Monday 24 September 2007

More photos from Pegasus Bridge.



Here's a couple more photos that I took during our time at Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham. The statue is of Major John Howard DSO and this is located on the banks of the Caen Canal next to the bridge where the gliders landed. The other photo I took from on the original Pegasus Bridge. Both photos are HDR images made up of 3 separate photos, each with 2 f/stops difference exposure to the other that I've merged and then processed to give a desired look in photoshop. As always, you can click on them to see a larger version.

It's a small world...


Whilst out in France one of things I really wanted to do was to visit sites where my Grandad had been during the D Day Landings on the 6th June 1944. I've always been interested in the history of World War 2, and this interest was increased ever more when my Uncle Jeff started researching it many years ago and has since written several books about it that have gone on general release.

I texted my Uncle Jeff to see if he could recommend anywhere we should visit only to be told in his reply that he too would be in France the following day. We arranged to meet up in Arromanches at 10am on the Wednesday morning and there began a very memorable day. Along with Anne and my Aunty Janet, we visited several locations throughout the day where my Grandad Fred would have been and significant fights would have occured. In a word it was FANTASTIC! To visit locations such as Omaha Beach, which is where the film saving Private Ryan is based, Juno Beach and many more, with the information that my Uncle Jeff was able to pass on was just unbelievable; I could really begin to picture what must have been happening and found myself on several occasions just wanting to be quiet and reflect.

One place in particular that made a real impression on me was Pegasus Bridge which spans the Orne Canal near Ouistreham. The story behind what happened there is fascinating. The film 'The Longest Day' starring Richard Todd, is an account of how the British Troops led by Major John Howard DSO, captured the Bridge, arriving in gliders in the dark of night.

I could go on and on writing about how special this day was and how I really can't recommend visiting these historic sights enough. We owe so very much to all those men that fought during that time for it was there bravery that has given us something we should cherish every single day ... Freedom!

Uncle Jeff, thankyou so much for sharing your knowledge with us on that day. We are truly grateful and feel more humble than ever having stood where my Grandad and many of his colleagues did as young men fighting for us all.

The photo I've attached is a panorama I took, handheld, of the original Pegasus Bridge still carrying the scars from that fateful day. (It consists of 9 photographs that I've combined using photoshop)

A Week Away...



Well we're back home now from our week away in France, which I must say, was fantastic! We stayed in a beautiful little village in the Calvados / Normandy region called St Sever which is in an ideal location for visiting the beaches, towns and countryside. Good friends of ours Stuart & Elaine Hood live in the village and have done now for some 3 years so we were lucky enough to be able to spend time with them and to be shown around.

St Sever and in fact all the region is packed with history; in particular that of World War 2. Every village you drive through there's a monument depicting the names of villagers who died during that time and each of them is immaculate. During the war 6 British Airmen lost their lives when their plane crashed into a house just 2 doors up from where Stuart & Elaine now live, and the photograph of the gravestones attached to this entry is one that I took in St Sever's cemetary showing where they have been laid to rest.

Our time away wasn't just for a holiday though. Because of our plans to live in France in the not too distant future, we also treated this trip as one of many fact finding missions. However, that said we did do the 'touristy' bit on one of the days and visited Le Mont St Michel - a magical looking place that seems to rise out of the sea and looks like something out of Harry Potter Films. The photograph attached is the view from the car park looking up and for those interested it's a HDR image which I made by combining 3 shots, each 2 stops exposure difference and then tweeked in photoshop to give the final look.

Anyway, loads more to write but I'll add it later once I've been out and got some 'back from holiday' jobs done :o)

Saturday 15 September 2007

"Pre-Shoot"


The attached photo is of a young lad by the name of Joe Sharpe who's Bah Mitzvah I have the priviledge of photographing in March next year.

As with a wedding I think it's real important to do these 'pre-shoots' cos it not only shows the client how you work and re assures them of the quality of your work, but more importantly I feel helps to build the relationship. This is turn undoubtedly helps to produce more relaxed, natural images.

We're off to France for a week from this evening for a spot of relaxing, wine drinking, cheese eating and house hunting so I wont be blogging but I'll make sure I post up some images from our trip when we get back.

So ... jusqu'à la semaine prochaine ... au revoir :o)

Friday 7 September 2007

Sunset at Heathrow


This week there have been some goregous sunsets over Heathrow Airport so I thought I'd give it a go at including one in some photos. As always, there were some willing volunteers so I rattled off a few shots using my camera with an SB800 flash. The idea behind the shot is to expose for the sky and then use the flash, positioned 'off camera' on manual to illuminate the subject. Naturally a little post production work has been done in Photoshop to give it the look I was after.

Well, it's Friday already so have a great weekend cos it looks like the sun could be with us for the duration (fingers crossed).

Tuesday 4 September 2007

As luck would have it.....



I've been hunting around for quite a while to find a run down building where I could take some photos, cos they can add so much atmosphere to a portrait. Well, as luck would have it the other day when I was working with some friends of mine, Kevin Graham & Jason Chubb, I had my camera with me when we found the perfect location. I didn't have long to take some photos, but I managed to rattle off a few that I knew I would be processing a certain way when I got them into Photoshop. I've not had much time to process the images but here's a couple of Kevin for now, and I'll post some of Jason in a day or two.

Bye for now :o)

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