2013 365-19

I'm kinda pleased with this week's shots and there's not even a roller derby picture in sight. A nice mix of stuff and plenty to go to and see this week courtesy of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.

6/05/13

Here's my eldest daughter and my youngest daughter doing some crafty stuff. I like this shot. My eldest girl is very talented and had been asked to put on a workshop in the R-Space Gallery Lisburn. Sadly very few people turned up, but I did get to see pictures of chickens and penguins wearing hand-knitted jumpers

7/05/13

Second photoshoot for our long-term bump shoot and a visit to Belfast's Titanic Quarter this evening just as the sun was setting. I'm pretty sure this won't make the final cut, but I do like it. A real grab shot, with the sun directly behind my unsuspecting model.

8/05/13

I was both surprised and excited to be taken along to take part in the Fawlty Towers Dinner Experience at the Northern Whig. A great interactive show with a fair amount of improvisation all done by three very talented performers, and cunningly stealing loads of good bits from the TV series. Sadly the dinner was pretty poor, but the craic was 90.

9/05/13

Went along to see Amadou and Mariam in the big marquee in Custom House Square. No takers for my extra ticket, so I was bill no mates this evening. The music was awesome, although there was a real lack of stage presence, but that's not surprising given that both Amadou and Mariam are blind. Very talented singers and musicians and they were kind enough to bring along two of the loveliest backing singers I've ever had the pleasure of photographing. Here's one of them.

10/05/13

I went to see Mary Gauthier (supported by Ben Glover) in the marvellous surroundings of St George's Church this evening. This lady is one of the best songwriters currently working and I was delighted to have this chance to see her in Belfast for the second time. Ben Glover was, as always, great to listen to but I noted that the fiddle player had changed sex and grown a beard since she was last in Belfast.

11/05/13

I joking posted about this image on Facebook, saying it was a great example of how not to take a night-time landscape shot. No tripod, no wide-angle lens, no long shutter speed. I shot it handheld with a 70-200mm lens at f2.8, 1/200 shutter speed and ISO 6400. I did however smack out around 40 shots in quick succession to stitch together to make this panorama. It's Ok, but has to be filed under "could do better."

12/05/13

Faded bunch of flowers tied to bridge over Holywood bypass at Holywood Exchange. The number of plastic ties would suggest that other bunches of flowers have been placed here. The memorial is in memory of Karen Cromie aged 31. Karen jumped to her death on the 28/01/11, one week after she had threatened to jump from the same bridge. Karen was a talented Paralympic athlete who had been selected to complete in the 2012 London Paralympics and died near the Decathlon store at Holywood Exchange which had sponsored her.