2013 365-2

Don't be asking me to explain why, but this week ended up as a week of macro stuff featuring (mostly) the wee men and some dinosaurs. If you read last week's post, you'll have spotted a reference to the currently ongoing protests in Belfast about the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall. These have kept going this week as well and I started off the week with another shot, which led to another, which led to another and so on. The shots about the flag issue have proved very popular on both Facebook and Flickr; I'd rather the protestors gave up and stopped giving me ideas for photos. I'd probably also settle for people protesting about what I happen to consider to be more important issues like jobs, benefit cuts, cuts in public services and so on. Things that actually make a concrete difference to most people's lives?

7/01/13

I put this up with the description "after baton rounds and water canon failed, the PSNI try a different approach." This was (I suppose) expressing some of my annoyance and irritation about what I see as the pointlessness of the protests. I can't help but think that a small group of people are intent on damaging their own communities (either intentionally or unintentionally) and Northern Ireland as a whole for the sake of what flag flies or does not fly over one building. I would fight for people's right to protest peacefully and democratically about what they believe in but tend to see the violence in Belfast as being driven by other less noble factors, represented by the dinosaurs. Old stuff, and stuff that might never change. I also can't help wondering what would happen if more people, particularly in loyalist/unionist communities actually came out to vote come local elections - actually used the democratic process to effect change. One thing that has emerged from the current events and which I do agree with is that there is a very significant disconnect between elected politicians and the ordinary working class people, particularly in protestant/unionist /loyalist areas of Belfast. I wonder if that can be expressed through the medium of wee men and macro?

8/01/13

I hadn't realised that it would be so hard to buy a "normal" looking toy car. This was the best I could come up with although I did also find a dead ringer for my own car in the same Tesco bargain bin. I'd obviously never make a good rioter since it took me 20 minutes and half a tin of lighter fluid to get the toy car to burn. Also incinerated a couple of wee men and a flag who had got soaked by the puddle of lighter fluid. All in a good cause I suppose.

9/01/13

Nearly 200 shots to get two shots like this. a syringe of green food colouring suspended from my backdrop stand over a white floor tile with another tile as the backdrop. Trying to time the drops with hitting the shutter release at just the right moment was nearly impossible. Also messy - the table, floor and dog were all splattered with green dots by the time I gave up. Low shutter speed (1/160) with two speedlights placed to each side seemed to work well in freezing the corona of the splash.

10/01/13

The morning after. The wee forensic scientists get stuck into my burnt out car. As is anything like this would ever happen in Belfast. I'm afraid to ask how civil disturbance sits with my car insurance.

11/01/13

Sadie and Anges have been absent for some time, although they did make the effort to get some practice in for Operation Standstill tomorrow evening. This is being touted as Belfast City Centre being brought to a complete halt by flag protestors during the evening rush hour. I shall be aiming to be at home from lunchtime.

12/01/13

Operation Standstill appeared to pass off relatively quietly; in Belfast terms that means only one pipe bomb thrown at a house and only one bus burned out in East Belfast. That and stories of medics and carers being denied access to their patients and more police officers being injured. That's "quiet" for Belfast I suppose. Gordon the Express Engine was discovered in a charity shop bargain bin, which was where I got the idea for this from, although I'd have preferred it if he was looking just a bit grumpier.

13/01/13

Burning the car again, although I thought this made a nice shot with a bit of humour and some narrative. Entitled "Sister Assumpta never got to join in with the other nun's fun" I just like the ideas of the wee nuns getting up to all sorts of badness in their spare time. Next up is trying to figure something out with the wee nuns and the wee monks.

2013 365-1

Titling this post made me think for some reason of George Lucas's debut film THX 1138. A wee bit expressionless and cold.

I stopped my picture-a-day project on my birthday in November 2012 and took 6 weeks away from the commitment of taking a shot every day and posting updates every week. It felt weird and I really didn't like it - I missed the demands, the discipline and the commitment. It was a chore sometimes but it gave more back to me that it took. So, take a 6 week break and then kick off again, this time with a year long 365 project to document 2013 in all it's ups and downs. Lets rock and roll.

01/01/13

Not a tremendous shot to start off with, but I found myself standing at the top of Victoria Square with a hangover and a camera. Tried to frame the H&W cranes through the triangular windows of the viewing gallery and sort of succeeded. Pity about the dirty glass.

2/01/13

I was tidying up the junk room in my house and came across this old telephone handset. It sparked off a few ideas for the wee men and this was maybe the pick of the bunch. I entitled it "Ralph had a tough decision to make" but when I posted it on my Facebook page i inadvertently typed "touch" instead of "tough." No one corrected me - I'll assume anyone who saw it was either too polite or thought I was being cleverer than I actually am.

03/01/13

By day three I was getting into the habit of carrying a camera with me when i went out. This was a late afternoon walk through Stormont, taken at around 4.30pm. I was trying to capture the shadow here but the dogs add something.

 04/01/13

First wire wool burn of the year at the Twelve Arches bridge near Newcastle. It's OK but there's a lot wrong with it. It's way too soft for one thing and I'd have liked to have seen more the bridge/arches. A return visit at a later date; different lens maybe and a few more attempts at it may be in order.

05/01/13

Thanks to the ever-so-inventive Debbie, I ended up shooting at the Belfry indoor skate park in Newcastle this afternoon. Two off-camera flashes working remotely from my camera and some very impressive skaters and boarders made this a really fun session. The two skaters were fantastic and I think I might have pushed them a wee bit to get the shots I wanted. Plenty of interest from the people and kids present.
This is part of me continuing to try to figure out using off-camera flash to freeze action with the ultimate aim of starting shooting roller derby with strobes. I've now got three flashes that can all be triggered and adjusted from my camera, so may visit roller derby training some time soon and start working out the practical aspects of lighting for bouts.

06/01/13

More flag protest in Belfast yesterday, two days of violence and unrest, shots fired at the police, police using baton rounds and water canons. Everyone blaming everyone else. It saddens me to see how little has changed in Northern Ireland when an issue like this crops up and how polarised this society can still be. I'll let this one speak for itself.

Creationism

Another bargain buy while shopping with the kids in the post-Xmas sales - a bag of dinosaurs which came complete with some trees and a plastic rock. Seemed like a good excuse for a meditation on the creationist argument.

Father Martin's arguments on creationism just got a wee bit surreal