Words and pictures » Personal

Once upon a time in Cardiff

Tony — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 21:09:46 +0000

At the weekend I went to the official Doctor Who convention. It wasn’t like other conventions I’ve been to. It was expensive, activities were more prescribed and there was less time for socialising. But that was more than made up for by the talks and guests. Normally at conventions, you get to meet people who made the show twenty years ago. Which is great and they’re lovely, but this convention was all about the people who are actually making the show right now. It was as if everyone at the Upper Boat studio had taken a bus ride into Cardiff and started showing off.

Danny Hargreaves, who has worked on every episode of new Who, Blew Things Up right in front of us and made it snow indoors. Niell Gorton turned actress Raquel Cassidy into a fleshy ganger in 45 minutes. Producers, writers, directors, set and costume designers were all there, discussing how they make the show. The creative juggernaut that is Steven Moffat took part in two panels, ensuring nobody let slip something they shouldn’t and refusing to be drawn himself. The three stars of the show, Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, exhibited all the camaraderie that we’ve come to expect thanks to their appearances in the late, lamented Confidential.

Then there was the set tour. The actual TARDIS set. Where they film the show. They drove bus loads of fans down there, let us pull levers, twiddle knobs and stroke the doors. Not that I did that. *ahem* The working set, which we were repeatedly reminded would have lights and wires, is due to be dismantled for relocation to its new home in a new studio complex so they bravely let groups of geeks have a go at dismantling it first. We got to have tea in the famous Blue Box Cafe too, chatting to our tour guides who also happened to be engineers and extras on the show.

I had my photograph taken with Karen Gillan, who looked stunning and seemed to be made entirely of long limbs. The security guard inspecting the bobble hat that another attendee had crocheted for her with a non-plussed look on his face was marvellous. Karen was very friendly and didn’t seem to mind having yet another fan putting their arm around her for the photo.

I finally got to meet Barnaby Edwards in person, and he gave me a big hug, which was lovely. All the crew were good humoured, professional and friendly the whole day. The event was very well planned and ran like clockwork. The process for distributing the photographs was the only thing that didn’t seem to be very well thought out. It involved the big burly security guards with their heavy welsh accents wandering around, trying to match the geek in the photograph with someone from the crowd.

It was also great to meet so many other podcasters in Eddie’s Diner (location for The Impossible Astronaut, you know), who were warm and welcoming.

Expressing a Pinterest

Tony — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:53:33 +0000

“You have to be on Pinterest!” said Amy, over a roast potato. “I’ll send you an invite.” I nodded sagely and pretended I knew what she was talking about. You see, Amy is social. Not just in the truest, most human sense of the word but in the geeky, web-2.0y, search engine oiling sense of the word. Amy told me how sharing images from around the web on virtual cork boards was a great way of collating inspiring images for yourself and others.

A few hours later an invite landed in my inbox. I signed up, followed some of my friends who were already using the site and created a handful of boards. You can find them and follow me if you wish. For the last couple of weeks I’ve been adding images from a variety of sources that I have found interesting. I’ve also added “pin” buttons to my wedding photography site and this blog so that others can share my images if they are grabbed by anything.

It’s a shame that there’s no easy way to pin images from the real world though as I often find images I like in magazines and books. It’s not always possible to find the photograph on-line and it’s certainly time consuming to try. Photographing photographs is messy and time consuming. The site also seems to be a bit controversial: I don’t mind people sharing low resolution versions of my photographs, and the site claims to credit and police issues where they arise, but there are other photographers who do. I even found a WordPress plugin designed to stop images from being pinned.

I’m still trying to figure out how best to use Pinterest though. Pin images I like, things that might inspire a personal project in the future? Or pin some of my favourite images of my own so that others can see and share them too? If you are using Pinterest, how do you use it? For business, or pleasure? Or both?

It’s not what it looks like…

Tony — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 18:18:16 +0000

At first I thought it was just a cute Christmas gift. Among a whole heap from my Mum and Dad, nestled next to a coconut (yes, that’s right, an actual coconut). What looked like a Canon lens was actually a mug, carefully crafted to look like a Canon lens. There are a few differences between the mug and the lens it apes if you look closer (“ESF” rather than “EF-S”) but it’s certainly convincing at a glance. And the lens cap/hood can be used as a biscuit holder! Not that I’d know of course… *ahem*

I started using the mug last week, carrying it to the water cooler and back. But it turned out to be refreshing in a whole different way. Almost every time I walked down the corridor someone commented on it. Thanks to this marvellous mug, I met two or three photographers, including someone who also photographs weddings in Hampshire! I never imagined that a piece of plastic, a simple simulacrum, would start great conversations and lead to new friendships. Thanks, Mum and Dad!

P.S. I’ve been blogging every Saturday since the start of the year. From next week, new blog posts will appear on a Monday. Happy reading!

Big Blue Box

Tony — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 10:09:54 +0000

Last Saturday I went to a Doctor Who convention. Called “Big Blue Box”, it was held in support of Compaid. It was the first one I’d been to in fourteen years, so I was slightly apprehensive about whether it would be very different from those I’d attended in my youth. Happily it was a relatively small event, with only 100 or so people in attendance. That meant there was good access to the guests, with plenty of time to chat. Along with the usual discussion panels (with guests from AudioGo, Big Finish and Doctor Who Magazine) there was also a chance to see Cleaning Up, the brilliant short film from the Guerrier Brothers starring Mark Gatiss and Louise Jameson. John Leeson, the voice of K9, and Colin Baker were also at the event. Colin was there with a camera crew from Channel 4, recording a show that involved him trying to sell merchandise to us all day, albeit in a good cause. I also got to meet James and Ian from The Doctor Who Podcast, who turned out to be very pleasant fellows. The day was rounded off with a performance of Louise’s show, Pulling Faces, which is on tour now and well worth seeing.

I know that organising events like this takes a lot of work, so thank you to all those involved. The venue was great, if a little cold, and really got into the spirit of the event with a special menu for the day. The best part of the day for me? I got to have a new photograph taken with Louise Jameson.

Vicky McClure – the next Doctor?

Tony — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:31:53 +0000

I hope that Matt Smith carries on playing the Doctor for a long time, I really enjoy his portrayal. But when he moves on, as he eventually will, I’d like to make my suggestion as to who should replace him in the role. I think Vicky McClure would make a great Doctor. You may well have seen her brilliant performances in “This is England” where she demonstrated a huge emotional depth. She’d do a great job of delivering the range required by the character of the Doctor and looked powerful striding around in a big coat and boots in “This is England 86″.

I’ve even created a Facebook group to that effect which you can join if you think that I’m not totally talking out of my hat. http://www.facebook.com/groups/188805587884093/

Photo by National Media Museum on Flickr under Creative Commons by-nc-nd 2.0.

It comes before a fall

Tony — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 17:02:53 +0000

“I’m putting together a landing page for my website and would like a photograph of me to sit behind it. I was wondering if you’d be up for taking/making it? I have a vague notion of walking down a track through a mist-filled woods, wrapped up in a big coat. But that might just be because of the weather. I think something informal (or at least, informal feeling) and in a natural surrounding. Does that make any sense?”

That was what I sent in an e-mail to Graham Binns before Christmas. The obvious subtext was “please make me seem likeable, co-ordinated and, if possible, a bit cooler than I am.” So what’s the first image I get to see from the shoot?

Yeah, thanks for that.

We got together for the shoot just before Christmas. Graham is always fun to be with and it was an enjoyable shoot. He was ably assisted by his awesome wife Sarah. I felt pretty relaxed posing and enjoyed a nice meal in a nearby pub afterwards to defrost! I can’t wait to see the photos where I am actually managing to stay upright and get it on the landing page…

How was your 2011?

Tony — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:22:04 +0000

I said last year that 2011 was going to be a “game changer.” Yup, I actually used “game changer” in public. In my defence, either I used it ironically or I said it before it was a cliché. Ahem. Has 2011 lived up to its hackneyed description? Let’s have a look at some of the most significant events (in no particular order):

Setting up my photography business and actually starting to work photographing weddings!
Attending “The Workshop” run by the awsomely-awesome Jasmine Star
Having a great week in Cumbria, despite the rain
Attending my first ever Grand Prix at Silverstone
A full season of doing the Ubuntu Podcast live: the most fun season yet
Flying to New York for Zoe and Stuart’s wedding and had a great time
Meeting Colin Baker, John Leeson and David Gooderson
The loss of both Nicholas Courtney and Elisabeth Sladen
OggCamp 11: the biggest and best yet
Attending Home Camp 4. Mmm, vietnamese food!
Helen and Jeff’s 1920s themed wedding
Seeing Chris in his first stage appearance in a long time
Recording a LugRadio reunion
The Box
Doing very well at Puretech Racing
Seeing Richard Herring live twice
Visiting the Doctor Who Experience
Completing a weekend of fun and adventure with Graham Binns to make some great images
Getting Ubuntu membership
Losing a couple of stone (and so far have kept it off!)
Doing fun things with Neil and Amy: A canal boat trip, a murder mystery, a tour of Christmas lights
Visiting and playing host to more family and friends than last year!

I’m pretty pleased with that. Getting my business up and running has taken a lot of time and meant not seeing as much of some friends as I’d have liked. I’ll work to redress that. I think 2012 will be even more eventful though. Especially as I start a new job in January…

The most wonderful time of the year

Tony — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:40:19 +0000

I’m a big fan of Christmas. Not just because I take two weeks off work! I love preparing for the Christmas episode of the podcast (the version of A Christmas Carol in this year’s is getting rave reviews!), spending time at home as well as travelling through the dark to visit friends and family. This year we have added rather snazzy TARDIS and Dalek decorations to the tree. And the food! Those treats which never seem appropriate at any other time of the year are suddenly justifiable!

It’s also a time to catch up on little projects. This year I’m experimenting with a medium format camera. Even though I’ve only used a few exposures, it’s already had the effect of slowing down the process of making a photograph happen. I’m so used to the instant feedback of a digital SLR and working iteratively to get a shot right that using a camera with no review screen, no internal light meter and only a paltry twelve exposures on a roll of film has made me really make sure I get everything set up correctly before firing the shutter. Hopefully I’ll have some results to share in a few weeks.

Every year I make a Christmas donation to an open source software project or two which I’ve used in the preceding twelve months. This year I chose the OpenShot video editor. I’ve been using it to edit some video projects for the lovely Emma Lappin Flowers and I hope to be able to share them with you very soon. It’s a long way from being finished but hopefully the developers will deliver a stable, fast and feature-rich video editor for Linux.

Merry Christmas!

The writing on the quilt

Tony — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:44:07 +0000

Whenever I visit my Mum and Dad, I’m usually presented with an assortment of possessions I’ve never got round to removing in the years since I left. I visited Mum yesterday and amongst the obligatory pile was a sort of paper-based quilt, apparently showing the story of my life thus far. Among the holidays and favourite teachers occupying the twenty or so squares were not one but two computers. It shouldn’t be a surprise that I’d grow up to play with them for a living!

If anyone can identify what “The 4802″ might have actually been, please leave a comment.

Old Skool

Tony — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 20:51:42 +0000

Chris and Stuart

At the weekend I met up with some of my best friends from school. It’s almost twenty years since we all ended up in the same secondary, and geography, life and careers mean that we don’t see as much of each other as we would like. But it’s a lot of fun when we do and I’m grateful that we still get on!

Gareth