The travel 

7:45 I arrived in London flew in from Exeter airport. This was an interesting experience as soon as I got comfortable it was time to land. The travel from London city airport was very confusing, the advice I got from the desk was wrong either that or I staid on the underground for too long. I got off the train at Farringdon and walk about 15-20mims to the hotel I was staying at a Travelodge, the hotel on first look was clean and the staff was helpful. My room was boxy but should be comfortable for the next few nights. I then traveled to Shoreditch to the old Truman Bury this was were the free-range exhibition was happening I put up my work on the wall in a square format. I then went on to explore Shoreditch and London. 

Evening of free-range

The evening of the show I was running late on the tube, I aim to get to the show for 5 pm but I gonna to arrive around 6 pm spend too long enjoying lunch overlooking the Thames sat in the sun. 

Once I arrived at the show there were hundreds of people waiting outside wanting to get in the exhibition. I was feeling very excited and anxious about the show and who was going to be there, possibilities of British Journal of photography and the other companies looking for the next photographer to break out into the professional world. 

The evening went on into the night with an open bar and loads of really exciting new work displayed. 3 floors and many different universities.

Exploring London with Leica Q

I walked around Farringdon the area had a few small shops and cafes around I went and had a coffee outside this really interesting coffee shop when I spot a guy walk by in his tartan pajamas, I quickly finished my coffee and walked after him to photograph him. When I got to a good position to photograph the guy he when into a corner shop, I thought this it I have just missed the unique character so I hovered outside the corner shop until he appeared. 

I thought my next place to visit would be the Leica Mayfair store to have a look at new straps. On my travels passed Piccadilly Circus I saw all sorts of interesting cars and people almost too much to take in. I was crossing the road when I saw a 1959 Corvette in pearl white with a young man driving the shadow and the angle of the car was the perfect SNAP! I captured this stunning image below. 

Leica MayFaire Store!

Once at the Leica store, I had a walk around the store which is small but the work on the walls and the cameras on display are stunning. I picked up nice new oranges roped Leica strap when I approach by one of the staff members which were very kind and helpful. I bought the strap and talked about my practice and the issues I’m currently experiencing with the Leica Q I have condensation in the viewfinder the staff looked at my serial number and noticed the Leica Q was in someone else’s name on the system. I asked how much the service would cost I was expecting to pay through the roof but staff said they would honour the brand and the age of the camera and would sort the issues out for free I was over the moon I ask could I pick it up next when I arrive back in London and then to my amazement the turn around time was quick for my service. People may turn their noses up on the overprice in of the Leica’s but the service from the helpline and the staff at the stores are outstanding.

Meeting the one and only NICK TURPIN!!

Who is Nick Turpin

I had been planning to meet Nick for some time now. Nick is most famous for his night bus project, I was very excited about meeting him. Meeting a true street photographer a hero of mine, I was very nervous about meeting him because a few street photographers and artist can be very cold or distance when meeting fans or photographers alike. Nick was super friendly and real down to earth person to be around, I meet nick by the Gherkin building he was photographing an art installation being put in on the street which was a statue of animals all intertwined this was very exciting for me to be there in London with Nick Turpin talking street photography and the people he has met on his journey as a commercial photographer and street photography. The people that make the statue were from LA and the team helping with all the official art installing like closing the road or organizing the lorry to collect the statue were from France again for myself this was a great networking time and I feel very honored to have been part of this setup. 

MY NEXT BLOG WILL BE OUT ON MONDAY I WILL DISCUSSING THE LEICA SERVICE AND THE WEX VIDEO AND PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD NIGHT WITH AOP PHOTOGRAPHY AND THE CONFERENCE BEYOND THE LENS 2/7/18

Quick Review of the kuvrd lens cap

KUVRD Lens cap

The kuvrd universal lens cap is your all in one solution to protecting your lens in the out environment. The cap is made from a high-performance rubber ULC stretches between 60mm to 150mm cover most modern sizes of a lens. The rubber lens cap is dustproof shock absorbent ever waterproof. 

Does the lens cap work with the Leica Q

I really enjoying using the Leica Q for street photography, but over the last few months I have been constantly dropping the metal lens onto the floor or knocking the lens cap. This is frustrating because when I’m not in the zone shooting street and going in and out of coffee shops and another place around town I wouldn’t put the Leica away but would often knock the lens cap on silly things around the shops lithe my bag or corners of shop displays. 

The Kuvrd lens cap was advertised on Facebook it can up a few times and I thought nothing of it. But will the continuing knocking off the original lens cap it though about giving the rubber cap ago?

The pros and cons of the rubber lens cap 

Pros

> Easy to install on lens.

> Stays on the Lens well and has a tight fit.

> Does protect the Lens well from dust and weather.

> Projects well from bumps and small knocks

> Makes me feel more confident to have the Leica around my shoulder.

 Cons

> fiddly to get off the lens in a rush.

> I wouldn’t put on and off between Photographing because I would miss the shot,  trying to get the lens cap off

> looks ugly on the Leica Q

Overview 

I would love Leica to remodel the Leica Q lens cap to a more practical version until then I will be using the rubber lens cap, it was very expensive $29.99 it’s about £22.37 plus post from the United States. The post was quick look about the week and a half. The cap gives great projection and is easy to clean and wipe clean, I would highly recommend this to a Leica Q user to project the lens. 

But a word of warning when photographing put the cap away as it is very difficult to get off in a rush but this also fills me with confidence that it won’t fall off randomly.

If you want to see more of the images Fixed Wing Project

This project will be featured in Digital Camera Magazine!

Fixed wing project 

The air show has been held in Torbay for three years attracting just over 150,000 people to a beach in Paignton the planes fly over the beach just little out from the pier. 

“Torbay Airshow will return this spring with breathtaking air displays over the stunning South Devon bay. The two-day show will take place over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd June 2018 on Paignton green offering free entertainment for all the family. The bay provides a stunning natural amphitheater for viewing the Airshow, providing a perfect location for large coastal Airshow. The event is free to attend.”

Press pass

Because I blog and often write educational blogs I was able to apply for a press pass. I know you might be thinking why has he got a press pass for an event to photograph candid street portraits.

The reasoning is because I wanted to gain access to the VIP section and put my subjects at ease when photographing. I became focused on Martin Parr’s work on the Chelsea flower show and Bruce Gilden’s after off project learning how to capture the event through a street photographers eye. Whilst every other photographer has the massive lens and pointed their camera up to the sky to capture the planes I was focused on the hustle and bustle of the people of the event from spectators or the VIPs to the parachuters.

My approach 

After studying how Parr and Gilden approach to capturing events, I had set out a plan to photograph a few subjects: pointing, ice cream, eating, planes flying over the crowd and the VIP area. I felt that this would be best to explore and photograph to represent the Air Show. I would walk up and down the beachfront keeping my eyes out for interesting and unique subjects on Saturday the show had a festival feeling and was very busy but not too many exciting subjects to capture. On Sunday the show had a relaxed holiday feel to a crowd I was able to capture the key subjects I had in mind.

Creating a context to the images the face of the people I wanted to capture the only issue with this was that the project may turn into a series of faces which is not what I want to photograph I want the expression of excitement and planes in the background. I was then on the idea of photographing stalls and traders and the backs of people watching the show so I would them look for uniquely dress subjects that stood out to creating interesting images. 

Problems!

What could go wrong I have a press pass! Saturday I was photographing for a few hours getting some great results and unique characters, when I photographed a subject who objected to the image being taken I walked off thinking nothing of he chased me and grabbed my arm aggressively. 

Me: Please don’t grab me!

Subject: You can not take a photo of me

Me: I can within public spaces I’m well within my right plus I’m an events photographer for the Air Show.

Subject: I don’t Care!

Me: You need to calm down I will delete the image.

Subject: GOOD!

As this was going on the security team were on close just in case the subject lashed out this is the first time I have been grabbed and talked to this aggressively within the street photography context. I felt I handled the situation well but this knocks the wind out of my sails for a short while I went and got a coffee collect myself and set back out again.

Gear

To capture the day I was using my trusted Leica Q and my Sf26 flash and the polarising filter. The flash made it a little difficult to capture some subjects because of the TTL feature so I had the lens set a 1.7 not to overpower the flash as the day was very bright and did not want to overexpose the subjects. The picture created I felt to be of the high standard from the day and also have a unique edge because of the flash.

Overview

I would definitely recommend to any street photographer to get a press pass for an event and capture the subjects as this makes it easier to make a project focus on human interaction and have a different angle on the event.