Steve Hackett Concert

Steve Hackett Concert 

I have always been an `early` Genesis fan. By this I mean their first few albums when Peter Gabriel was the lead singer, and also the two following album's with Phil Collins on lead vocals. During that period of that time, the lead guitarist was Steve Hackett. After that, Steve left to follow a solo career.  I always felt that Genesis followed a more `commercial` route after Steve Hackett split from the group, and although some of the later genesis albums are O.K. I never felt that they were as good as when Steve was lead guitarist. (but that my own personal opinion) 

Since going solo, Steve Hackett has produced some fantastic music, and last week I went to see him at the Cliffs Pavilion at Southend-on-Sea. He is touring the country with his `Selling England by the Pound Revisited` tour, and this was the last but one leg of the current tour.

 I had decided to try to take a few shots during the concert, but was not sure what the Pavilions policy was for taking shots during the performance.  I had been to another concert at the same venue a year ago, and loads of people were photographing with their mobile phones. I however wanted to use my Olympus, which was a bit different. I didn`t take a camera bag along, but just put the camera body and lens in an ordinary backpack, with my coat on top of it.  As I didn`t look like a photographer, none of the officials challenged me, so I just took my seat and enjoyed the gig. Fortunately, my seat was up in the balcony seating, a few rows from the back, and towards the middle of the row. From this position, I could photograph looking down onto the stage, which gave me a great viewpoint.

 I waited until well into the first half before I attempted to take any shots. A number of people were taking shots with their mobile phones, but I had took my OMD-EM1 MkII and the 40-150 F2.8 Pro lens. I was a bit nervous about spoiling other peoples enjoyment of the concert, so I asked the people either side of me if they objected to me taking a few shots. Neither of them had a problem with it. I did set the shutter onto totally silent, but the music was so load, they would not have heard it even if I hadn`t !

I only photographed for quite short bursts, and once I had taken half a dozen or so images, I put the camera down for 5 minutes or so, before taking a few more images. This was partly because I didn`t want to annoy people around me watching the gig, and also because I was slightly concerned that the officials would object if they saw me continually taking photos, but fortunately no one challenged me.  

I had the Olympus set on Aperture Priority, and set the ISO at 1600, shooting wide open at F2.8 throughout. Because the lighting was changing continuously, the shutter speed varied between 1/125th sec to 1/1250sec. I just watched the histogram in the viewfinder to check I was getting correctly exposed images.  The advantage of seeing the exposure in `real time` on the Olympus was a big advantage over a normal DSLR. The only problem is that high ISO`s can lead to very `noisy` images with Micro Four Thirds`, but I was quite pleased with the results at ISO1600.

The line up of musicians he has on the tour are brilliant. They are : Steve Hackett -Lead Guitar and Vocals, Nad Sylan-Vocals,  Roger King -Keyboards,  Rob Townsend- Sax, Flute, Percussion & Keys, Vocals,  Johnas Reingold - Bass Guitar,12 String and Vocals, Craig Brundell -Drums and Vocals.

The lighting set up was incredible, as I hope some of the photos will show.

The one and only - Steve Hackett

Capturing the Decisive Moment - Sport and Action - Updating an Older Talk

 Capturing the Decisive Moment - Sport and Action  - Updating an Older Talk. 

A few weeks ago, I had to give my `Sport and Action` talk to a local camera club. This talk was put together about 6 years ago, and at the time, was probably my most requested talk. A lot of clubs have seen it, and it has always seemed to go down well. It covers a large number of different sports, and shows a lot of the pitfalls to avoid, as well as showing locations or viewpoints to get the best shots. 

Since then, I have produced newer talks on various subjects, - Macro. Landscape, Nature etc. and when clubs book me, I usually steer them towards the more recent talks. This particular club wanted the `Sport and Action` talk, so this is the talk I gave them. The trouble with giving an older talk is that as time goes by, your pictures and opinions change, as well as the equipment you use. For example I had used Canon equipment for over 25 years, but I have now changed to using Olympus equipment. 

Although the talk went well, I left thinking,`that talk really needs updating with more recent images`, so over the next week or so, I gave the talk a major `revamp`, taking out a number of older images and replacing them with newer shots, which I felt were a lot better.   

A week ago I had a phone call from Wisbech Camera Club in Norfolk, asking if I could `step in` at late notice, as their previously booked speaker was ill, and had to cancel. As I was available on that particular night, so  I happily stepped in. They asked if I could give my `Sport and Action ` talk, and  as I had just completed the update, I agreed. The talk went really well, and I was much happier with the newer `updated version`. The following images are a selection of shots from the talk, which covers  Rugby, Swimming, Motocross, Ice Hockey, Boxing, Athletics, Wheelchair Basketball, Cyclocross, Judo, Grass Track, Brands Hatch Superbikes, London Marathon, Speedway, Jet Ski, and of course Table Tennis. 

Any clubs wanting to book this talk can contact me via my email address, found on my website at www.rogerhancefrps.com  

Athletics

Jet Ski 

Table Tennis

Rugby

Wheelchair Basketball

Motorcross

Judo

Grass Track

Ice Hockey

Athletics

Athletics

Swimming

Cyclcross

Boxing

London Marathon

Speedway

A Week in the Lake District

A Week in the Lake District 

At the beginning of November , Alison and I went up to the Lake District for a week. I had been to Lakes the previous year, and wanted to visit some of the locations that I had not visited before. I also wanted to try to improve on shots I had took on the previous year. Sometimes I was successful, - other times not so successful. We stayed in a really nice cottage in Keswick, and these are a few pictures from the week.

All images taken on Olympus OMD E-M1X , 12-40 F2.8 lens or the 40-150 F2.8 Lens.

Ashness Bridge

The Tree at Buttermere from the south shoreline. 

This was the view we had from the bedroom window of our cottage. I believe the mountain in the from is `Cat Bells`

The famous `Lone Tree` on the northside shoreline of Buttermere

Grasmere 

Buttermere

 Buttermere - Mono Version 

Buttermere 

Mono Version of the previous shot 

Derwent Water looking back towards the town

Mono Version

Derwent Water 

Derwent Water

Ashness Jetty

Ashness Jetty

Geese at Derwent Water

Grasmere

Lodore Falls 

  Derwent Water 

Derwent Water Shoreline 

Small Waterfall at Buttermere