Filming with the 5D

I filmed an event for the lovely Muslim charities Forum last week. The event involved members from Muslim charities from all over to talk about various topics.

It gave me a great chance to use the Canon 5D Mark 2 and my word it did not disappoint. Shooting with the 85mm prime the results came out with a lovely depth and crisp visuals. I also used the Beachtek DXA 5Da which gave good results but was a bit of a pain to use.

The 85mm prime lens was perfect for the occasion and as you can see from the 2 pictures here the quality is awesome. I also took my old Canon XL2 with me and filmed a few shots, the difference was quite obvious.

Looking forward to the next shoot, especially the weddings I've got booked in the coming months.

A new year, A new adventure!

Two months in China seemed to go very fast. 

This was my second time to the country, a place I am very much growing to love for many reasons.

From the spectacular volcanic Weizhou Island in the South to the tongue sensations of Sichuan in the West, I managed to meet a variety of people, accents, festivities and wonderful landscapes.

WeiZhou Island, seen here to the left, is the youngest part of China, born around 225 million years ago. On mainland China we were wearing long johns, thick coats and hats to keep warm but here on this island, the sun was incredibly hot. Walking around the coastline for most of the day, myself and others all had sunburn down the right side of out bodes! A good look!

The wonderful thing about this island is that currently it is fairly unknown. It's incredibly quiet with only three small hotels being built. The majority of the land is covered in banana trees and the coast is lined with tiny fish restaurants here and there. The best fish in the world I must say.

Coral rests on the base of rock pools and multicoloured fish tickle your toes.

The Chinese new year was out of this world.

Never have I been more amazed or scared for my life as on the eve of the Spring festival. As a child I saw fireworks on bonfire night in the UK, but nothing prepared me for the sheer scale of fireworks in China. Virtually 15 nights in a row fireworks and firecrackers could be heard everywhere.

The first night, it seemed as if everyone in China was on the streets with fireworks. On more than one occasion  fireworks fell sideways causing mass panic as we ran for cover, other times we would be surrounded by the gentle humming of small spinning fireworks that fly up 10 meters of so ever so gently. Every possible direction you looked a firework was in action. From tiny children to the elderly, they all had them.

Climbing up Emei Shan was one hell of a task. One of four holy mountains in China. Usually from the top the mountains of Tibet can be viewed. But due to the season, we would be lucky to see 20 meters ahead. A hard climb that involved thieving monkeys, strange socks and many beautiful views.

I'll be heading to China again next year. I can't wait!

Working with wonderful people

I seem to have neglected this blog for a few weeks. When I got back from the Lakes I had around two weeks of intense work with the wonderful charity Muslim Aid - www.muslimaid.org
During my time with the charity the earthquake/tsunami and volcanic eruption in Indonesia took place, for which I created a quick 30 second appeal advert for a few TV channels and online.
Other videos I edited together came from Pakistan in recent weeks. It shows how bad a lot of the life is out there still with wheat farms being destroyed and stories of cattle and whole houses being washed away. But it also showed how much help all the donated money is doing. Seeing the delighted faces of villagers as boxes of water purifiers arrive, or the Muslim Aid hospital based in a really hard to get to area was lovely to see.

The below video is an interview with a Doctor based in the Muslim Aid hospital.

The Lakes of Cumbria

April 2010

Earlier this year myself and my girlfriend camped up in the Lake district of England, at that time there was snow on the mountain tops, blue skies and just enough of a coming summer to keep us warm. I hadn't been there since I was a child and it was the first time I could truly appreciate the beauty there.
The photo to the right is Derwent Water in early April.


We both said we should go back in the Autumn to experience the change in colour, and explore more lakes in the area.

Buttermere

There was a chill in the air different to the one before, which was on it's way out. This time the air was biting at every available piece of skin on show. The blue reflected on the water less warm than earlier and where snow once lay on top, sharp jagged rocks cut into the heavens.

Cave at Rydal

We managed to get out to less tourist type places, and experienced the quiet beauty of Buttermere, where we saw small numbers of people, mostly locals racing dogs across the hills for two- three hours.

Rydal was even less populated. Being a small lake it didn't seem like much at first, peaceful and tranquil, only to reveal an incredible cave like the gaping mouth of a dragon slain years ago.

Aira Force

Amongst other wonders, the more known Aira Force near Ullswater for example was spectacular, the light at times hitting the water and creating the rainbow it is known for.

We also travelled up to the landmark recognised on the front of the Derwent water colour pencils tin, Ashness bridge. Small it may be, but it holds a hypnotizing power, with the stream of water leading all the way down to the lake in the distance.

Ashness bridge

We were a little early to witness the dramatic change of colour we were expecting, but what we witnessed was as before, nothing short of wonderful. I hope to go again next year, perhaps we'll be mad enough to go when it is covered in snow.

Super-professional nude models

These two characters are some of my flat mates who agreed to be my life drawing nudes. They were extremely relaxed for the whole time and never once moved!
The eye drops were on the side of the bed and is a separate drawing, although on here it looks huge next to Butter and Mushroom. Practice practice practice.

It's worth mentioning that I came across 'Future boy Conan' the other day and now have the whole series. A fantastic animation and story. If you love his other films as I do, it's a must see.

More life drawing

Yet more life drawing. I found it harder this time for some reason, due to some crazy days recently and tiredness I guess I found it interesting how the guy running the life drawing this time was asking people to do 'blind drawing', which is also mentioned in the book - drawing but not looking at the paper.

Another interesting thing I've found recently is that my memory has increased dramatically. I've been learning Mandarin for the past year, and only since drawing have I started remembering whole sentences and hard words, could this be linked? Possible!

Another drawing

Hello! Here's another quick upside down drawing. This time it's Pablo Picasso's 'Child with Dove'. Again, I have messed up the sizes of things and she's ended up a little squashed, still not to bad though.