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20 November 2008 tagged crazy6, Daryl Irvine, Man, Music with no comments
Daryl is listening some music from the DJ console at Chris and Irene wedding party on the 25th of October 2008 in London. Daryl is the singer of the band Crazy6 and has an endless passion for music.
Chris’ and Irene’s party was the first wedding party we attended since we moved in the UK two years and a half ago. It has been fun, also because I had the possibility to meet many of my ex-colleagues from Chameleon Net. Many things has changed, but having fun with people who I know and like is always a pleasure!
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18 November 2008 tagged Black and White, Film, London, Man with no comments
Customers in line to rent a Halloween dress on Shaftesbury Avenue, in anticipation of the many parties going on in the last day of October.
There is a shop, on Shaftesbury Avenue, full of fancy dresses and costumes. If you want to play Batman just for an evening, or if you like to be captain Jack Sparrow for a little while, escaping the daily routine, “Angel Fancy Dress” is the place you are looking for. It attracted my attention since the first time I saw it, many years ago, but I can probably lead that back to the fact that, at the time, the shop window was dominated by Darth Vader, Yoda and few Clones from a galaxy far far away.
What hit me this time, and I bet it would have hit everyone, was the long long queue outside the shop on the morning before Halloween. Men on one line, women on another, the two queues were easily longer than fifty people each. Halloween in Italy is still seen just as a heathen holiday, therefore it is snubbed by many; nevertheless the few who do not would never think to queue for a costume.
Another photo from my film camera, this time no permission asked, just an interesting scene I did not want to let go. Seeing it now, though, I would have tried to keep a smaller aperture, in order to show the queue better.
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17 November 2008 tagged Couple, kiss, London, Man, Trafalgar Square, Woman with no comments
Lately I have many things going on and I do not have enough time to manage everything as I would like to. I have not posted for some days and I did not have time to come to see your photos guys, but I hope that in the next days this trend will change a little. Fabiana and I have done a great photo shoot this Saturday and we have some good photos to publish: I bet you will like some of them, but I do not want to spoil anything! :)
In these days I am trying some editing with devignetting and high key: some of them work, some other not entirely. I think this image is quite strong, maybe a little bit too strong. I know it will not be loved by some of you, but it is a step I need to take. There are many noises around the two lovers and I am not entirely sure of the high-contrast black and white, but the colors were extremely dull…
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13 November 2008 tagged London, Paper, Woman with no comments
Yesterday evening we had the second London Calling Photographers meeting. I had many things to do, people to chat with and things to organize that I ended up without my camera, that Fabiana mastered really well! I have met a lot of special folks, and I have to admit that I am very happy that at the second meeting the attendance was of twenty people. The road to achieve a sense of “belonging” to the group is still long and, for many reasons, not easy, but this does not mean that I am thrilled by the challenge. I have found people whose enthusiasm is like a blow of warm air during a cold day.
There have been some discussion about feasible projects to be carried out in the next weeks/months and I think that the first step went very well. My Thanks to each and everyone who attended the meeting (and those who weren’t able to be there in person, but supported it as well).
Some of the projects are not directly linked to London, so if anyone from some lands far far away wants to join… feel free to contact me!
I hope to be able to bring some “News” (yes, the link to the photo is really weak, I know) about the London Calling Photographers as soon as possible!
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12 November 2008 tagged Black and White, Couple, London, Trafalgar Square with no comments
I am utterly amazed by the number of photos I have published from this roll of film. I have go so many interesting photos that I am quite proud of my results!
Tonight there will be the London Calling Photographers’ meeting, so if you are in London and wanna join us give me a shout! Tonight’s menu includes live critique and recipes for the winter! I have one idea I would like to share, but I hope many will propose things to do in the coming months with oir cameras.
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11 November 2008 tagged Glasses, London, Man with no comments
The other day I was walking in St.James’ Park and I saw a man painting. He was sitting on a bed of grass and leaves and he seemed to me to be a very calm person. I watched him from the distance and then I decided to close in and ask him if I could have took a photo of him. He looked up at me quite calmly and he simply said:
“Can you please talk more slowly please?“
When he spoke I thought I had recognized his accent, so I decided asked him where he was from, and he told me:
“I am Italian“
From that moment things went easy and we had half an hour of chat, talking about both our experiences and situation and I managed to snap this shot. I got the colors I wanted and his deep eyes, but I was way too close to get more of the Autumn inside the frame. Lately i am in love with wide angle lenses and having had the possibility to shoot with a 35mm I would love to have a digital full frame…
Nevertheless, please meet Antonio, who has been living in London for a month. All the best to him!
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10 November 2008 tagged Actors, Black and White, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, Harry Potter, James Phelps, London, Oliver Phelps, Trafalgar Square with no comments
The other week I was enjoying one of my days off work and I ended up in Trafalgar Square where I found a sort of games consoles exhibition. There was a stage where some presenters entertained the small crowd, demonstrating games and presenting other more famous personalities. I have to admit that I was not so interested in it, I was struggling with my film camera and I was not in the mood for digital shot. However when the presenters were to introduce the new Harry Potter console game I was suddenly interested by the arrival of James and Oliver Phelps, the twin brothers who played Fred and George Weasleys in the Harry Potter films. I stopped by for few minutes, taking some photos of them, but I needed my digital camera the long lens.
I have to confess, even if it is not a secret to those who know me, that I am a big fan of Harry Potter, but the books, please. They are the first “serious reading” I had in English and I enjoyed them over and over, reading them and listening to the audiobooks. When I came over to England, when my English was very poor, those books helped a lot. The first book is very simple to read, it is targeted to young readers and uses a not-so-huge vocabulary. It is a good starting point for those willing to learn English. With the story developing the complexity of the writing increases and so the story and the character. Yes, those books are very well written and I would suggest them to every single person I know. Many people I have met told me that I was reading “child stories”, but they were just those who did not read it!
I have been one of the many who, during the night of almost a year and a half ago, waited in the queue to get a copy of “The Deathly Hallows”. It was FUN!
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9 November 2008 tagged Black and White, Cigarette, Film, hat, London, Man, Smoke with no comments
Back to my film shoots. I have to admit that I love the result I had with my first two rolls and I am going to keep using it, maybe just to remind me that composition is important, that before releasing the shutter you have to wait one second more, you have to think.
In these years with the digital cameras the infinite crops on the computer have made the game very easy, but the time saved having a photo that is what you want immediately is huge. In this shot I simply clicked the monochrome button to fix some ugly scan and the photo was ready.
I find people smoking on the streets very interesting. They are relaxed, taking their break and having their little treat. Yes, they are more inclined to be photographed.
Next weekend I will have a quite important photo shoot and then I will probably have to build two websites for two portfolios. Good and Busy times ahead!
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8 November 2008 tagged Black and White, Elena Rakova, Portobello, portrait, Woman with no comments
Photography is a wide name. If someone tells me “I am a photographer” I would treat this sentence as if someone would have told me “I am a worker“. Photography has so many possible branches that two so-called photographers can have just one thing in common: a camera!
In these months of taking photos in the street I have realized where my small niche is, what kind of things I want to do with my images. I do not yet know if I will go for a “pro career” in the next years, but what I know is that I will test myself harder and harder to see where I want to be.
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6 November 2008 tagged Elena Rakova, London, Portobello, portrait, Woman with no comments
Some weeks ago Fabiana and I had the possibility to shoot Elena, a lovely girl coming from St Petersburg, in Russia. She was one of the first person who contacted us for the Street Portrait Project. Elena has been a great model: she knew how to stand in front of a camera, being at ease doing it. Walking down Portobello Road in a busy day we attracted quite a few looks with a model posing for us, but it was fun!
having a model is interesting and instructive. Being the director is sometimes awkward: finding the right words, trying to explain what you want, capturing the right expression. It has been a good experience, it has taught me quite a lot and it made me understand more about my personal liking in photography.
Fabiana has been great, as always. She supported me and took the lead when I was speechless!