Well, it has been just under a year since I took my first music shots at the 2008 Cardiff ‘Big Weekend’.  I didn’t have a pass for the event so I spent the day glued to the crowd barrier without daring to leave in case I lost my spot.  Since then I’ve managed to gradually blag my way into shows in Barfly, Clwb, St David’s Hall and the CIA and I’ve learned from them all.

Tonight, however, was a special one as I was able to shoot one of my musical heroes – Mr B.B. King.  I was inspired to get into music photography by David Hardacre and I was always in awe of his shots of true legends like Johnny Cash.  For me, this was getting close to something like that and I can’t quite believe I’ve managed to get from zero to shooting B.B. King in such a short time.

It is a real hit and miss affair getting passes for gigs still though.  Stuff I think will be no problem often ends in a cul-de-sac with the “pr” people not deigning to respond and then gigs I think I have no chance with I end up shooting.  I guess if I can get accepted at an agency then things will be a little less fraught.

Considering he was forced to sit through the show due to diabetes it was surprisingly good fun shooting B.B. as he remains remarkably expressive.  It was a novel experience for me working without a photo-pit too.  Last night I shot Anastacia and had to work from the mixing desk – a real flat experience – and tonight I had to dodge in and out of the aisles and try to get good shots without bothering the paying public. I think I did ok.  Back to Clwb Ifor Bach next week – shooting Let’s Wrestle.  It’ll be fun in a different way.

We’ve recently returned from a week on Skomer, a tiny island just a 10 minute boat ride from the Pembrokeshire mainland in Wales.  We almost didn’t make it to the island though as wild weather threatened to stop all sailings and, having resigned ourselves to a few days B&B on the mainland were amazed to fortuitously be in the right place at the right time to get on a boat which was heading out in a brief weather window to pick up people stranded on the island.  We arrived to find no hot water, a broken toilet and a strange smell of damp.  None of this was of any consequence as we, along with 4 others, had made it to the island.

 This was during bird count week, with the island closed to daytrippers.  No bird counting was taking place however as no volunteers had made it to the island and nor would they for another 48 hours – during which time we had the island to ourselves.

 The shot (above) of the Short Eared Owl was taken during our first afternoon on the island and, despite seeing them regularly thereafter, I never bettered it as they never flew quite so cavalierly close again – much to the chagrin of others who arrived on two days later!  We saw so many wonderful birds that it was hard to take it in and I got good shots of puffin, wheatear, whitethroat, chough, short-eared owl, little owl, kittiwakes, fulmar, gulls, oystercatcher, meadow pipits, razorbill, guillemots, pied flycatchers, swallows and sedge warblers.  Next year’s booking is already being made and hopefully we’ll be as lucky with the company as we were this year as we met some lovely people.

 The set-up on the island is simple and effective.  The Warden has a lodge overlooking the harbour where guests arrive and depart on the Dale Princess.   Overnight guests luggage is taken from the harbour to the farmhouse accommodation by tractor while guests follow on foot on a 15 minute walk to the visitor centre which includes a guest accommodation block and a volunteer accommodation block set around a courtyard flanked also by a managed ruin of an old farmhouse.  Rooms are simple, containing beds, a table, shelves and a light.  There are a couple of power sockets in the kitchen which facilitate minor appliances such as battery chargers.  The kitchen has two gas stoves/hobs, two sinks, a small fridge and precious little by way of pots and pans.  The kitchen, in inclement weather, is the only warm room in the building and thus guests tend to congregate there for the evening to share tales and photographs.

 With such small numbers on the island one can literally walk all day without encountering another soul and the sense of tranquillity is a rare treat.  One is always surrounded by beauty and whether walking or just quietly blending into the surroundings there is always something to see and marvel at.  The most awe inspiring aspects of our visit were the sightings of the short eared owls hunting and, at one stage, there were 6 owls within my line of sight at the same time.  It was always a treat to spot the little owl also, particularly as he is so well camouflaged and, well, little!  On a grander scale an evening spent on the harbour wall watching swarms of puffins zipping around our heads on their way back to their burrows will never be forgotten, nor will the haunting sights and sounds of 60,000 Shearwaters returning home to their burrows after midnight.  Such things have to be experienced to be believed.

 The volunteers finally arrived and the island felt almost busy when we ran into groups of pole carrying counters on their way to a nesting site.  Every couple of hours there would be a huge cacophony as the counters moved in and the adult birds took to the skies in a flurry of activity.  Fascinating to watch and the count was almost completed to schedule which is testament to the hard work of the volunteers when they were given the opportunity to put some hours in by mother nature.

 A quite wonderful place.

This is one of my first Kingfisher shots of 2009.  Last time I saw these birds within shooting distance was in this location on Christmas Eve 2008.  Since then they’ve retrenched to the River Taff but floods this week have brought them back to these calmer pools at Forest Farm, Cardiff.

I love just watching them dive for fish, electric blue flashes as quick as lightning.  As the light improves I hope to get some decent diving sequences – always good to have ambition!

Will post about Skomer soon.

Just a quick update before I head off on my hols.

Friday 15th May saw the Manic Street Preachers launch their new album Journal for Plague Lovers with an instore acoustic performance by lead singer/guitarist James Dean Bradfield.   The event took place at Spillers Records (The Oldest Record Shop in The World) in Cardiff and was as much a celebration of the store as of the band.

The setlist was as follows:

Elvis Impersonator
Doors Slowly Closing
Peeled Apples
From Despair to Where
This Joke Sport Severed
A Design for Life

About 50 fans crammed into the tiny space and you can read a little more about the event at The Music Fix.

Had a good stroll along the River Taff in Cardiff this morning and spent about an hour sprawled on the pebble bank trying to get a decent shot of a Wagtail (above) and a dipper.  Pleased with the results but the day wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops.  I was chatting to a lovely man called Ron Davies who was also looking for wagtails.  As he left I heard a noise and turned to find him sprawled on the floor and splashed with blood where he’d hit his head.  Not good for a man of 89!  I cleaned him off and helped him back to safe ground – I hope he’s back birding again soon.

Other than that, not much been happening – hence the sparse blog entries.  Was supposed to photograph the Doves last week but it never happened.  Off to Skomer for a week next weekend so am hoping to get some great shots there.

Wild Gardens, Roath Park

I’ve only been taking photographs for 12 months and nature photographs for about 6 months.  This is all completely new to me and has opened my eyes to the amazing creatures which are going quietly about their business in and around the city. 

I’ve been hoping to run into a woodpecker within range of my camera (400mm max) for a while now and was intruiged to receive a tip off on Flickr that there was a GS woodpecker drilling a nest hole at Roath Park.  I’ve been going to Roath Park since I was a small child but have never knowingly seen or heard a woodpecked but, within a hour or so of the tip-off I was photographing the bird you see in the banner above.

In case you are in the area and also wish to see a woodpecker going about its daily business then I suggest that you head for the “wild gardens” at the foot of Roath Park in Cardiff.  If you head away from the lake down the middle path for 40 yards or so and then take a narrow path through the wild garlic on the left for about 20 feet then you should see a half dead tree with three holes freshly pecked into the apex.  Hang around for a few minutes and you could get lucky.

You may also see grey wagtails, blackcaps, long tailed tits, green woodpeckers and jays in and amongst the trees.  Happy hunting.

Steve

Spent the morning at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust centre at Llanelli, having become a member back in the Autumn of last year.   It has been in existence for years but I didn’t even know it existed until last year.  There’s loads to see and do there, from canoing through the reed beds through to art and photography courses.

We spent a relaxing morning strolling around the ponds which house a variety of waterfowl including teal, eider duck and black swans.  We also checked out the British Steel hide, which is where the picture above was taken.  Highlight of the trip was when my partner pointed out a wee Goldfinch high up in a tree.  I’ve uploaded my goldfinch and other WWT shots to my Flickr site so please feel free to check them out.

Highly recommend the WWT cafe which uses locally sourced produce and recharged our batteries nicely, allowing us another crack at finding more Goldfinch.

cheers

Steve

Not such a Good Friday for this bunny