Blackpool

 Blackpool tower and Central Pier

A few months back my wife and I were watching a program that mentioned Blackpool, it's illuminations and it's popularity as a holiday destination.  It turns out Marcia had never been, and my one and only visit was over twenty five years ago.

So that was settled then, a trip was planned. Accommodation is always a concern. Disabled access and facilities, and easy parking is a must. I used Trivago to search for a hotel. It's easy to use unless you have specific needs. I didn't want to just book any room. It had to be the disabled access room. So I contacted the Imperial Hotel. They were very helpful and I paid the same price as I would have going through Trivago.

It didn't occur to me the August bank holiday would be a bad time to travel. I don't travel far these days. So second guessing road works and other travelers is no longer second nature.

The weather report said very warm, may be even the warmest August bank holiday in a long time. So another thing I hadn't thought of was okay.

What wasn't okay was how long it took to get there. Ten hours including a brief stop for food. That's around 27 mph average speed. Only one set of road works. The delays were all caused by poor driving. I won't bore you with the details, except to say. When driving on the motorway, leave bigger gaps and we wont all be reduced to stop start progress for hour after hour.

First impressions of the Imperial were good. We were both tired and more than a little irritated. So we needed the check in to be trouble free and easy. It was.

The hotel is 150 years old this year. So it had a lived in feel to it. But that's not a criticism. It was what you would expect of a grand hotel. Confident and at ease with itself.

We rarely get up in time for breakfast when we are away, after such a late arrival, even with breakfast service ending at 10:30. We didn't make it this time. So I used Tripadvisor to find a cafe. The Promenade cafe is only a short walk away. A number two sized cooked breakfast had it all and we really didn't feel like eating much for the rest of the day.

Time for tea at the Promenade cafe.

Our end of Blackpool was very quiet. I thought it would have been much busier on a bank holiday. We walked down to the first pier. It was the North Pier. It's a traditional looking structure. Definitely the forgotten Blackpool pier. I hope they get the money needed to finish renovation works.

That was it for walking on the first day. Still not busy though for a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Sunday saw another a visit to the Promenade cafe, this time for the small breakfast. We had seen a second pier in the distance on Saturday. So decided to walk to it, thinking it would be the South Pier and be close to the rollercoasters of the pleasure beach. When we got there we discovered it was the Central Pier. It was a lot busier here, much more as I had expected Blackpool to be. And in the far distance, another pier. And beyond that the pleasure beach. We continued a little further, but it was very hot by now, and we had traveled over 2 miles. So we turned around and started looking for some fish and chips. We couldn't see what we would call a traditional looking establishment. Finally we bought some from a booth on the North Pier. I wouldn't recommend buying fish and chips from them. Greasy is how I would describe it.

Back at the Imperial, we went to the bar. Number 10 it was called. Pictures of past prime ministers were on the walls, along side mirrors engraved with their names. It as then that I started to notice how many people work in the hotel. There always seemed to be someone close by. A big difference to other hotels where you are on your own most of the time. We didn't need any help, but it was nice to know it would have been very easy to ask for.

On Monday we did make it down to breakfast. Again, it was a well staffed occasion. And the dining room was very impressive. The whole hotel, as I have said before was a nice, relaxed place to be. Wood paneling, stained glass rooves. Old fashioned maybe. But not in a bad way. The experience felt like going back to a time when good manners and respect for others was still common.

And the drive home? Seven hours. Still too long, but it was a bank holiday.

Links.

The Imperial Hotel

Promenade Cafe

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It's a network thing

I have read a lot of posts and articles about turning my hobby of photography into a paying profession. They all follow roughly the same lines.

Social media is the way to go, they say. Get yourself a website, instagram and LinkedIn accounts and a Facebook page.

Then just call a few people at magazines, they see your online presence and you're away.

I'm guessing other hobbies have similar advice handed out by their respective publications and forums.

On my weekend cycles, Matt and I often discuss how our digital footprint hasn't done much for us. No lucrative writing jobs for him, or photography assignments for me.

So how do you make a successful change of career?

Hard work, determination and the support of family and friends. Which brings me to the sort of point of this post, and the reason for the pictures accompanying it.

Mike, a friend of mine has just opened his own brewery. Fishers Brewing Company.

I bought a selection of beers to drink, and photograph. I would have had an example of all the varieties he produces if it wasn't for Parcel Force. They smashed one of the bottles, didn't let Mike or myself know, then delivered a day late without even an apology.

Mike, I know has worked for a long time to learn his trade. Get all of the certificates and permits, and setup the brewery. So he deserves my support.

It gives me a project. If a brewery were to commission me to produce some product shots. I have some examples.

And not forgetting, some beer to drink. Total win.

In memory of the blonde beer, that succumbed to the injuries inflicted by Parcel Force.

Why get in touch, let me know what you think. Do you need product shots?

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Dulwich Park

Third shot with Janayah. She is quickly settling into the photoshoots now. She's not bothered by passersby. You can see it in her face, she just looks relaxed.

It was also an opportunity for me to use a new speed light. It supports High Speed Sync (HSS). This means I can use as fast a shutter speed as I want with the speed light. There a lot of explanations about what HSS is and how it works. So I wont go into to a lot of detail.

When a flash of any kind is used there is a maximum shutter speed that can be used, it's called the sync speed. If you go above this speed a shadow is cast on the sensor by the shutter as the flash fires.

Why would you user HSS? If you want to alter the exposure you use a smaller aperture, right?

If there is a well lit background, you either expose for it and have the subject in silhouette, or expose for the subject and have the background over-exposed. With HSS you expose for the background with the combination of shutter speed and aperture. And use the flash to light the subject.

If the location is well lit, without HSS you would have to use a very small aperture to in order to be able to user a shutter at your camera's sync speed. A side effect of a small aperture is a big depth of field. So the background will be in focus. By blurring it with a combination of large aperture and HSS, the subject stands out more.

My speed light isn't powerful enough to completely overpower the sun, so the nearly cloudless sky is still largely over exposed. But Janayah isn't silhouetted and the rest of the background is well exposed.


Two different styles of outfit, two different areas of the park. I think the bridge suited the dress Janayah was wearing. I also used a 80-200 that I had only previously used for motorsport. The long lens is used to foreshorten perspective. Combined with a large aperture it made Janayah stand out more, almost giving a 3D effect. It meant standing a long way from Janayah, losing a little of the connection I like to have in my pictures. But I liked the results, I'll use it again if space allows.

I hope you like the results.

85mm lens

These two are at 200mm on my 80-200mm telephoto zoom

And then with HSS and the 85mm again

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Zara at the Hacienda

This post is a bit out of time. I thought I had wrote it already. This shoot happened way back in June.

I had worked with Zara before, quite a long time ago in fact. I wanted to arrange something this year. It took a lot of back and forth before our schedules coincided. She had a studio day with two hours free. I had wanted to shoot at this new studio so it was a perfect match. Here is a link to the studio.

The studio has great natural light streaming in through huge windows, but loads of lighting equipment too.

Sean is very helpful and relaxed, always good in a studio host.

I used just natural in two of the rooms, but a one light setup in the other. I had used a beauty dish once before. I really liked the effect it produced. I hoped to balance flash and natural light. I think I got it right. Zara doesn't look studio lit. I turned off the light and it was very apparent what the beauty dish was doing. I'll use this technique again. That's the good thing about working with a great model. I can experiment and try new techniques without worrying about directing the model. Zara is brilliant.

Natural light.

And now the beauty dish and natural light.

It would be great to know what you think.

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Steampunk Westerham

 

Today was to be a solo ride. Matt was expecting a furniture delivery this morning. This time of year there are so many tasks that need doing; the days are longer. But it doesn't feel like there is any extra time.

The normal question arose; where to go? Westerham was the answer, via some off road sections near Woldingham. Then down the Limpsfield Rd and Clarks Lane. I remembered another off road section through a forest just past Westerham, just off the A25. I eventually found the correct turn off, but I had underestimated how much further the forest was, so I turned back and headed for the green.

That's when I came across the Steampunk horse statue. It, and 23 companions are raising money for a hospice. Find out more here. I have donated, if you can, please donate as well.

It is very impressive. Art I can understand and appreciate.

The herd is on show until the end of September.

It certainly provided a welcome change of view as I ate my cereal bars and had a drink. But before long it was time to head home.

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Caterham to Canterbury

Me, a piece of cake and a medal

I hadn't participated in a sponsored ride for two years. RideLondon was a big hassle to get to, and my local Multiple Sclerosis centre don't run a sponsored event anymore. 

A few weeks previously I had seen a shared event on my FB time line. It was run by a local bike shop Larner Cycles, it was on a day I was free, and it started in Caterham. So the alarm wouldn't need to go off at silly o'clock. The only issue would getting home from Canterbury. I could cycle home again, but that would be 130 miles. I knew I didn't have the time. But they said they could arrange transport, so I signed up. 

The morning of the event was overcast and a little chilly, a light jacket was needed. I forgot the sun screen. But I thought I wouldn't need it so didn't return home to pick it up. 

I arrived, signed on, listened to the safety briefing and was off just before nine.

I have cycled a few events and long rides on my own. I don't mind, it allows me to ride at my own pace. I don't have to push myself to keep up or wait for people to catch up with me. But this time I didn't want to ride alone. I left the start in a small group. Within a couple of miles it had strung out and I found a cyclist that was riding at roughly the same pace and me, and wanted some company. His name was Andrew. We soon settled into a comfortable pace. He was training for RideLondon. It was good to chat about my two rides. Let him know what to expect. 

Andrew cycles from Peckham out to Tatsfield so some of the early route was familiar to him. I pointed out a few tougher hills he could tackle. He was after an extra challenge ahead of his big ride next month. 

The first food stop was a little different from those at other events. There wasn't just bananas and energy gels. I can't eat banana, so it was good to see other fruit, cakes and chocolate.

There was much made of the lunch stop. I expected the same as the first one. How wrong I was. Tea, coffee, tasty sandwiches and muffins awaited us. It would have been all too easy to stop for a very long time. The sun was now out and making it’s presence felt. Luckily Andrew had sun screen, mine was still on the kitchen table.

After a particularly rough section, loads of gravel, flint and potholes. Andrew got a puncture. He suggested I should leave him and go on, I said I would stay. It didn't take long to sort out and we were on our way again. Then maybe half a mile later he got another puncture. This time the piece of flint was easy to see, it left a slit in the tyre. He didn't have another inner tube or patches. So I gave him one of my tubes. Had I not stayed with Andrew when he got the first puncture he would have had to wait for the support vehicle. 

We started together, we would finish together.

We were now around ten miles from Canterbury. I thought it would ease up a bit as the previous ten miles had included a lot of hills. If anything this last section had some of the steepest hills. Or was I getting tired? 

Eventually we entered Canterbury, Andrew remarked how the traffic seemed more oppressive after the largely quiet roads we had been on for most of the ride. Although that isn't to say the quiet roads had all been pleasant. The level of selfishness shown by some drivers is hard to believe. 

Before we knew it we were turning into the grounds of Tower House, and crossing the finish line. 

A medal, a goody bag, and some more food including home made cakes awaited. What a great day. 

Andrew hadn’t booked a lift home. Adam, the organiser, quickly found an extra space. And without any fuss we were quickly on our way back to the start. 

I’m definitely doing it again next year. Hopefully I can get a group together. 

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