Aidan is a partner in McGonigle McGrath Architects, Belfast, but he's also a keen photographer and his insight and knowledge on the day proved to be £10 well spent, that's almost a month's subscription to Creative Cloud!
Enjoy, Nick.
Sometimes you run around with your head in the clouds thinking about what to photograph next, well I do anyway, or what technique or idea you can try out this month but then every so often something just kind of arrives on your doorstep, the twitter doorstep in this case. I don't follow too many organisations or companies because sometimes you end up with a feed full or rubbish and you can't see the wood for the trees and I personally enjoy the experience I get from twitter just now as it kind of works for me. Like everything in life you get out of it what you put into it and if it's meant to be, well it's meant to be. But enough philosophical ramblings for now. So, where was I....yes, an event appeared in my feed courtesy of DiscoverNI and it turned it to be a lot more interesting than I had originally anticipated and a thoroughly enjoyable day out even with our inclement(polite for shitty) weather The event itself was organised through PlaceNI and it was promoted as 'An Architectural wander with Aidan McGrath' so initially I wasn't sure if this was my cup of tea but I bit the bullet and signed up for the tour. Aidan is a partner in McGonigle McGrath Architects, Belfast, but he's also a keen photographer and his insight and knowledge on the day proved to be £10 well spent, that's almost a month's subscription to Creative Cloud! I've seen a number of the buildings we visited but I've never really stopped to take them in properly or understand the history and importance of them so in some respects it was a breathe of fresh air to have been privy to the knowledge that was shared on the day. To be honest it even provoked some further conversation with the in-laws later that evening and the television and Ipads even remained in standby mode the whole time. Take out of that what you will. Belfast has some wonderful buildings and is saturated with history when you open your eyes a bit more so thanks to photography in a roundabout way I've managed to learn something else. I decided to limit myself to the nifty fifty for the whole walk but I've got plans to get out again soon with a telephoto in tow and try to capture some more of the wonderful textures and abstracts that caught my attention too. If you live here or plan to visit then I'd definitely recommend that you take time to capture Belfast in all it's glory, past, present and future. Thanks to Aidan and the PlaceNI team for organizing such an enjoyable tour. As always here's the rest of the images I captured on the day.
Enjoy, Nick.
0 Comments
Well if you haven't heard me babbling on about the great weather recently you've maybe just ignored me or are following me for no other reason than being another lost sheep so you'll not be interested in this post in any shape or form anyway. As we all know when the sunshine comes out here in Northern Ireland you'll find most people inevitably flock to the North Antrim Coast. It's the place where you're most likely to see people lose their inhibitions ever so slightly and the majority generally don't really care who's pointing a camera in their general direction either as long as you don't go overboard. To be honest I'm not a big fan of invading someone's personal space and whilst I love the genre of street photography I think some of it is over-rated. I think a lot of it is dependent on where you are in the world and also how brave or stupid you may be. I'd say if you took the same approach over here in certain instances you would get what's commonly known as a good shoe'ing! Enough about that though. Coincidentally I had just read an article in this month's Lonely Planet Traveller mag which features Martin Parr and his images were in the back of my mind when I was taking some of these shots but at the end of the day it was really nothing more than a family day out and another opportunity to get the camera out and capture some memories. It was a glorious day and we were witness to a brilliant sea mist that drifted across for about half hour which made for a very surreal looking beach at one stage of the day. Enjoy.
Whether you're a beginner, a professional photographer or somewhere in the middle there's one thing that you need to help you along the way and that's enthusiasm and encouragement. It's probably one of the biggest challenges you might face on your journey but if you manage to read the right articles, have supportive friends and family and network with like minded individuals then you'll definitely enjoy it a whole lot more which leads me on to my latest dose of that particular tonic. I've been very lucky to hook up with some really great individuals recently like Russell Pritchard and Wilgenix to name but a few and I count myself fortunate in the encouragement stakes thanks to these folks and others particularly my morning stints on Twitter with the #breakfastclub brigade. Back in February I posted here about a trade show in Antrim and it was at this very show that I first encountered the lighting wizard John Denton. The Societies had him scheduled in for an hour slot and I can honestly say that thanks to that event that I find myself even more enthusiastic than ever. Since then I've been in contact quite regularly via Twitter with John and recently had the chance to meet up again by attending one of his training events in Belfast. A lot of people might feel that you maybe don't need any formal training as far as photography goes but these sessions are as informal as they come and having seen lots of feedback from other attendees I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. Let's be honest as well for a second, the majority of courses cost an arm and a leg but this was priced at £95 which I seen as extremely reasonable for a full day including a model. Cost is a major factor for me and probably for others and every day you'll see regular updates about this, that and the other but how many people can really afford such events especially when you're probably already saving to buy your next lens or possibly considering a body upgrade. It's a vicious circle! The event itself was hosted at Dermot Murphy Photography on the Malone Road in Belfast and John was accompanied by the wonderful Rachel Chapman who happened to be a last minute introduction to proceedings as his regular model Jennifer Dickinson, who also visited in February, hadn't been feeling well and wasn't able to make the trip. We had a quick chat and then John got down to business running through different styles of lighting usual natural light and reflectors in the first instance and then kicking on with his beloved Quadra's. It was non stop from start to finish except for a bite of lunch and we all managed to capture some brilliant images throughout the day and I personally learnt a lot and had a few eureka moments along the way as well. All in all it was a great day and I'd definitely recommend getting yourself booked in to any of the courses that John is running. The content is well delivered and John has a brilliant sense of humour and you'll also grab some super shots to add to your portfolio. I'd like to thank John and Rachel for making the journey and also to Dermot for hosting it in his studio. Hopefully there'll be another one in the not to distant future and next time I'll be staying out for a few more drinks. You can see some more of my images in the gallery below and discover more about Denton Training here. Enjoy. |
Archives
November 2015
Categories
All
|