trial and error, trying to find the 'flow' or the 'feel' of a place and fitting into that flow. In a way it's easy in this kind of environment because there are many street entertainers, loads of tourists, many of whom are taking photos, and various weird and wonderful characters so one more random photographer taking pictures kind of gets lost in all the confusion.


Everyone has a story or something to say and more often than not if you treat people with respect and a little humility then you can get your pictures and they sometimes even thank you for your time afterwards, even though you have used them to get your pictures. Thats one of the great things about photography, especially this kind of photography, you get to see other people, get to chat to them briefly and see a part of life that maybe you would never come across during your normal day to day life.

So go into it with confidence, keep a few witty comebacks or oneliners for the smart arse with his mates, don't sneak around when your moving to take a picture of someone, realise when the point is reached when someone really doesn't want their pictures taken and move on - would that particular photo actually be that good? Keep your kit light and simple, no place for heavy bags here (All these pictures are NikonD3 with 50mm prime), have your technical skills nailed so your not messing about and have a good time and enjoy it, you can get some nice pictures and if your a slightly shy photographer then this is something you should absolutely do - your confidence will soar and as a result all your photography will benefit.

Concert shooting

I was out shooting a music concert the other evening near Twickenham that featured a couple of new bands and a performance by Jools Holland. I've not covered a lot of live music but the event was definitely a photographic challenge.

Fortunately and something that is not common, especially at larger gigs, was that I had pretty much unrestricted access and movement in the pit in front of the stage was easy enough with only around six other photographers in there, so not too crowded and the first three songs rule didn't apply.

The trickiest part was to get the exposure nailed - Ambient dropping as night fell, white, blue, orange, red, green spotlights everywhere, smoke machine chugging away, lots of unpredictable movement...you get the idea. Tricky but good to get in there and get some shots nailed.

Kit wise I was using a D3 with an 85mm 1.4 and my D2x was on a wide lens, just for the record, the D3 was shooting at 3200 ISO at f2 and gave me a shutter of an 8000th and as far as image noise is concerned the pictures were awesome, visible yes, but nowhere near as bad as the D2x for low light, high ISO noise.

So if you get the opportunity to shoot some live music then get on it and push yourself and your photography.