The Americas Cup 2015 Portsmouth
The second Americas Cup race 2015 was the inaugural event for Portsmouth and the Solent. With Sir Ben Ainsley racing the Portsmouth based LandRover BAR AC45 expectations of an exciting event and success for the home based yacht were high. Sadly however the event failed to deliver as only one day of racing was completed. For all the preparations and organisation no one was able to beat the unseasonable turn of weather and conditions. The gallery featured was shot as a personal project on the only day when full racing was possible.
The series “Curiosity” evolved from the “Junk Shops” project which focused on traditional junks shops. During my travels to these bastions of organised chaos it was always fascinating to hear the anecdotes of the shop owners who would gladly regale about some of the more unusual items that some shop owners they had collected (their under the counter items 
).
Upon the words, “Have you ever seen a curiosity cabinet ?” being whispered in my ear, a whole new world opened up and daring me to explore. Items I only ever heard or seen pictures of were suddenly becoming physical and very real, head hunted skulls; flying cats and dogs; fur balls from a cow; iron lungs and all with stories to chill the bones – fascinating.
Many tales told to me often appear unbelievable or shocking and I can often detect a sense of disbelief in people when they are retold so perhaps check out for yourself – Indiana Bones
enjoy
Believing that I could source some objects from a junk shop as props for upcoming photo shoot I was horrified to find that the traditional junk shop is an endangered species. If an item’s not on eBay then it’s sitting in a glass cabinet described as a retro/shabby chic collectable or even “antique” with a high price in a well organised and shiny clean shop. The days of digging through piles of God knows what and perhaps finding the diamond, reminiscing with childhood memory jolting objects or even puzzling over what on earth something could be seem to be fading.
This portfolio is my tribute to these bastions of organised chaos and their owners who always seem to know where everything is.
“There is a classic yacht regatta happening at Cowes in the Isle of Wight, can you cover it for an article?”
“Sure, when is it?”
“Next week”
“Err, ok”
Having lived next to the sea all my life sailing was not really something that floated my boat although I would readily admit to being mesmerised when spotting a classic wooden yacht in the Solent. Presented with a chance to get close to such magnificent and beautiful yachts was not an opportunity to decline. Whatever the weather or conditions I was going to be there.
Thank you to staff and friends at the Panerai
A short gallery featuring the break neck speeds of the P1 Superstock power boats and waterski racing take from the shoreline at Stokes Bay, Gosport.
A portfolio featuring landscapes of North Wales shot in the summer of 2017 featuring the mountains of Snowdonia, copper mines , waterfalls and coastal landscapes. Such a rich tapestry of landscapes you could spend a lifetime there and never cover half of it.
A work in progress portfolio of South Coast landscapes particularly featuring Hampshire and surrounding areas including the Solent and the Isle of Wight.
What’s dark and cold? night-time photography, you don’t have to be crazy to get up or be out a stupid ‘o’ clock but it helps. After the hustle and bustle of the day subsides with a cloak of darkness hiding the flaws and lights sparkling like diamonds the world becomes a very different place. There is quiet, solitude, the hidden and the unknown, time to think and become separated from the stress of the day.
Sometimes an idea may just pop into your head, or perhaps a conversation or incident creates a spark and the cogs in your head start turning, what do you do? forget that moment of inspiration or craziness, or do you jump out of the box and seize the idea, develop it, create it then shoot (in a nice way of course)?
It is painful to think I wish I had done that shot or followed that idea, so why not do it, if it fails then at least you may have learnt something.
or
“Wow” when you see someone else’s shot but you think, I want to do that or I would do that but slightly different – this portfolio is dedicated to “doing it”, there is no structure, no common theme other than having fun and satisfying the creative urge. Random-acts are just Random-Acts, enjoy.
You are sitting in the studio with all your photographic equipment at hand. You suddenly have an idea, you mull it over and excitedly declare to yourself, “Yes, that will work”. Everything you require to fulfil the vision is there barring one thing, the model. It is either late, an unsociable hour or just simply that it might bone too tough an ask to get someone else involved. Cue, make up, lights and action, you are about to be star behind and in front of the camera.
The photographs featured in this portfolio were created using the following process :-
- A scenario was imagined.
- A self-portrait of the victim/subject was taken and then printed
- The print was then placed on a background
- A second self-portrait was then taken of the action on the subject
The project is still a work in progress with many new ideas being considered and some being discounted on certain moral grounds