Rochdale Town v AFC Rochdale, Friendly July 2010

First game I've shot this season at Rochdale Town - more to come although my football will be somewhat restricted this year as I have several teams to shoot and it's the last year of Uni. However I'll try and get to Rochdale as often as possible. Let's start with a team photo.

More photos from this game can be found here

A slideshow from this game can be found here

Im a Photographer Not a Terrorist

Photography is under attack. Across the country anyone with a camera is targeted as a potential terrorist. This campaign is for everyone who values visual imagery and press freedom.

An absolutely key site for all photographers to be involved with - even if it's just showing your support by joining the facebook group. Please have a look at this - it impacts on everyone, wherever you are.

Link to facebook group

Ely Cathedral

Having seen this cathedral from the distant train I was quite excited about the prospect of being up close and shooting it. It's a strange place though - very old in parts but has a strange feeling to it. I don't like the main tower - a bit too 'clunky' for me - none of the elegance of Lincoln or other cathedrals.
For those interested it was founded as a monastery in 673 by Saint Ethelreda, destroyed by the Danes in 870, refounded by the Benedictines in 970, most of the current building were constructed in 1081, became a cathedral in 1109, Henry VIII closed the monastery in 1539 and was visited by Gordon in 2010.

Chadderton FC v Flixton Friendly, 2010

At last some decent weather (well for most of the game!), and reasonable light

More photographs from this game can be found here 

A slideshow from this game can be found here 

World Lacrosse Championships, Manchester, 2010

Went to this today and really enjoyed it. First time I've shot this sport, and it certainly was a fast learning curve - the small size of the ball and the sheer speed of it - certainly challenging.

More photographs from this event can be found here

A slideshow from this event can be found here

Friendly Chadderton FC v Winsford, 2010

Again an evening match so only shot during the first half, hence the few photos on the link. First time I've put the D90 through its paces on a normal dark evening and it lives up to the hype - it really can cope with late evening light! Although the benefit of the lack of light meant I could actually watch the second half of the match - and it was really good  - enjoyed it!

More photographs from this match can be found here

A slideshow from this match can be found here

Olympic wrestling

Many years ago I worked in many differing areas of sports photography. One of those was Olympic Wrestling. Although I've not done any of this for a few years, I have plans to extend the range of sports I cover over the next few months, so would like to give it another try. Wrestling was fantastic to shoot, and watch. These are old photos and have been recovered from 35mm negatives so please understand the quality of image will be affected.

Chadderton FC v Leigh Genesis, Friendly July 2010

First game of the season for me and, true to form, it threw it down. With hosepipe bans in place and blistering sunshine non stop for several weeks, footy starts and so does the rain. It was also an evening match so with the glowering skies and lack of natural light there were exposure problems - that and the fact I'd not got me brolly with me so was a tad worried about the gear getting wet - I really should know better! Anyway - more friendlies to come before the season starts on August 7th. Good to be back to real footy.

Further photos from this game can be found here
A slideshow from this game can be found here

Street Musicians

Had a stroll through the city and took some shots of the street performers, particularly musicians, in the city. Manchester has a fantastic range of buskers and artists, and one of the joys of the city is to stroll through it listening to the variety of live music.

Flint, Wales

Had a day out to the Dee Estuary today. I'd seen Flint castle from the train when travelling to Holyhead to get the ferry to Dublin, so a short rail journey and there we were. The castle was built by Edward I and was the first of his series of castle constructed after subduing Wales - cleverly all sited so they could be provisioned from sea. It was started in 1277 and took nine years to complete - at one time over 2,300 men were employed in its construction. At the time it cost the English some £7,000 and CADW estimate that at todays prices that's about £20m