DJB Photography Blog

This weekend I was asked to photograph the Schola Cantorum performed in Ampleforth College Abbey.  This was the 40th anniversary of the concert and was absolutely fantastic.  Obviously during such a performance I am limited in being able to move around so was restricted to the back of the main isle, but captured some great photographs that can be used for the promotion of further concerts at Ampleforth.

 Lighting is challenging in the abbey especially at night, with very low light levels.  I was specifically asked to take a photograph of the entire choir and orchestra at the end of the performance, which required a relatively long shutter speed as I was too far back to use flash.  The use of a lighting rig could have been adopted, though would have taken time to setup and really it was not practical at the end of the performance.  The photograph worked out great as you can see below, along with a selection of other photographs taken at the performance.

This morning I was again photographing Paul and his team at Spa Travel following the redevelopment of their high street shop in Boston Spa.  It looks great and very sophisticated.  Much more inviting than it did when I last visited.  I photographed Paul and the staff last year when Paul was initially wanting to update the website and overall look of his business, and the shop redevelopment is one of the last aspects of the business to receive a makeover.

The people at Spa Travel are very friendly and helpful in assisting their customers in their travel requirements and will go out of their way to ensure people have a very positive experience in booking through them.  They have won many awards over the years, and I would highly recommend Paul and his team in finding and planning your holiday and travel, and a visit to their high street premises is a must.  Have a look at the photographs to see what you are missing out on:

Yesterday evening I have the privilege of photographing a performance of the Messiah at Ampleforth College.  A stunning performance, and a photographic commission which was both interesting and a little challenging.  With such a performance the click of the mirror in my camera was noticeable so I had to pick my moment to take a photograph very carefully.  It was also very noticeable if I moved around so had to choose my location very carefully and stay there for a while, before a suitable moment arose to be able to change location.

The performance was held in the Abbey at Ampleforth which is a stunning location.  The architecture is superb, and despite the lighting not being great, I captured some great photographs.  I thoroughly enjoyed the evening both from a photographic point-of-view, but also as a spectator to the event.  Here is a selection of photographs taken for you to have a look at:

This weekend has been particularly busy photographing something a little different to a wedding.  Friday evening and all day Saturday saw me at the Ampleforth College Society Weekend, photographing a reunion of past pupils of all ages.  A variety of events was planned for the weekend including a welcome buffet on Friday evening, with Saturday beginning with a rugby match, followed by lunch, a hockey match, cider tasting, and concluding with a formal dinner in the evening.  It was a great weekend and I was honoured to be a part of it, being made to feel very welcome indeed.  It was also interesting to photograph something different allowing me to use my artistic and creative skills to produce a selection of photographs that captured the weekend.  With the autumnal weather being particularly mild, the colours in the trees and the soft light made for some lovely photographs, a selection of which is shown below.  A thoroughly enjoyable event indeed.

 

Yesterday I was asked to take some corporate photographs for a company north of Ripon called Aquarius.  They build Land Rovers that have the capability of going on the rail tracks to clear leaves and for maintenance purposes.  I was recommended to them by Peter Beresford of Redsky, who have done work for me and I subsequently have done some photography for them.  Redsky offer business support, including financial analysis to small and medium sized enterprises.  The photographs of their team on their website were taken by myself and as a result the team at Aquarius wanted something similar.  It was a great photo session as they are a great bunch of people, and again I captured some interesting photographs.  Please see some of the photographs I took:

I have just returned from a very inspirational day at the BNI Annual Conference held at the Magna Science Adventure Centre in Sheffield.  A very well organised event for business owners with plenty of opportunity for networking, the event exceeded my expectations with quality speakers who really got everybody motivated at a time when the economy is quite suppressed.  With several hundred attendees it is somewhat difficult to identify who to network with, but for the most part the people who I spoke to were enthusiastic to find out about me and my business, and similarly I found it interesting to hear about their businesses.

Speakers for this years event were  Geoff Liberman, Penny Power, Andy Bounds, and Allan Pease.  Geoff Liberman is a motivational speaker believing that fun leads to success encouraging you to step outside of your comfort zone, and make something that feels uncomfortable to feel comfortable.  Focus on your goals, believe in yourself, and do things that others are uncomfortable doing.

Penny Power talked about the future of social networking in order to grow your business.  A joint founder of ‘Ecademy‘, a business online social networking site for business owners, she believes that nothing replaces face-to-face contact, but online social networking adds another facet to get referrals.  It helps turn strangers into friends, who can then become profitable relationships.  Online social networking helps you keep in touch with everyone you meet, and share knowledge to your network.

Andy Bounds is the writer of ‘The Jelly Effect’, a book about how to make your communication stick.  Speaking very enthusiastically about having the right mindset, speaking to the right people, and saying the right things, and how working on these three things helps to make your what you have to say remembered by the people you talk to.  Focusing on your ‘Afters’ as opposed to what you do as a business will help people not only understand what you do, but will also lead to increased sales.

Allan Pease really got everyone laughing with his very animated approach to body language.  Writer of several number one best selling books including “Why men don’t listen, and why women can’t read maps” and “Why men don’t have a clue and women need more shoes”, he talked about hand gestures and body language and how to tell the signs of whether someone you are talking to is interested in what you are saying.  He also talked about the difference between men and women and the way each communicates.  It was an interesting and very funny speech.  If you were to ever get the opportunity to listen to him I would recommend making the effort to.  In fact if you ever have the opportunity to listen to any of the speakers above you will not be disappointed.  All were extremely interesting and well worth taking the time out of a business day to do so.

The BNI organisers have done a great job pulling together this event and I am pleased to have been able to attend.  Anyone who missed it missed out BIG TIME.

Next year’s event is scheduled for the 10 June 2010.

I thought with the pending Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Revival Festival that I would share with you some photographs that I took when I covered the 2007 Revival.  If you have never been then the Revival Festival is an experience not to be missed.  It is literaly like stepping back in time in every way shape and form.  For the most part everybody who attend takes part in dressing in period clothing, and anything modern day is hidden away.  Everything is from no later than the late 60′s, and even if you have no interest in motorsport, there is so much to do and see.  The displays are fantastic, and if you are interested in the racing there is plenty of on track action.  It is seriously competitive stuff.

I would highly recommend you considering attending simply for the experience.  I was very fortunate to have been granted a press pass in 2007 so gained access to areas not accessible to the public.  As such I photographed a whole array of celebrities including Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Murray Walker, Tiff Needell, Derek Bell, Rowan Atkinson, Patrick Stewart to name but a few.  It would be great to get the opportunity to attend again.  Please see below a small selection of photographs that I took in 2007.

This week I have been helping pick asparagus on a morning for a local farmer, Spilman Farming, as Sally has apparently had a few problems managing to find people to pick for her.  Her workforce is primarily made up of polish workers who stay for the summer and after the asparagus season help with soft fruits (strawberries, gooseberries, raspberries).  This reminded me of last season Sally asking me to take some photographs of picking both asparagus and soft fruits for her business, and some of the photographs were on display during the Helperby Village Fayre last year.  I thought I would therefore share with you some of the photographs taken which I am sure you will agree look great.  Incidentally if you are looking for nothing but the best asparagus and soft fruits then I would recommend Pasture Lane Asparagus and Spilman Soft Fruits.

I have this afternoon just finished a corporate photography shoot for Red Sky, for their website.  Claire, Alex & Steve, all new to the Red Sky business, came to Myton for their portraits taking so I took the opportunity to try something a little different, to give a bit of variety to the shoot.  They are a great bunch of people, and Peter, who runs the business, was instrumental in me giving up paid employment to run my photography business full-time a few years ago.  Something which I am very grateful for, as it was the push that I needed to make the leap into self-employment.  I have also previously taken some photographs for the company, some of which appear on their website, and today with the employment of three new members to their team we updated their portfolio of photographs to use.  Here is a selection of those photographs taken:

 

Today I have been photographing a couple of displays for Linda Carter of Display Fit UK.  Display Fit UK create bathroom and kitchen displays in places like B&Q so that customers can see what they are like, and I was photographing a couple of displays at their own location in Bradford for the manufacturers to use in their own promotion.  It was not the easiest of photographic assignments with a whole host of reflections to deal with, but with a little work, and rearranging of lighting I believe I have managed to capture what they are looking for.

Although I specialise in weddings and do not promote or advertise for anything other than weddings, I do occasionally get asked to photograph other things.  I don’t mind taking on other work if I feel I can do justice to the subject, and the result is usually that I get more work from it.  Weddings are without doubt my passion and what I do photography for.  It is why I am in business as I absolutely love photographing weddings, however it is nice and does make a change to work for businesses and to do something a little different.  It was an enjoyable experience and hopefully it may lead to a little more work in the same line.  Here are a small selection of photographs that I took: