Shaun Ward Photography

THIS BLOG IS FINISHING

2009-08-26T10:57:00.001+01:00

This is the end of this blog. But for those who need a place to visit here is the link to where it is being resurrected.

http://shaunwardpress.wordpress.com/

Go pay it a visit

Football Today

2009-08-22T21:26:00.004+01:00

Some images from the Junior and Amateur matches I shot today for the Evening Telegraph. Kinnoull v Luncarty and Jeanfield Swifts v Errol.

WOW What a wedding!

2009-08-10T21:05:00.003+01:00

In October I have the honour of photographing the wedding of Ellen McBride and Alex Harrison. What's the big deal you may say. Well they are getting married while abseiling off the Forth Rail Bridge with the minister, bridesmaid and bestman. Hopefully if logistics allow I will also be joining them on a rope but either way this is going to be a cool shoot with the reception taking place up in Castle Menzies making a really unforgetable day.
At the same time they are raising funds for Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland so would be more than grateful to anyone who would put their hand in their pocket to support them and this worthy charity.
You can donate directly into their fund raising box by clicking on this link.

http://www.justgiving.com/ellen-alex-wedding-abseil-off-forth-rail-bridge/

Its that time again

2009-08-09T22:00:00.004+01:00

This weekend was the start of my football season as I start covering the Junior and Amateur matches around Perthshire for the Evening Telegraph. Here are some images from a couple of the matches I attended on Saturday.

Press image

2009-07-27T07:27:00.002+01:00

This is a couple of images shot for the Evening Telegraph. Holly Wilson pictured at a fundraising ceilidh to raise fund for a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Holly will be climbing the mountain to raise funds for Childreach International.

Some wedding work

2009-07-22T20:51:00.000+01:00

Here is a link to some recent wedding work I have be busy with.

http://shaunwardweddings.blogspot.com/

What goes around, comes.......

2009-07-11T21:10:00.005+01:00

I am a great believer in giving back. I also believe in the what goes around come around train of thought and that giving will always be rewarded in some sense not just in a material way.
My son attends a local nursery and I approached them with the idea of creating some unique graduation images for the kids leaving to start school after the summer.
All profit from the initial sales of these images would go to Rachel House a local charity.
I strongly believe that this would be a win/win situation for all involved - the kids/parents would get nice images to look back on, the charity would make a couple of hundred to help towards the work it does and I would benefit from the good publicity generated by such a move. It wasn't the easiest shoot to organise with having to run between two nurseries, shoot 25 kids, choosing a day when the kids attended and dodging the wind and rain but I would be lying if I said it was difficult.

So for all those photographers with quite spells in their year (most would have some time) I urge you to see how you can give something back to your community. As I said what goes around comes around and I plan to repeat the exercise next year on a bigger scale.

Education,education, education!

2009-07-10T18:19:00.004+01:00

Here are some academic images shot for press and personal purposes over the last week.

My wife graduated from Abertay University on Thursday. Here is a shot I felt worked quite well.

I then met up with Perth Academy rector Charles Kiddie as he held a dinner for his retiral and held the school's award ceremony at the Perth Concert Hall.

And teachers retirement.

A quick link

2009-06-18T22:12:00.002+01:00

For those who dont know, I teach digital photography classes at Perth College. During the 8 years I have taught there there has been a wide range of students in terms of photographic ability. Some come on the course to learn basics about digital photography and there have been others who are obviously good photographers before they come on the course and are just looking to smooth off any rough edges they have. One such person was Tom Fincher who has now progressed onto creating his own website of landscape and macro images he has taken recently. Go take a look.

http://www.tomfincherphotography.co.uk/index.php

There have been a few more that have also shown a talent and I do not mean them any dis-service by ommiting their name here. You know who you are.

Pushing in another direction

2009-06-10T14:48:00.002+01:00

Recently I have been really busy as the three areas I work in have started to clash and combine this with home life it has been difficult to have much spare time. The end of June is where I am trying to get to as suddenly I will free up much more time - Perth College classes are over and my sister's wedding (I am giving her away and organising the stag do) will be over.

The plan for this summer is to become much more efficient at portraiture and hopefully pull in more work in that area. Here is something i produced recently of my son Kieran. Used two lights and processed in Photoshop to acheive a look I was after..

Calling all present or ex Perth College Digital students

2009-05-17T10:46:00.002+01:00

This is a request for any ex or present students of the Digital Photography classes at Perth College or surrounding learning centres.
I have started a Facebook page for digital photography in Perth where you can post photo, keep in contact with others, ask questions etc, basically an extention of the courses.
Here is the link to the website. If you are not a Facebook member you will have to sign up before joining.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=75961848324

Thanks
Shaun

Recent images

2009-05-17T07:54:00.009+01:00

Here are some of the images I have taken over the last month.

The Matthew Dance Academy put on a show for the public at Perth Theatre on Friday night. Pictured are all the preformers before the show.

Images from Perth Races over four meetings.

Images from Ladies Day on Thursday.

A Pre-Wedding shoot for Chrisann and Jamie at Birnam/Dunkeld

Some football

And finally following on from last post here are some of the images from the shed fire. I think its the best set of news images I have taken but unfortunetly the paper never used them as they couldn't develop it into a usable story.

Fire

2009-04-25T20:52:00.002+01:00

A fire I happened upon travelling back from covering football this afternoon. I will post some more once the paper does something with them.

Basketball and football images on Youtube

2009-04-04T23:06:00.007+01:00

This is action from this years Chairman's Cup final. I am experimenting showing it in Youtube format. A link to my Youtube Channel is now on the right of this post.

And some old football

A bakers dozen and thanks Big Bob

2009-03-14T20:44:00.005Z

Here are some images from Saturday. Thirteen as the title suggests with the 13th not being planned or as straight forward as it should have been. Pictures from Fair City v Barnhill, Jeanfield Swifts v Kirkcaldy YM, Roselea v Letham and basketball from Perth Phoenix Cadets v Dundee Sharks.

So the 13th image was one which was not planned. I am currently selling off some equipment to update what I currently use.This left me without a wide angle this weekend but I felt it was not a problem as the sports could be covered without one. When shooting the basketball they had a cheerleading team which I felt may be of interest to the paper. With no wide angle I was helped out by Bob Falconer who happened to be there because his daughter was one of the cheerleaders (he normally would go near a basketball court:)) Bob had a 24-70 which he let me borrow. Five minutes to make a picture it was a struggle to fit them all in as they wanted to show some routine in the photo.(Thanks girls). This is the image i got, not the best I've ever taken but I was surprised to achieve that. Images will appear in this weeks Evening Telegraph.

Catching up

2009-03-01T21:35:00.006Z

Its been a while since I posted so thought I would post some images etc from last few weeks.

I will start backwards and a word about yesterday. For those who don't know I work part time as a photographer and the rest of my time is divided between working as a postman and lecturer at Perth College (strange combination but works at the moment). So most Saturdays I have a shift at the Post Office before returning home getting changed and getting back out to cover sport for the papers. This was the case on Saturday and to add to this I turned 40 and was having some family across for a small celebration. The plan was to go out by 2pm provide images from one Amateur game and one Junior game for the Telegraph and home by 3pm. That was the plan but it went quickly pear shaped when I got stuck in football traffic (St Johnstone v dundee) and didn't arrive at my first game until 2.40pm. A quick five minutes shooting before crossing town to cover the second game and home by 3.15pm.

Thankfully the rest of the day ran smoother and i am another year older and...........

Here are a couple of images sent to the paper.

Last Wednesday was similar in some ways in that I was teaching in Kinross in the evening and was looking to get some images from a Men's basketball game(Perth Phoenix v Edinburgh) that night which was taking place in Perth. I finished at 9pm in Kinross knowing the game would finish up around 9.30pm. Thankfully after driving the 20 miles to the venue I managed to catch the last quarter of a pulsating game. One thing i have noticed though was the lighting seemed a lot dimmer than usual and I was pushed to get decent a decent shooting speed with 1/200th to 1/320th being the norm whilst shooting at f2.8 ISO 3200. Here are a couple of the better frames from that game.

Also during February I shot a few images around Perthshire Rugby Club. First up I had organised to try some portrait on a few (willing?) players. This is new ground for me using some protable flash set-ups to try and achieve a distinctive look to my images. Not as successful as i would have liked but I achieved a couple of reasonable images. I also shot a couple of news images for the papers.

Perthshire player Adam Pattinson

Perth Firefighter Matt Smith (26) has been selected for the Great Britain rugby squad to take on the British Police team at Birmingham on Wednesday 25th February. Matt will earn his third cap for team GB despite never have been selected for the Scottish team. He is also the only Scot to be selected for the GB team.

Perthshire Rugby Club Vice President Bob Lindsay, Community Development Officer Andy Cummins (front) and Scottish Rugby mascot Scotty the Dog display some jugling skills a mini rugby ball which are being handed out to local children as part of Perthshire's day of rugby which has been dubbed 'Super Saturday'. (Friday 20th Feb)

One last image I liked for some reason.

Another busy time

2009-02-04T15:45:00.003Z

On Friday I took a trip up to Forfar. I had been asked by the PR company behind the Homecoming Scottish Cup to photograph some the events they had organised as a taster to the forfar v Glasgow Rangers clash. This involved a trip to Strathmore Primary where the kids had a chance to view the cup as well as learn some football skills from SFA coaches. It was then onto Lochside Sports Centre where the cup was on display for the public. Forfar Athletic Chairman Neill Wilson was on hand to receive some support from locals.

On Saturday I covered six games over three hours for the Evening Telegraph and Courier. This consisted of two amateur games before moving onto Kinnoull v Ballingry. I decided I would then take a trip to Jeanfield Swifts game against Bankfoot. I had been asked to capture former St Johnsone player Jim Weir in action for Bankfoot and as I knew he would be playing decided a trip would be worthwhile before heading down to the North Inch and the rugby. Perthshire were playing Dunfermline in a Premier 3 clash. Lastly some Basketball with Perth Phoenix and City of Edinburgh. Altogether a busy but satisfying couple of days.

Ten images from five games.

2009-01-18T09:02:00.005Z

It was a busy Saturday afternoon with covering five games (three different sports) in five different locations over a 2 1/2 hour period. All these games were shot for either the Evening Telegraph or Courier so I basically tried to get two decent frames from each game.

First up was a couple of amateur games - Bridgeton v Fairfield and then Letham v Roselea. It was then onto Kinnoull v Hill of Beath in the Redwood Cup followed by rugby - Perthshire v Morgan in a Premier 3 derby. I finished the afternoon off by visiting the basketball, Perth Pheonix v Boroughmuir at Perth Academy for 15 mins.

Canon EOS 40D - f2.8 , 1/1600th ISO320

Canon 40D - f2.8, 1/1250th ISO320

Weddings

2008-12-28T09:12:00.003Z

As I plan to try and take on more weddings I have created a seperate blog for them here.

Jeanfield Swifts v Dyce

2008-12-21T08:19:00.003Z

Action from the first half (I had to head of to shoot two other matches) of Swift's Junior Scottish Cup tie against Dyce at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with swift's now having to travel to Dyce for the replay.

John Anderson who scored Swift's first and took his tally for the season so far to 18 goals.

Basketball

2008-12-14T20:27:00.004Z

With the winter weather putting paid to most football on Saturday I took the opportunity to take in some basketball at Perth Academy. Perth Phoenix mens met Robert Gordon University in the last 16 of of the Chairman's Cup. I managed to catch a little ove rthe last two quarters and it was good to shoot some BB again. Here are some of the images. These were shot with a combination of a 70-200 and 18-50, 1/400 and f2.8, ISO 3200

Winter is here

2008-12-01T21:24:00.003Z

Jack Frost has arrived which in sports terms means less games as they fall victim to the winter. With only one game to shoot on Saturday I found myself shooting some potential features for the papers. They weren't used so lets hope football resumes next week and I get back to what I am good at!

Saturday's images

2008-11-23T08:18:00.004Z

Here are some of the images shot yesterday. Considering I had 2 hours to shoot images at four different venues I was pleased with the results. These are images from the two Junior matches I shot. (The others were an Amateur game and a team photo).

Back to norm

2008-11-16T08:59:00.004Z

After all the wedding posts I feel I shoot put up images of what you would expect to see on this blog. Here are somefrom the last two weeks.

Getting a chance to shoot this on someone's wedding day - cool!

2008-11-11T18:48:00.004Z

When I sat down with Lindsay and Bruce before their wedding it became apparent Bruce was a big golf fan. I mentioned taking some golf related pictures on his wedding day. He was really up for the idea and he and some other members of the wedding braved freezing tempertures walked onto the pitch dark golf course and allowed me to try out a few images for 5 minutes. These were the best of the bunch, not perfect but we certainly had fun trying.

Shot with two bare Vivitars laid on the ground in front of them. F4.5 , 1/60th, ISO800 for both.

Wedding - Lindsay and Bruce

2008-11-03T09:43:00.004Z

So as mentioned in the last post, I shot my first wedding for over 10 years on Saturday. Assisted by Jenny, I had a great time and Lindsay and Bruce were a joy to work with. We got lucky with the weather despite the face it was freezing ther was great light to use. I used a couple of remote speedlight/umbrella set up to mainly use as fill. These are some of the images I am currently working through.

Fun in the rain

2008-10-27T14:49:00.007Z

I shoot my first wedding in over ten years this Saturday. Although I have shot plenty weddings in the past I am excited with the possibilities this weekend will offer. Times change and hopefully I am now a better photographer, the stuffy images of the past will make way for a more relaxed and spontaneous style.

The couple getting married are Lindsay and Bruce. A great couple and we spent about ten minutes on Sunday morning , beaten back by the wind and rain, getting some pre-wedding images. These were shot handholding a flashgun in one hand and a 40D with 70-200 in the other. I would have liked to use a stand and brolly etc but I don't think they would have survived in the wind.

Scotland 'A' v Australia 'A' (21/11/06)

2008-10-22T15:07:00.005+01:00

This is a test. After reading Craig Mitchelldyer's blog entry I decided to try embedding a slideshow gallery. I have tried this before with mixed results, but this was before Photoshelter brought out some new updates. This is a 'A' international game from two years ago but I will probably use this as a way to display future press images as you can click and buy straight from the slideshow. Cool!

Hey I'm getting this flash thing

2008-10-15T22:08:00.003+01:00

Here are some images from a sponsored head shave(partial) and leg wax held in a crowded bar at the weekend. All images were taken for the paper. The images themselves are nothing startling but I was pleased with the way I controlled flash. In the images I was positioned no more than 1-2 feet from the subjects in the photo but still managed to control how light from a mounted flashgun was spread. The answer was a A5 piece of white card velcro mounted to bounce the flash against. I think it produced quite a pleasing result in a situation I might normally have struggled to light evenly.

Catalogue shoot

2008-10-07T21:47:00.005+01:00

I have just finished a catalogue shoot for http://www.twiceonline.co.uk. This is the first time I have shot something like this which I found more challenging than shooting people. Making an inanimate object interesting is all to do with light and focus. I would hope I have succeeded doing so with the images I took. Below are some examples.
For the record Twice is a local business run by Caroline Hoyer Millar selling household goods made with traditional materials or in a traditional way. Pay her site a visit.

Speed shooting

2008-10-05T08:10:00.006+01:00

Saturday should have been a fairly easy day shooting. I was asked by the paper to cover two Amateur matches both kicking off at 2pm, a Junior match kicking off at 2.30pm, another Junior match kicking off at 3pm and a simple news image about football programmes at the same ground.

The weather forecast said the rain in the morning would clear in the afternoon.Good. I got my equipment together and left the house just after 1.30pm giving plenty time to get to the furthest away amateur ground. Got to the ground to discover the game wouldn't be kicking off at 2pm after all probably closer to 2.30pm. So I decided to go the the second amateur match with a view to covering that first. Same story. Now I was left with 3 games all with a 2.30pm kick-off. Suddenly the day would be a bit more hectic. I headed back to the first game and shot a few images before heading back to the second amateur. The heavens opened at this point. Torrential rain and wind. I shot the second match for just over 5 minutes before heading off to my first junior game. By this time I was drenched. Covered the next two games and news image by 4pm. Wet through but job done. The glamorous life of a bottom rung sports shooter!

Below are the images I will be submitting to the paper with the exact time they were captured. One thing I would say is that there is a real similarity in the images due to the fact that I shot the first three games from a midfield point for safety (making sure I have images to submit). Award winning images they are not.

Tay Thistle v Dundee Shamrock. Image captured 14.40pm

Tay Thistle v Dundee Shamrock. Image captured 14.41pm

Letham Amateurs v Menziehill AFC. Image captured 14.49pm.

Letham Amateurs v Menziehill AFC. Image captured 14.51pm.

Jeanfield Swifts v Steelend. Image captured 15.08pm.

Jeanfield Swifts v Steelend. Image captured 15.09pm.

Scone Thistle v Culter. Image captured 15.36pm.

Scone Thistle v Culter. Image captured 15.42pm.

Scone Thistle president Scott Farquharson with the new look programmes. Image captured 16.03pm.

Football at its best

2008-09-28T09:22:00.004+01:00

I shot four different games on Saturday, this image stood out. Even at amateur level winning matters.

Mark McFadden wheels away after putting Rattray into the lead in their Perthshire Amateur Division 3 match against Letham Lads played at the South Inch on Saturday 27th September 2008.

Shooting Perth Races

2008-09-28T09:01:00.003+01:00

Thursday saw the last meeting at Perth Racecourse. I first shot at the racecourse at the start of the previous season when I contacted Sam Moreshead, course manager, with a view to producing a book of photos on a season at the races. This lead me to supply images to the Evening Telegraph and over the course of the season provided a batch of images from each meeting. This year I have tried to cover every meet but spend much less time there each visit. Thursday was a typical session arriving in the carpark at 2.30pm and driving out again at 4.10pm. In that short space of time, though, I have a great time shooting a variety of images for use in the next day's paper, future stock or images for individuals. Nothing else I shoot provides so much variety, roll on next season.
Below are some of the images shot on Thursday.

One from today

2008-09-22T21:41:00.002+01:00

Went to a local stables to get a picture for the local paper which would feature in their coverage of the two days of racing at Perth Racecourse this week. Tried to use the sunlight coming through the trees to add pockets of light to the people and horses. As flash was out of the question I don't think it came out too badly.

Local trainers Lucy and Alan Normile pictured at their stables on Monday afternoon. They have several entries for the Perth Centenary Glorious Finale Meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. Pictured in the background is stable girl Vicky Stephen with Hurricane Jack, Bobbing Cove and Flaming Heck who Alan and Lucy hope will put on a good show over the two days of racing.

Watch the background

2008-09-21T08:35:00.007+01:00

I shoot a lot of Amateur and Junior football for the local paper. One of the considerations I have to take into account for where I shoot from isn't the position of the sun or where the best action is going to be, its the backgrounds. A lot of football is played on local parks within housing schemes so bad backgrounds are a constant problem.

What makes a difference to a shot is a nice clean background, unlike these -

Cars, buildings or just people who happen to be standing in the wrong place.

The next couple of pictures are an example of the difference a clean background makes. The same image with the distracting background removed (NB this is for illustrative purposes only).Note the difference.

Some other images from the last two weekends -

103 years and counting

2008-09-06T21:33:00.005+01:00

These are images I shot on a man, Thomas Miller, who had just turned 103 years old. A remarkable person who despite his age still manages to live at home on his own. Add his age to the fact that he is going blind and it makes him even more remarkable.
The photos also marked another milestone, abeit less important, as it was the first time I have felt confident enough to use off camera flash on a image I was shooting for the papers (or any other image I have taken outside the family pics). Although the results are not great I see it as a starting point and plan to practice more to improve and take better images.

These were taken with one strobe gelled with an orange filter (1/4) to give the images more warmth. I also turned down the exposure to -1 on what the ambient was reading. I feel an addition strobe would have helped balance the image better but onwards and upwards.

Rugby woo hoo

2008-09-06T21:17:00.004+01:00

I got the chance to shoot some rugby today (a portion of the second half). I have been looking forward to having an opportunity since it has been months since I last ventured near a rugby pitch due to the fact that I spend most Saturday afternoons shooting football for the paper. I was a bit rusty but was pleased with the performance of the 40D. So here are some images from Perthshire v Kirkcaldy plus some football shot over the last two weekends.

Football from the last 8 days

2008-08-24T07:50:00.005+01:00

Images taken for press use in the last 8 days. Starting to see better results with the 40D I recently bought. These are from Amateur and Junior matches which I usually cover on Saturdays (some from Wednesday). With the season began the action is mixed with an array of team images, manager shots, signings etc. Good to be busy.

News images - hoping to improve

2008-08-10T08:46:00.003+01:00

News images are not something I do alot of. The local paper tends to use me for sports images because they know I will come back with a half decent image. So when I do get the chance its good to be able to to something different. Now this is where the problem kicks in - for some reason I always have a sense of nerves when it comes to producing news images. I know I can take a reasonable image but never seem to be able to convince myself of that fact when I am actually setting the shot up and taking the image. Hopefully that will improve with experience.

Anyway here are images I took last week. The first few are from local fetes, a sixtieth wedding anniversary, a charity golf tournament, a fashion show and lastly a meet the St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes session.

Some football images from last 7 days

2008-08-10T08:43:00.003+01:00

Perth Races

2008-07-16T20:22:00.007+01:00

Sunday was the second of three meetings to be held in July. I have been doing pretty well with coverage for the Evening Telegraph with two pages dedicated to my images so far. Lets hope I can make it a hatrick at the end of the month. As a side note I also blew the shutter on my 20D so need to buy/repair camera so every image used in the paper helps.

Thursday 3rd July edition (images from Wednesday 2nd July)

Monday 14th July edition ( images from Sunday 13th)

Some other images taken..

Action from the Pony racing as George Innes-Ker bring home Clonross Star to win the first race on Sunday 13th July.

Kids at beach

2008-07-16T20:08:00.003+01:00

Not long back from a short break down in Southport. Here are a couple of pics of the kids on the beach.

Who's in charge?

2008-07-05T22:52:00.001+01:00

Its been a while since last post so here are a couple of frames from this week at Perth races. Will post more later.

Jason Maguire is thrown from his mount Notre Cyborg in the fourth race at Perth Races on Wednesday 2nd July 2008.

Blair lift title

2008-05-09T10:47:00.002+01:00

Blairgowrie Junior won the North Division title after an emphatic 6-1 win over Downfield at Davie Park on Wednesday. Here are some images from the game.

Darren Neave stoops to head home Blairgowrie third goal in their 6-1 win over Downfield at Davie Park on Wednesday 7th May 2008.

Jamie Duncan run to the bench after scoring Blairgowrie's second in their 6-1 win over Downfield which saw them lift the North Division league title. 7th May 2008

Ryan Menzies celebrates scoring his second of the night in Blairgowrie's 6-1 defeat of Downfield at Davie Park on Wednesday 7th May 2008.

Perthshire Cup final

2008-05-07T09:49:00.005+01:00

Some images from last night's Perthshire Cup final. I caught the last 15mins of normal time and the game then went into extra time. The final was contested by Letham and Roselea who are the top two teams in the Perthshire Amateur leagues. There was a lot of hostility between the two teams (think Celtic and Rangers without the money) and the game was eventually won 3-2 by Letham. Off to Blairgowrie tonight to photograph them winning the league title (hopefully)

Letham Amateurs who won the Perthshire Cup after a 3-2 win over Roselea at Tulloch Park on Tuesday.

Gavin Thomson celebrates scoring Letham's third which won them the Perthshire Cup beating rivals Roselea at Tulloch Park on Tuesday

Goalmouth action from the Perthshire Cup final as Letham beat Roselea 3-2 to lift the trophy.

Roselea celebrate equalising in the Perthshire Cup final against Letham played at Tulloch Park on Tuesday.

Somehow Roselea manage to score direct from a corner kick despite a crowded 6 yard box.

Perth ladies win title

2008-04-24T07:45:00.005+01:00

Perth Phoenix Ladies team clinched the Tayside and Fife Seniors title with a 67-59 win over their nearest challengers Arbroath Musketeers at Perth Academy on Wednesday night. The win capped a sucessful campaign which saw them go undefeated throughout the season.

Here are some images from the game. All images can be seen and purchased through this link.
http://pa.photoshelter.com/gallery-show/G0000sh_DAWx8ydQ

Must be almost summer

2008-04-20T09:01:00.004+01:00

I took time to shoot cricket for the first time yesterday. I was only there for ten minutes as my afternoon was already full with other jobs. The photographs give the impression it is a nice warm sunny day but there was a cold wind blowing. Still it makes me more optimistic warm days may be around the corner.

North of Tay Cup action

2008-04-16T18:23:00.003+01:00

Action from the semi-final of the North of Tay Cup as Fair City took on Carnoustie YM at Tulloch Park on Tuesday evening.

Harry Neave (far right) is congratulated by his Carnoustie teammates after he scored his first of two goals in their 2-0 North of Tay semi-final win over Fair City on Tuesday evening.

Amateur football

2008-04-14T10:03:00.003+01:00

Some images from Bridgeton Utd v Roselea and Fair City v Star Hearts.

Like hockey without rules

2008-04-06T19:25:00.003+01:00

On Saturday on the way back from shooting the usual Amateur and Junior games for the paper I decided to stop by the North Inch to photograph what I thought, from a distance, was a hockey game. As I got closer I realised it was infact Shinty. This is the first time I have seen shinty first hand and to the untrained eye I spent most of the time trying to figure out what the rules were. To me the best way to describe it would be hockey without rules (I am sure some will shake their heads at this description). A fascinating game which I plan to go back and photograph again. For anyone wanting to find out more heres a link to the main website.
http://www.shinty.org.uk/Default.aspx

South Division 1 action between Tayforth and Kilmory

Back with another post

2008-03-24T14:05:00.005Z

Its been a few weeks since my last post due to a few issues at home. Anyway here are some images from Saturday. The matches were Scone Thistle v Steelend and Kinnoull v Forfar West End. I also shot a amateur match the same afternoon.
There are some images from both matches. Most are from Scone's game with more from Kinnoull's at my Sportsshooter's page.
http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=6385

Iain MacIntosh photographer

2008-02-25T10:51:00.002Z

This is a link to Scottish photographer Iain MacIntosh's blog. I have known of Iain for a couple of years and always knew he was a good photographer, turns out he is a good guy as well. Read his last couple of posts and you will see what I mean.

http://imacx.blogspot.com/

Saturday

2008-02-25T08:44:00.004Z

I didn't do too much on Saturday. 20 mins of an Amateur game and around half an hour of a Junior game before going back home to watch the six nations rugby. I justified this with the fact that next week I will probably have around 6 or 7 different games to shoot in the afternoon.
Here are some images from the Junior game as Jeanfield Swift took on league leaders St Andrews.

When I come back after an day's shooting I tend to take some images of the kids as they run around the livingroom. So here is Erin which is probably my favourite image from Saturday.

Remote possibilities

2008-02-17T19:08:00.008Z

I have named this post in this way as I tried a behind the goal remote for the first time on Saturday. I have a few thing to work out but now I have got to grip with the basics is definetly opens up some more possibilities. The remote failed a few times due to the camera shutting down and Jeanfield had an awful second half when the remote was set up. (they went on to win 3-2 - go figure).

The first shot is out of the camera with second cropped as sent to the paper. I would like to have sent the first picture but knew the paper probably wouldn't print it large enough to work.

Mark Caldow scores Jeanfield Swift's second from the penalty spot in their Central league clash against Lochore played at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

Action from the Riverside Stadium as Jeanfield took on Lochore in a Central league clash on Saturday.

Some Perthshire Amateur league action - Letham v Alyth and Fairfield v Perth Royale.

And finally action from the European Indoor Hockey Championship as Scotland's representative Menzieshill took on Luzerner of Switzerland.

A few from Saturday

2008-02-11T08:45:00.000Z

I started off with Perth Phoenix v Arbroath Musketeers Cadet basketball at Perth Academy. I tried out a remote set-up D60 with 18-50 under the basket but as I was needing to use flash for this I ran into problems when the ref refused so I will need to rethink a solution for this. The others were taken with 70-200 on 20D.

Then it was onto four football games with more or less the same kick-off time.
Amateur football - Tay Thistle v Letham Utd

Amateur Football - Fair City v Kettle Utd
Juniors - Jeanfield Swifts v Crossgates Primrose
Juniors - Scone Thistle v Lochee Utd

Things I learnt this weekend

2008-02-04T10:19:00.000Z

The first thing I learnt this weekend is that it is not easy taking pictures of badminton in low light conditions. I went to Bell's Sports Centre to cover the Scottish Championships. The main problem is the speed in which the shuttlecock moves in combination with the speed the racket hits the shuttlecock. When you have a maximum shutter speed of 1/200 getting a good picture with the shuttlecock in view is difficult. Or do I just need more practice!

The second thing is that it is not easy to make a training session look interesting as a picture. With the frost all football matches were called off so I spent some of Saturday looking for teams training to fill the sports pages.

And lastly ALWAYS check you lense for condensation when coming in from the cold. With the temperture at -2 outside moving into Bells again to photograph some Scottish Indoor hockey, Menziehill v Western Wildcats, proved too much for my 70-200. Unfortunately I didn't notice until I was checking them on the monitor at home.

And here is some Junior Basketball shot at the end of the day. Perth Phoenix took on Boroughmuir Blaze at Perth Academy.

Barbers shop 1988

2008-01-31T13:08:00.000Z

Inspired by Matt Matt Mendelsohn's piece about Mexican suitcases,(http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1908) I decided to rake out my negatives. These are pretty much some off the first photos I ever shot as a young college student. It was a shoot at a local barbers shop in Perth on my first camera a Zenith with a 50mm lense. (that was my entire kit!)
I plan to go back and shoot this year as the barber who owned the shop in 1988 is now in his 50th year in the business and it would be nice to record more images 20 years on.

Some more images can be seen here http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=6385

Link of the day

2008-01-29T09:26:00.000Z

This is a link to photographer Scott Strazzante's great diptych of a former farm and the new residential complex built on the land after the farm had gone.
Enjoy!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/cagwin

Pic n' Mix

2008-01-27T07:53:00.001Z

Yesterday I covered five different games and three sports for press use. Here is an image from each game.

The first one I will be sending to the paper as the player, Alan Nicol, was saying how I should shoot him because he doesn't move very fast as he is getting on a bit.

Alan Nicol in full flight for Perthshire in their Division 4 match against Erskine played at Bells Sports Centre on Saturday.

Action from the quarter final stage of the Cadet Scottish Cup as Perth Phoenix took on St Mirren at Perth Academy on Saturday.

Perthshire Cup action between Bridgeton and Bridge of Earn played at Almondbank on Saturday.

Action from the Central League as Jeanfield Swifts took on Luncarty at the Riverside Stadium on Saturday.

Action from the Perthshire Cup sees the Balmoral keeper under pressure from Roselea players in their tie which was played at North Muirton on Saturday.

Question -How long is 90 minutes?

2008-01-21T09:34:00.000Z

Answer - Not long enough.

Saturday was spent shooting for the newspaper. The majority of the images I shot were in the afternoon in which I covered 3 games all with the same kick-off time. This meant I spent just enough time at each ground to get the shots I needed before moving onto the next. One Saturday I am going to challenge myself to see how many I can fit into 90 mins.:)

First Premier league action between Kinnoull and Armadale played at Tulloch Park.

Then up to Murray Royal to get a couple of images of St Johns v Roselea in the Amateur league.

And finally onto Blairgowrie to watch them in the 4th round of the Scottish Junior Cup against Clydebank. I got to this ground with 15 minutes of the game left and the score was 2-2. It looked like I was going to get some good images of Blairgowrie stealing the tie with a late goal. As luck would have it Clydebank scored against the run of play and I was sitting at the wrong end of the ground. You win some and you lose some.

Also on Saturday Perthshire were playing against Gala in a Premier 3 rugby match which I would loved to have covered but sometimes you don't have enough time, so here is a link to Bob Falconer photos. Bob is a keen amateur who can always be seen at a Perthshire game because his son plays for them.(sometimes)

http://www.bobfalconer.fotopic.net/ click on the Gala game.

Boxing

2008-01-17T11:18:00.000Z

Took a trip to the local boxing club to shoot some photos for the newspaper.

This is a simple shot of Bill Anderson of Perth Railway Amateur Boxing Club. Bill have been involved wth the club for 58 years. He started boxing aged 14 before becoming one of the main organisers. He has stood the test of time and is now in sole charge of the clubs activities from organising trainers to cleaning the showers after they have gone. A true local hero, if it wasn't for people like Bill these traditional clubs would disappear in this Playstation era.

Junior members of Perth Railway Amateur Boxing Club pictured during their training session on Tuesday night.

Perthshire v Ardrossan

2008-01-06T08:29:00.000Z

Some images from the Premier 3 clash between Perthshire and Ardrossan played on Saturday. Perthshire won the game 48-12.

My 2007 (part 2)

2008-01-01T08:39:00.000Z

( Part 2 of 3)

May
May started with a the first Sunday of the month spent covering 4 different Youth final. This would involve getting team photos, action from the games and the presentations. Due to the fact that the finals were being played at two different venues it would also mean lots of running around. A Junior Superleague match between Kinnoull and Hill of Beath was also covered this month. In contrast to this time last year, when Kinnoull were close to winning the Premier title, they were sitting at the foot of the table almost certain to drop down a league.

May also gave me the chance to shoot some international football when two U19 Euro qualifiers were played at McDiarmid Park. Scotland featured in both matches taking on Georgia and then Portugal and true to form just failed to qualify. This was valuable experience and the first time I had attempted to send pictures from the ground.
Added to this I also managed to fit in a day at Perth races for the feature I was shooting and the local paper.

Here are images from May.

June

June was a stand out month for me for several reasons - One was it was Gold Cup day at Perth Racecourse. everything fell into place I seemed to find great images and the weather was good. Sometimes you come away from a shoot and know you have good images beforeyou see then on the screen and this was one of them. Secondly I had decided to start a second long term project - this was going to be covering a year in the life on an organic stock farm. The farm was Loanleven which is local to where I live. In hindsight it was probably the wrong time to begin this as I have struggled to spend the time necessary due to other commitments. The last reason June stands out was a job I did for a family that had lost their son/brother who had died at a school sports day. They held a day to commemorate his life which I documented. This is as personal a job as i have done, it was satisfying to know I had done a good job for the family.

July

July saw me start blogging which I have found surprisingly useful as a way to standback and judge how I am progressing.

Shooting wise it was all about animals. I spent more time at the organic farm, covered a couple of days at the Racecourse and also spent the day covering a local horseracing yard as they prepared and raced their horses at the racecourse. This feature resulted in a full page sread in the local newspaper which was more than satisfying.

August

It was back to shooting football and rugby as the season kicked off again with some highland games and racecourse stuff thrown in for good measure.

Redwood Cup

2007-12-30T08:36:00.000Z

Here are images shot for press. Its Redwood Cup action - Kinnoull v Steelend and Jeanfield v Thornton Hibs both played yesterday.

My 2007 (Part 1)

2007-12-26T20:48:00.000Z

(Part 1 of 3)- The other parts will be published over the next week or so.

This is a diary of how my year went in photographic terms. This will either hopefully be an interesting read for those who pass through and/or a personal account to look back on.

A little background first of all. I began shooting sports back in October 2005 so in professional terms I am still serving my apprenticeship. This has meant learning from mistakes, reading lots of experiences of other photographers, looking at photos for inspiration and more importantly not being scared to try something new. I always believe experience (good or bad) will always equip me next time I try something new.

The other thing is I work part-time as a photographer (1 or 2 days a week). The rest of the time is taken up with my 'day' job which is teaching.

Equipment wise, the end of last year was a big turning point. Up until November my main kit was a old Canon D60 combined with a 75-300 (f4-f5.6) - the phrase 'pissing in the wind' comes to mind when thinking back to trying to produce decent images either indoors or in the winter months. In November I purchased a Canon 20D and 70-200(f2.8) both second hand but I suddenly felt much better equiped to tackle anything.

The new year arrived and I was determined to put this equipment and experience to good use!

January

I had two objectives for January. One was to try out this new equipment I had bought indoors, so I covered a Junior Basketball game (Perth Phoenix v Boroughmuir) and the other was to return to shooting at McDiarmid Park home of St Johnstone who play in the First Division to see how my images compared to other pros shooting football. I shot two games in January which were against Airdrie and Gretna and was pleased with what I produced. I had always felt a little ackward shooting pro football with my old equipment so hadn't bothered before. The rest of January was taken up with Junior football and a youth Judo competition. Here are some images from the first month.

February

February started with news I had been accepted to Sportsshooter. This was a big deal for me as it was a realisation that I had started to produce decent sports images. This was the second time I had applied and looking back I knew I was not ready the first time. For those who are still scratching their head, Sportsshooter is a website where professional sports photographers and photojournalists from around the world meet to show and talk. I may be toward the bottom of the ladder but at least I had made it to the first rung and the membership would prove to be one of the best things I had done in terms of improving my images and professional outlook.

Also in February I shot rugby, Perthshire v Aberdeen GSFP in a National cup game and Scotland 'A' v Italy 'A' at McDiarmid, with the regular Junior football for the local papers.

March

March was again was a significant month as I began to get more work from the local paper (Evening Telegraph) This meant covering several different matches on a Saturday combined with team photos, presentations and other Amateur and Junior football events. This was again a boost to the confidence with the realisation the paper was putting trust in me to come up with the goods on a regular basis - a real boost to the confidence as well as the bank account!

Some images from March

April

April was about two things really - it was the start of all the finals in rugby and football and also I had decided I wanted to tackle a larger project so I had approached Perth Racecourse with the view to cover the races throughout the season. In rugby the Caledonian cup finals took place in Perth, this is a national youth knockout tournament held through the season and ending with a finals day. Also holding finals were the youth football so plenty memory was used covering these events over the three Sundays they were held.

Perth Races were held over three days 24th-27th and I was determined to make the most of this opportunity covering everything from the horseracing to behind the scenes. This project simply made me a more adaptable photographer throughout the season (more later)

Some images from April including some Ice Hockey I had found the time to shoot.

Winter 1 Football 0

2007-12-23T20:35:00.000Z

The frost we had all week meant that there was no Junior football played at the weekend.

Referee Jeff Band calls off the Central League fixture between Jeanfield Swifts and Crossgates Primrose after a pitch inspection.

Tree at the Inn

2007-12-23T20:34:00.001Z

Christmas tree project - Lesson learnt

2007-12-20T11:09:00.000Z

As a mentioned on a previous post I shot my first multimedia project. Unfortunetly I fell short of being able to complete it due to the poor sound recorded and lack of planning. One thing I have learnt is to put much more emphasis on producing good sound and having a clear idea where you are planning to take the story in terms of what sound you need. As a photographer its easy to pick up the camera and create good images, producing good sound is much more of a challenge. So as the title says, its lesson learnt and I will be better prepared next time.

Here are some images from the shoot with some of the background to the story.

A Family Affair
The Band family have been seling Christmas trees to the local community for over 30 years and making wreaths for the last 20 years. Headed up by Jean Band, who despite being in her 70's still does a tremendous amount of the manual work, three generations of the Band family work daily in the period up to Christmas to satisfy demand for their festive fare. The tree are grown locally and cut daily before being brought to the house for sale. The wreaths are all made from scratch on site.
On the day I shot a large 20 foot tree was being cut for the local pub. (A picture of the decorated tree will appear soon).

Junior Scottish Cup

2007-12-16T07:48:00.000Z

I had the pleasure of shooting a whole match yesterday when I covered he Junior Scottish Cup 3rd round replay between Blairgowrie and Banchory. It was a typical cup tie with all the usual bad tackles and sending offs providing some good photo opportunities. Here are some images with more currently on my Sportsshooter page.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=6385

Perth Railway Amateur Boxing Club

2007-12-12T08:11:00.001Z

Members of Perth Railway Amateur Boxing Club pictured during their training session on Tuesday evening at their North Methven Street Gym

This image was just shot while I was waiting for the group photo to happen. Just liked the feel of it.

Age no barrier

2007-12-09T22:11:00.001Z

On Saturday morning i shot my first multimedia project on a local family business that supplies christmas trees to the local community. Hopefully I will have this completed by the end of the week and will post the results.

What was impressive was the woman in charge was Jean Band who despite being in her 70s still takes an active part in the business. By active I mean she is out there cutting down the christmas trees ready for the visiting customers. Hopefully her doctor doesn't read this as she was told to take it easy and only do light duties.

You were an inspiration Jean!

Look out for the story in this week's Evening Telegraph.

Lazy Saturday afternoon

2007-12-09T22:02:00.000Z

I didn't shoot too much on Saturday. Just enough hence the title. Why? Well if you live in Perth you will realise it just kept raining and raining. So yeah I wimped out and went home early.

Anyway here is some of what I managed to get for 45 minutes shooting Junior football and rugby for press use.

Team photos

2007-12-02T09:45:00.000Z

When I take team photos it tends to be 5 minutes or less before the game/match starts. Yesterdays basketball game was no different but I decided to plan something in advance to make the photos a little bit more creative than the usual team photos (Back row standing up with front row crouching in front) Although these are not technically brilliant at least I think they are a move in the right direction. Although I still think football team photos work best in the traditional way.

Perth Phoenix Cadet basketball team pictured before their game against Glasgow City played at Perth Academy on Saturday 1st December 2007.

Perth Phoenix Junior basketball team pictured before their game against Glasgow City played at Perth Academy on Saturday 1st December 2007.

The wonderful world of the high school gym

2007-12-01T22:20:00.000Z

Today I decided to cover some basketball. Perth Phoenix were playing at home against Glasgow City. The matches were played at Perth Academy where they have great facilities for basketball. It is unfortunate that this doesn't extend to good lights. To achieve an usuable picture you have to push all the camera setting to the limit. So these images were shot at ISO 3200, the camera was set to manual f2.8 and 1/400 which was around 1/2 a stop under exposed to achieve a half decent shutterspeed. All images were shot with a 18-50 lens.
The other problem with this gym is lack of space to work in due to the court being a couple of feet from the walls which again leads to bad backgrounds.
Anyway believe it or not I actually enjoyed shooting the basketball despite the aforementioned restrictions. The solution will be to get a flash set up where I can light the court which is a method alot of photographers use in these circumstances. And to think I complained because it was overcast outside whilst shooting football today.

Website down

2007-11-27T22:30:00.000Z

My main website is currently down due to server problems and re-design so all traffic is being directed to here meantime. Hopefully all will return to normal soon.

That time of year again..

2007-11-26T09:25:00.000Z

When you let your kids talk to a strange man (see below)

Kids find the adverts more interesting than the programmes

People will soon be stocking up with bread and milk like armagedeon is around the corner

Etc..etc..etc

Wait its only November..

So near yet so far..

2007-11-25T19:53:00.000Z

Sometimes you almost make a good photo. The reasons you don't could be camera error, human error or just pure bad luck. On Saturday I was shooting Perthshire v Morgan in a Premier 3 rugby match. The match was pretty close until Perthshire scored a hatrick of tries in the closing minutes of the game. One of the shots I took was the one below. Almost a good image but for human error - the focus is not on the Pete Saunders with the ball as he ran in the last try but is a few inches behind. As I said almost a good shot.

This was the third of the tries so by the time it was shot most important images were taken. But imagine this was the try that decided the game, then a what should I have done. Send it to the newspaper despite it being out of focus? How many newspapers would publish an OOF image which was crucial to the outcome of the game? Quite a few I would imagine. A similar discussion took place over at the Sportsshooter website a while back http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=27164

Some other images from that game.

Website currently down

2007-11-20T17:52:00.000Z

My main website is currently down due to server problems so all traffic is being directed to here meantime. Hopefully all will return to normal soon.

Hampden in the rain

2007-11-18T12:39:00.000Z

On Saturday I made my way down to Hampden to shoot the Tartan Army fans as they made their way watch Scotland take on Italy in the crucial Euro qualifier. We all know how it ended but here are some images from before the game. More images can be seen at my Sportsshooter page http://www.sportsshooter.com/members.html?id=6385.

A little bit about the day. I took the train from Perth at 1pm and when we arrived in Glasgow not long after 2pm the rain started. It then rained and rained and rained. Because of the rain I made my way to Hampden as I knew there wasn't going to be much happening elsewhere. Went to Central Station to catch the train to Mount Florida the nearest station to Hampden. At Central a few fans were mulling around waiting for trains tried to take a few images of fans and was accosted by some to take their picture. Then the pipes started up and I noticed a lone piper leading some fans to the platform like a modern Pied Piper. I was disappointed not to get as good images as I could have from this mainly due to being held up getting through the crowd.

Onto the train and off at Mount Florida where I spent the rest of the time looking for images.

Left Hampden before the game started to get something to eat and hopefully catch more images in Glasgow. Unfortunetly all the bars were too packed so decided to call it a day regarding taking images.

A Scottish piper leads the Tartan Army through Central Train Station in Glasgow before their their crucial Euro qualifier against Italy played at Hampden Park on Saturday 17th Nov 2007.

The most famous Tartan Army member, Rod stewart, arrives at Hampden Park before the crucial Euro qualifier between Scotland and Italy on 17th November 2007.

Italian fan's grasp of the English language is almost perfect before the start of the crucial Euro qualifier against Scotland although one Tartan Army member may have noticied the mistake. 17th November 2007.

Scottish fans pictured on their way to their crucial Euro qualifier against Italy played at Hampden Park on Saturday 17th Nov 2007.

Some recent press images

2007-11-13T09:37:00.000Z

Here are some images recently shot for press use. The first three are non - sports images. I try to cover some events from the Almondbank where I stay for the newspapers. I am trying to think more about the news pictures I produce. Whereas before I would take the easy option of a simple group shot I am aiming to get more interesting pictures. The first and third images used a layer technique which a lot of newspaper photographers use. I think it worked okay although I should have arranged the group at the back of the first one better. I have been watching with interest the progress of another photographer Andrew Smith http://www.meejahor.com/ as he has progressed with this technique. He has a lot more experience in shooting these types of images and it shows but as I am always telling students of the classes I teach making mistakes is part of the learning process, what is important is understanding the mistakes and finding a solution.

Dobbies Garden Centre store in Perth donated an apple tree to Pitcairn Primary School on Friday. The tree will be used as an addition to the school's eco projects and will be cared for by the pupils. Pictured are pupils Aiden Strung and Adam Campbell doing the spadework as Rosemary Nixon and Andrew Reid from Dobbies Perth look on with the rest of the primary 1&2 pupils. 9th Nov 2007.

Pitcairn Parent Council & Friends of Pitcairn School held their Halloween discos on Friday at Almondbank Bowling Club. Pictured are the children who attended the first disco for Primary 1 - Primary 3. 26th Oct 2007

The Pitcairngreen Arts and Craft Fair was held on Saturday at the village hall. 26 Craft workers displayed their goods which ranged from wood carving to stained glass. Pictured is Jean Edwards at her pottery stall. 27th Oct 2007.

Saturday's press images

2007-11-04T08:27:00.001Z

Here are the images that I sent to local newspapers from Saturday. Both games kicked off at 2pm so it was a case of shooting enough from one game before moving on to the other. Luckily they weren't played too far from each other making my day easier.

Premier 3 rugby - Perthshire v Dunfermline

Junior Scottish Cup - Jeanfield Swifts v Aberdeen Sunnybank

Halloween 2

2007-11-03T18:15:00.000Z

Halloween 1

2007-10-26T22:31:00.000+01:00

With October 31st approaching the ghost and ghouls are beginning to decend on town so here is the first of no doubt a few images I will post, some are for press use including this.

Pitcairn Parent Council & Friends of Pitcairn School held their Halloween discos at Almondbank Bowling Club on Friday 26th October . Pictured are some of the 'ghouls' who attended the first disco for Primary 1 - Primary 3.

Erin and Struan at the local park.

2007-10-24T08:38:00.000+01:00

Shooting in low light

2007-10-23T10:18:00.000+01:00

Its getting to that time of year where the light is dropping fast in the afternoon. The first two images were shot this weekend on a 20D at ISO 800. Now check out the third image which was shot almost two years ago and you will see how far digital cameras have came in terms of being able to shoot at high ISO whilst avoiding the dreaded noise. Not sure what noise is? Then compare the first two to the last one and you will see the difference. Better cameras and professional lenses make a difference when shooting sports. Now just saving up for more!

First two images shot 20th Oct 2007. Canon 20D ISO800

Image shot 3rd December 2005. Canon D60 at ISO 1000

Who needs a spoon?

2007-10-10T09:19:00.000+01:00

Erin discovering the delights of feeding herself. Her mum will be so proud!

Stopping Stan the Man

2007-10-07T11:45:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I shot some football and rugby for the local press. The rugby was Perthshire against Peebles which ended with the Borders side winning 14-8. Perthshire had a couple of new players in their line-up. One of these was a large Samoan forward who came from Brisbane in Australia. Although I only shot 20 mins or so of the match it was fascinating to see what an impact this guy is going to make. On a couple of the occasions that Perthshire threatened the Peebles line it was left to Stan the Man to charge the Peebles defence with at least four of the borderers required to stop him. He is certainly going to add some impact to the Perthshire pack.

Why Stan the Man? Well despite asking four people what his name was no one seemed to know him as anything other than this. I eventually found out his name was Stan Fau.

Raising the bar

2007-10-02T11:19:00.000+01:00

Up until now I have mainly concentrated on sports and now feel its time to push myself a little and have in mind a couple of features with a local interest. I don't want to say what they are at the moment but will publish images from them when they happen

This is a new direction for me so it will be a learning process which I hope will make me a better photogapher. One thing I don't get from my sports photography is being able to connect to the subject matter, so hopefully this will fill that desire in my work.

Until then here is a link to a slideshow by another photographer, Nick Adams, who has produced a great moving piece on a man down on his luck.

http://adamsvisuals.com/content/popup/Markhayes/index.html

A couple from the weekend

2007-10-02T11:15:00.001+01:00

Kinnoull v Newtongrange Star

Kinnoull's Robbie Holden fires home their third goal against Newtongrange Star.

Kinnoull's Robbie Holden celebrates with Jamie Reilly after scoring his sides third goal against Newtongrange Star.

Saturday

2007-09-23T09:50:00.000+01:00

Some images taken for press on Saturday. Three games in 2 hours. Much more straight forward than the previous week.

Jeanfield Swifts v Thornton

Luncarty v Ballingry

Perthshire v Murrayfield Wanderers

A little luck and putting yourself in the right place.

2007-09-19T08:50:00.000+01:00

On Saturday I was covering Junior football for the local newspaper. The plan was to cover part of the game being played at Bankfoot and then head down to cover the second half of Kinnoull who were playing Dundee North End. Well that was the original plan. I had another job to do first and set off for Bankfoot arriving at 2.40pm thinking the game kicked off at 2.30pm. Unfortunetly no one had told me the game had kicked off early due a wedding (one of the Crossgate players getting married). The game was finished when I arrived and I left with no pictures.

Change of plan - arrived at Kinnoull, shot last 10 mins of first half and began shooting the second with the knowledge that I would now have to also cover another game in Scone (15mins away with Saturday traffic) in order to have enough pictures for different editions of the newspaper.

This is where the luck set in. Kinnoull scored within the first few minutes of the second half giving me a celebration shot for the paper.

Then it was off to Scone where I was hoping to catch the last 20mins of their game against Newburgh. Got to the game and the score was 0-0. In the last 20 mins Scone went 1-0 up only to be pegged back 1-1 courtesy of a disputed penalty and then Newburgh scored in the last couple of minutes to steal the game.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you have to be in the right place for the luck to happen!

Struan

2007-09-14T10:26:00.000+01:00

The past week

2007-09-02T21:56:00.000+01:00

Some images shot this week for the local papers. Have shot a lot of Junior football so it was nice to shoot some opera tonight!

Okay heres the football.

Erin's first birthday

2007-08-12T22:14:00.000+01:00

My daughter Erin celebrated her first birthday this week.

Just started walking, talking and much more..

Peaks and troughs

2007-08-01T21:31:00.000+01:00

An action packed couple of days shooting horses at Perth Races. I spent Tuesday covering the meeting from a trainers/stables point of view. The stables in question are owned by Alan and Lucy Normile. On Tuesday they had two horses running and the aim was to cover them from start to finish, so I started at the stable photographing head girl Libby Brodie and stable girl Caroline Barclay preparing the horses for the race (they were a joy to work with though I'm not sure how much they enjoyed being in the limelight) then onto the racecourse. Access to areas of the racecourse can prove difficult, even with a press pass, but thankfully I got what I needed. The Evening Telegraph ran the story on the Wednesday which I was pleased with as it was my first feature I had pitched.

Here's how it looked.

Also on the Tuesday tragedy struck as Mighty Fine, a 13 year old grey, died of a suspected heart attack after winning his race. He had ran a good race minutes before. I think his trainer Paul Blockley summed it up best.

"This is a tragic end to a fantastic horse. At least he died doing something he enjoyed and has gone out on a high."

Here he is winning his race.

Great to be shooting football again

2007-07-29T09:48:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was the first time I hae shot football since May/June. Probably doesn't seem long to people not interested in the game, but I enjoyed getting back to it. Not much to write home about a couple of friendlies - Luncarty v Tayport and Kinnoull v Violet but it was a good opportunity to get some shots of new players. Bring on the rugby!

A day at the park

2007-07-27T09:46:00.000+01:00

A day just spent kicking around the park with my kids - Kieran, Struan and Erin

An image from Perth Races

2007-07-18T10:54:00.000+01:00

Just an image from a quick visit to Perth Races on Sunday. Loved the colours.

Website blues

2007-07-12T21:46:00.000+01:00

It seems like a good idea. I will attempt to build my own website. I remember a few years ago my first attempt at building a website. I didn't have a clue where to start, I was computer illiterate and I thought reading a few books was all that was required. For any professional web designers out there you will know how wrong I was.

I teach digital photography parttime to a range of people from complete beginners to keen amateurs and the important thing for all these students is having a complete knowledge of their particular camera. How many times have you read a complete manual? Not many.

You would think I would practice what I preach. Fast forward to July 2007. I have decided to build a new website. And again I am wondering whether it was the right thing to do.

Time will tell.

www.shaunward.co.uk

Rain stops play

2007-07-05T19:59:00.000+01:00

So the rain eventually stopped too late. Perth Races were cancelled and my plans changed.

Took a trip up to Loanleven Farm where I am starting to do a feature on life on a organic farm. Spent the morning with Brian who is the head stockman at the farm. What Brian doesn't know about cattle and sheep is not worth mentioning. One thing I found out in my visit is that cattle have a hierarchy. So next time someone spins that old wives tale about the cows lying down so its going to rain don't listen. The cows are lying down because the chief told them to!
Loanleven Farm stock cattle, sheep and pigs so hopefully this year long project can yield some interesting shots and facts.