Photography: German Markets and Charity Gigs

So this week the German Market on New Street opened for its traditional advent (plus a bit) run. A couple of house-mates and I decided to go down and check out the German food (and German beer) and it's pretty damn cool, despite the huge number of people that try to file down past waffles, schnitzel, sausages, beer - a lot of stereotypically German things plus the occasional market-stall. My visit was cut short though as I had agreed to photograph a charity show in Selly Oak, so ran home to sort out my camera and have a pizza and then made my way to The Lounge. Met some really cool people, and all the acts let me use flash! Hooray for pictures that should actually be quite good... Here's some (and more below the break as always). And below the break I tried experimenting a bit with flash, HOPE YOU LIKE IT! More on my flickr.

 

Photography: Rugby (and Respite)

On the first week that uni really kicks in I've already decided that I needed a break and have come down to my family's Devonian retreat to unwind after all the stress. Functional Programming really knows how to take it out of somebody. Couple that with the stress of living in a fractured household and staying for the weekend seems like too much effort.

This week did have some good to it, I completed my first Redbrick - the University Newspaper - assignment photographing Birmingham's Yellows take on... somebody. They started in sunshine, but by the time they finished the rain was beginning to pour. Which made for an interesting challenge. I used a Canon f/4-5.6 70-300mm lens, which got a good workout. The changing focal length does make for an interesting bit of work shooting with manual which took me a while to get right. There was a bit of post-processing to get them to a stage I was happy with, but they came out pretty well!

I was meant to have a photo-pass for Goldie Lookin' Chain at the Academy on Thursday, but the amount of my passes that vanish in this city is incredible. I've turned up to a variety of venues just to be turned away, probably more in just Birmingham than anywhere else in the country. I know I'm only one guy, but please don't be mean to me!

More photos below the jump!