Denis Thorpe : On Home Ground

Late November and early December are always particularly busy for us at Michael Turner Photography, and last week was no exception - last minute Christmas portrait shoots and viewing sessions take up most of the time, as well as taking care of printing and liasing with our framers to ensure that our clients all get their portraits in time for Christmas. I'm not sure how I managed it, but I also managed to see three Manchester City home matches in eight days, which got better as the week progressed - a disappointing draw against Hull, an exciting 3-0 victory over Arsenal to progress to the last four of the Carling Cup and a sensational victory over Premiership leaders Chelsea that well and truly brought the house down.

Yesterday Janet and I went see our God-daughter Sarah who, in spite of a few scares and a couple of unscheduled extra operations, I'm happy to report is progressing well. She has been in and out of Alder Hey several times over the past few weeks, but is home now and ever so slowly putting on the weight she needs for her life-saving heart surgery to be properly effective (something to do with growing into a tiny band that was fitted to regulate the flow of blood between her heart and lungs apparently). Yesterday she gave us some beautiful big smiles so she must be feeling OK!

On Friday evening we went to see a slide show and talk by Denis Thorpe, one of the photographers who influenced my early career when I started out in magazine and newspaper photography. Denis spent most of his career as the staff photographer on The Guardian and his instinctive black and white photography from the past 50 years or so is quite simply stunning. Covering all subjects from landscapes and portraits to hard news, he was given the freedom to cover every story in his own quiet style. Sadly, as Denis himself will acknowledge, that simply doesn't happen in today's cut-throat world of newspaper photography that seems to be dominated by the paparazzi.

Denis's ability to come back from any assignment with photographs that capture the essence of a story in one or two telling images made him popular with his editors and hugely respected by his fellow photographers. I had never met Denis before Friday. He certainly lived up to his reputation as one of the gentlemen of the press, and his passion for people and photography shone through even though he's been retired for a good number of years now. If you like black and white documentary and pictorial photography I can recommend his book 'On Home Ground', or if you get the opportunity to attend one of his talks, even better.

More from Malta

Our Maltese photographer friend Jean Pierre Gatt has made a three minute film about the recent MIPP Convention we were part of. You can view it here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI9E-WuTf5o

David Williams Seminar

I'm pleased to confirm the dates for the 'Almost Alone with David Williams' seminar we're hosting at our studio in January. The seminar will run for three days from 26th-28th January 2010, with a select group of 12 maximum. David (from Down Under) specialises in weddings and portraits and is one of the world's leading teachers of photography. This seminar isn't about all the techinical stuff (though there will be a little), it's more about getting to the heart of what photographing people is all about.

The timing is perfect - after a busy wedding season or Christmas portrait rush, the seminar will help you to recharge the batteries and make an inspired, flying start 2010.

You can check out more details and find out first hand from David at www.davidwilliamsseminars.com. We'll hope to see you in January.

A whistlestop tour of Malta

Yesterday, after three days of hard work at the MIPP conference, our Maltese hosts treated Janet and me and the rest of the UK party to a trip around the island and a taster of the delights of Malta. Our base for the weekend, the Corinthia in San Gorg, was a very comfortable hotel and made a superb location for a photographic convention, but it was relief to escape our modern surroundings and get out to see some of the real Malta on our final day. Our whistlestop tour included Mosta, Dingli Cliffs and the Blue Grotto, Valletta, Mdina and Marsaxlokk. Needless to say that with only a few hours to spare we didn't get a lot of time for serious photography, but we did enjoy the beautiful November weather and saw enought of the country to convince us that Malta is a photographer's paradise.

Golden light in the alleyways of the ancient city of Mdina...

The fishing village of Marsaxlokk is famous for it's colourful fishing boats, but looking inland this colourful doorway also caught my eye.Mediterranean cats always make appealing subjects.....

After our brief taster, one thing is sure - we'll be making a return visit......

As featured on Maltese TV....

Janet and I have today returned from Malta where we've been working over the weekend as speakers for the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers and the Malta Institute of Professional Photographers http://www.mipp-malta.com/ at their combined International Convention. The Maltese photographers have been some of the friendliest photographers I've ever had the pleasure to meet (maybe it's something to do with the sunny Mediterranean weather) and their enthusiasm has been an inspiration. The speaker line up included myself and Damian McGillicuddy from the UK, fine art photographer Ayman Lotfy from Egypt and a selection of home grown Maltese photographers. I've been teaching children's portrait and lifestyle photography over three separate seminars, as well as judging qualifications and the MIPP photographic awards. A hectic but very enjoyable few days.

To our surprise the event made the National News (the MIPP's Kevin Casha has friends in high places it would appear). You can view the clip on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqE9u6E61vE

Here are a few of the portraits taken during the demonstration, all captured with natural light.

And finally.....

Dogs just wanna have fun!

Dogs are such characters and can teach us a lot about looking on the bright side of life. They never think it's too early to go for walk, or too late. They're always eager to please, they're eternal optimists and no stick is ever too big - they love a challenge!

These are a couple of shots of our dog Tara, taken on a recent trip to the West Coast of Scotland......

Tara's never happier than on a forest walk with lots of mud and with the added bonus of a sandy beach, but it can be hard work keeping her still long enough to be photographed. No wonder they say you should never work with children and animals.

Master Photographer of the Year Awards

Last weekend Janet and I were in our best bib and tucker at the MPA Awards at the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We had a great time meeting up with old friends and I can now officially claim to be a finalist in the awards and an Award of Excellence winner in the Under 5s! Winner of the Under 5s category though (and also the Portrait category), was last year's Master Photographer of the Year Lisa Visser from West Sussex, with two beautiful images from her successful 2009 fellowship panel.

Well done to Lisa and to all of the other category winners. You can view the winning images at http://www.thempa.com/

Hopefully we'll be there again next year....