I will try and add a picture on here each week showcasing my recent work.
At the weekend I was very lucky to photograph one of our Olympic Stars, Jenni Pinches, who was part of the British Gymnastics team at London 2012. We did the shoot in a beautiful part of the Peak District and she made a lovely model and demonstrated some amazing gymnastic skills - the pictures from that part of the shoot are firmly under lock and key until the exhibition but here's a tiny taster, a portrait of her taken in the Goyt Valley
©Simon James Brown. 2013. All rights reserved - no use without explicit prior written permission.
http://www.travellingsimon.com
This was always a favorite shot of mine from a mountaineering trip to the Chamonix Valley a few years ago. Two climbing companions and I we were in a rush to start a route called the Traverse of the Aiguilles Crochues having got L'Index chairlift up from the valley.
On the way to the start of the climbing we came across this beautiful lake which had a stunning view back to the Mont Blanc Massif. Despite the rush, I made my companions wait for me to run down to the lake to get the composition I wanted and hence named this "Time for Reflection."
Single exposure taken with a circular polarising filter to fine-tune the amount of reflection and slow down the movement on the lake.
I've reprocessed from the RAW file to take advantage of the best current processing and decided on a slightly wider crop too.
When travelling in Cambodia last year, my travelling companion and I cycled out to take photos around sunset at a little visited temple near Siem Reab. Out of one of the buildings a little way away came this old Buddhist monk, hand in hand with his pupil and looking very proud of him.
Rather than trying to sneak a shot candidly, I grabbed my camera and rushed over to greet him with a bow and a smile. I knew that monks can be pretty shy and we didn't share any language and so was half expecting him to wave me away when I indicated that I'd like to take their photo.
Instead he smiled, nodded, before rearranging his robe to look his best and sat down with the lad in a wonderful pose that totally captures the bond between them.
This shows that normally the most important aspect of taking a good photo isn't anything to do with pressing the shutter button, or even what camera you have, it's what you do beforehand that usually makes the shot and only rarely is it what you do afterwards.
It also shows you that you can meet many incredible people wherever you go in the World!
I'm proud, along with my Mum, to be donating a framed, print, “Swans at Daybreak”, which you can see here to Scorton Bikes and Barrows Festival 's Grand Auction Night to help raise funds for the festival. The auction takes place on Sat 13th April at the Village Hall. Bids can be made on the night or by proxy.
The Festival itself takes place from 4-6th May 2013 and is well worth a visit if you're in the area.
http://scortonvillage.com/#/bikes-barrows-events/4548438746
“Swans at Daybreak”, original, framed and signed photographic artwork, 22” x 18” (approx.) by
http://www.travellingsimon.com
Donated by Nora & Simon Brown
The village of Scorton, between Lancaster and Preston is where I grew up and I still have very strong links with the village. The community spirit there is amazing and everyone always rallies around those who are ill or in need. Hence I am proud to give something back to the community and support this great event.
David Ford, Emily Grove, Jarrod Dickenson and Joe Haddow performing at Manchester Deaf Institute
This is the night time view over the Lancaster and Morecambe areas from Jubilee Tower, Quernmore, in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. What this picture really highlights is how light and air pollution from cities affects our ability to see the stars. On the scale of cities, Lancaster's hardly a badly polluted place but look how many stars you can see in the sky close to the city compared to the top of the image? It's quite scary eh?
If you want to see a good view of the stars, then wait for a clear night, wrap up warm, load up one of the many great star maps on your smart phone and head for the hills, after first turning your lights off, of course!
Conventional thinking says that if you're going to take multiple shots to stitch together to make a panorama then you're best to use a sturdy tripod and preferably a panoramic head. Oh well, sometimes convention and rules are there to learn, so you can learn when to break them - this pano was stitched together from 8 shots taken hand held... from a moving hot-air balloon! :)
As a proud inhabitant of Macclesfield for the last 15 years, I have been most pleased by the resurgence of the town in recent years, driven on the whole by the great efforts of its creative people. I have proudly supported and continue to support many of the events and schemes such as Barnaby Festival, Make it Macclesfield, Wake Up Macc and the Treacle Market which really benefit the community and local businesses. A cropped version of this image of the iconic and renovated Hovis Mill was a winner of the Barnaby Festival Photography competition in 2009. I am now pleased in showing my support for the Make it Macclesfield campaign, I've allowed for them to use the image, under licence, for 2 large promotional pieces to be displayed at Macclesfield Railway Station in the near future.
Of course prints and wall art are available of this and all of my images using the shopping cart symbol and it is also displayed as a 40"x20" fine-art canvas in my new exhibition at the reopened Mulberry Tree Café at Macclesfield Heritage Centre.
The Pub at the End of the World?
Since I've listened to very little apart from the Virginmarys' King of Conflict album for the last two weeks I thought I'd share another image I've just processed from their Christmas homecoming gig at The Snowgoose Live, Macclesfield. Check out their album, you won't hear better this year and then go and see them on tour.
http://www.thevirginmarys.com/
The awesome local band The Virginmarys rocking one of the best gigs of 2012 for me at Stoke Sugarmill in front of many adoring fans. Definitely ones to watch in 2013!
Here's a quick shot of my first photography exhibition - why not get down to Inca Cafe Bar, Sunderland Street Macclesfield and check it out.
There are quite a few pictures which have sold already folks so don't hang around if you're still looking to get a unique Christmas present. (open 11am-4pm Mon-Fri and 6pm-11pm Thurs, Fri and Sat) and peruse my photography while enjoying delicious homemade cakes, soups and other yummy food and drinks. More details here...
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.340316316067102.72920.164711743627561&type=1
An amazing experience seeing a school of about a dozen bottlenose dolphins playing off the Lady Jayne, Mull Charters boat. This was after watching the huge White Tailed Sea Eagle take fish from the water meters from the boat - just breathtaking!
All rights reserved Simon Brown 2012
On a walk to search out and discover new places to photograph in the Peak District, near where I live I found this really interesting outcrop in the Goyt Valley
I wanted to highlight a little of the fun and beauty of the lovely colourful buildings of Tobermory on Mull so I thought what better way than to do a monochrome processing and selectively recolour a few of them?
Another shot at dawn from Redesmere, it's one of my favourite times to get out and photograph, though it can be a struggle to get out of bed for the really early start in the Summer!
Sometimes it's lovely to see the World at a time when most people are still tucked up in bed... very early morning at Redesmere
I was very lucky to share Ben and Sarah's big day at the Swettenham Arms as their wedding photographer. What a lovely couple and a great venue. Many congratulations on your big day and best wishes for your future together.
Sometimes taking a single shot is just not enough to capture the beauty of a scene ... so for this one I took 35, hehe!
Britains first ever Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins drives the peloton hard in the Men's Road Race of the London 2012 Olympics, in a vain attempt to catch the breakaway, here seen at Box Hill, Surrey. Congratulations on winning an awesome Olympic Gold in the Time Trial, Wiggo!
Dawn is, I think, my favourite time of the day, even if it's not the easiest to drag yourself out of a comfy bed with not too much sleep. When my alarm went off and I peered through the curtains outside I just knew I was going to get some interesting shots as there was just a nice density of mist. So I grabbed my packed bag and headed on a tour of some of the local spots I love to visit. Windgather Rocks, seen here, is the place I first learned to climb outdoors and so has a special place in my heart but it's seen here in a quite different light to what I've ever seen it before...
Leo Oppenheim of
http://www.flowskate.co.uk impresses the crowds jumping a car on inline skates as par of the Loominus Festival Macclesfield September 2012
The band Cash4Chaos proving a big hit at Wellyfest 2012
Rough Twist @ Wellyfest 2012
Derwent Reservoir in the Peak District from the air. The reservoir and dam were famously used by the Dambusters in the Second World War to practice their maneuvers and targeting
So I took the opportunity to get away over Christmas and New Year to spend some much needed time with family as well as some rest and relaxation in the Highlands of Scotland (actually wanted to do some serious winter walking but the poor weather didn't really allow that). So here's a photo taken as the sun was literally setting on 2012...
After clearing some of the editing backlog, I'll be sure looking forward to what is already looking like an amazing 2013 with the Barnaby Festival exhibition to prepare for, some exciting travel plans and lots of portraits and video projects already booked as well as hopefully taking and exhibiting landscapes and other work in some ever more interesting places!
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and very best wishes to you all for 2013. Peace
New Years Day 2013 on Loch Linnhe was remarkably still compared to the turbulent days that had preceded it!
A quick shot from the Revolution Cycling Series at the National Cycling Centre. This is the German Marcel Kalz of Rudy Project RT with his partner Robert Bengsch smashed the opposition in the Madison Time Trial event. This shot was taken with a slow shutter speed and panning with the rider to give the impression of the speed which he was flying at.
One of the panoramas I took on a cold Winters day at Stanage Edge
I took a great Winter walk at Stanage Edge - one of the most awe inspiring places in the UK, in my opinion. After spending most of the morning in low cloud, snow and winds, the weather cleared for a couple of hours, allowing me to walk along the Edge through virgin snow with it almost to myself. I came across this unusually curious wild Red Grouse which I got to within 5 meters of and spent maybe 20minutes photographing and videoing. Here's my favourite of the shots that I got of him in flight...
All Rights Reserved ©2013 Simon Brown
Sending out Valentines Day love to all of you whether you are lucky in love indeed still searching for Mr or Miss Right!
Here's one of my favourite captures from last year entitled "The Kiss?" and currently on display in my exhibition at Macclesfield Heritage centre, looking especially lovely Giclée printed on Hahnemühle FineArt paper.
This was a real event between the two mountain hares captured on an especially foggy day near Pym's Chair in the Peak District. Manual focussing and exposure had to be used as autofocus and the camera's exposure meters are bamboozled by the fog! It's also proof that you don't always need perfect conditions to capture magical moments!
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