The complete alternative London “Knowledge”
Regular readers may remember the first parts of the “London Knowledge” that I posted a while ago. Having managed the previous “tips”, I squeezed out a further batch to make the century so here’s the final and complete collection. Read and learn (or at least nod with recognition…) You can tell a long-term Billingham bag [...]
Umpire State of Mind
They come for me when I sleep. Thousands of them. Attacking from all sides. Glowing in the darkness, they whistle past my head. With the instantly recognisable “thwack”, the Slazenger “Wimbledon Ultra-Viz” are out to get me. I wake from my dreams as the alarm chirps on the bedside table. Yes, I’m deep into coverage [...]
Canon f2.8 16-35mm mk1 lens for sale
UPDATE: This lens has now been sold. Feel free to read on if you like lovely still life images of lenses and a top lesson in salesmanship. After getting a considerable amount of attention after offering the lens on twitter, I’ve decided to sell my Canon 16-35mm f2.8 L series mk1 zoom lens via my [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v4.0
There is no real need to take a camera, especially your Leica, to Focus. When cleaning your lens with a cloth, it will invariably be the final wipe when the cloth slips and you smear a dorito-grease covered finger across the front element. The World Press Awards must be something to do with the Corby [...]
Sensi and Instability (with apologies to Jane Austen)
Glastonbury 2010 was a new experience for me as, this year, I was going all multimedia on this festival’s ass. After pleading with the techno honchos in Gay Paris for some new toys, they managed to get a Zacuto Z-Finder and an Audio-Technica PRO24-CM couriered to me on the day before the festival. The downside [...]
Workflow-a-go-go
I recently discovered that there are quite a few photographers that do not have any real system of filing their images for easier archiving. With this in mind, I thought I’d share my thoughts on how to make life easier when it comes to organising your digital diamonds. When I first arrived in London, a [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v3.0
If you actually prepare for the bad weather for once and get fully waterproofed up, by the time you arrive at the tube station in central London, you’ll emerge to blistering sunshine. The same also applies in reverse. You will see the politician that you waited 10 hours outside the House of Commons for on [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v2.0
It’s good practise to get on with all the photographers you come across as it’s guaranteed that you’ll end up stuck on a doorstep for three days with the one you told to piss off. Stand next to the loudest shouter at film premieres. (See also “Ian West“) Even if the object that we’ve been [...]
The alternative London “Knowledge” v1.0
Not much can compare to feeling the first hot rays from the sun as you leave Downing Street on a Summer’s day after an 8 hour stakeout. No matter how sure you are of the job, the longer you wait for it to happen, the more likely you are to feel the need to frantically [...]
Going through the change
After months of speculation among the head bods, AFP London moved to the dark side, or more particularly, the black and gold side. Now armed with Nikon D3 bodies and various lenses, I’ve wandered the streets of London zooming left rather than right and pushing the exposure the wrong way. I mean, who in their [...]
The Canon 5Dmk2
SO.. Earlier this evening I was pleased to be invited to Canon’s showroom in London for a preview of their latest offerings. While I had a look at the new 24mm f1.4 mkII lens and the Canon G10 powershot (much improved over my aging G7), the star of the evening was the new Canon 5D [...]
Canon’s return to form?
Having only just returned from my holiday in Cuba with my girlfriend and a hurricane, I’m mid-picture edit but thought I should post about this morning’s announcement of the new 5dmk2. Having totally changed the field of digital photojournalism on it’s initial release, the 5d’s successor has been the subject of miles of online debate, [...]
Live and Let Dive..
(AKA in at the deep end..) This weekend saw a return trip to my old home turf of Sheffield as I covered the 2nd FINA Diving World Series at Ponds Forge sports centre. It seems the chlorine gas exposure and relentless week-long shooting of the Manchester FINA shortcourse championships wasn’t quite enough to kill me [...]


