News / Blog - Tallpictures News

As we keep our fingers crossed that in (maybe) two weeks time life can return to a ‘New Normal’ in Guernsey I can reveal what some of you have been doing during Lockdown v2 together with a special offer on my pictures.

Firstly I’d like to thank those of you who have been visiting my website as it has logged millions of new picture views since January! The running total now exceeds 31 MILLION!

The way I analyze this is to reckon that surfing the web has helped fill a few of your empty hours... it has certainly worked for me! We all know that the novelty of being free of the 9 to 5 job soon wears off!

I also think that some of the visitors have wanted to reminisce about the good times... when life went along unrestricted. A stroll through my picture galleries reveals so many of your enjoyable moments playing Sports and attending Gigs and social events that maybe the pics have helped ease some of your Lockdown frustrations?

So as a thank you for the massive interest in my work I’ve decided to (prematurely) celebrate the better times ahead by offering new discounts on the sales of multiple items from my galleries... Anything from 10% to 25% OFF!

The offer is for Framed Prints, Bevel Mounted Prints, Standard Prints and Digital Files. If you place any order online the discount is automatically deducted as you complete the sale in the Shopping Cart.

So THANKS AGAIN for the continued interest in my work. I'll see you again as soon as we are released!

It was great for riders & photographers to be out having fun on a dry day... and about time too!

The Guernsey Velo Club had a good entry for their MTB XC event at Le Guet. A long course had been marked out and this made full use of the slippery slopes and challenged the endurance of all competitors.

This is a link to the new gallery which showcases some of my pics of the racing.
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE GVC MTB XC RACING

Whilst I'm on here I'd like to thank the many regular visitors to this website as you have enabled me to crack 30,000,000 (THIRTY MILLION!) views. This milestone clocked up just before Christmas.

Since then another HALF A MILLION views have been registered which is pretty special.

Once again thanks a lot.

It's very hard to find any words to say after hearing the tragic news that Zef Eisenberg has lost his life in a high speed crash whilst chasing another speed record to add to his long list.

Speaking from Guernsey, the Island that he made his home, and as someone who has worked for him photographing some of his portfolio of properties, racing action and several Motor Sport promotion shots I know what an impact he had on the things that he had a passion for.

Zef never did things by half. He also never did anything other than at 'full speed'! He was a genuine 'Speed Freak'.

He will be remembered for his remarkable life where he was always looking forward. He had the ability to make an impact on anything he involved himself in.... from starting Maximuscle to breaking speed records to supporting the Guernsey Motor Sport scene and his charity work on the Saumarez Park children's playground. These things are his legacy.

Few of us will ever lead such a full life as Zef and the only consolation is that he didn't waste a minute of his 47 years.

My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family and friends.

I've added a couple of my pics of Zef to a gallery including this Montage that Zef commissioned.

They reflect my memories of him.
CLICK TO VIEW A COUPLE OF PICS OF ZEF EISENBERG

I photographed another great new live music event organized by the Guernsey School of Popular Music yesterday evening.

This was the first Corporate Battle of the Bands and it was held on the big stage at Beau Sejour... and the acts certainly stepped up to the mark.

Five bands were given three songs to impress the judges panel and they covered a wide variety of musical genres with each producing a memorable performance.

But the evening was more than that. There was a fantastic and supportive atmosphere in the theater as the battle commenced. The audience enthusiastically got behind every band making the evening full of high energy!

Well done to all the bands from Butterfield, MSG, Ravenscroft, Garenne and Carey Olsen.

In the tradition of these things there could only be one winner and this year it was the Garenne band who picked up the trophy.

I've added these galleries featuring the evenings highlights....
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2020 CORPORATE BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Sometimes things creep up on you unexpectedly. We all trot along through life on our chosen route and in our own time.

But of course the person we are inevitably changes as we age. My own experience of getting older has been almost all positive as maturity brings with it more patience, understanding, balance and experience.

So I hope you will resolve from that statement above that I have little to complain about and day to day life is great.

But what about the unexpected lurking in the dark just waiting to remind me of the passing of the years?

Well I've just had a poke in the ribs from one.

I have been locked down - like most of us - which has meant that I've not been uploading new pics for some time. This has proven to be a problem for my 'pensioners aged' brain as I got into a proper fix today whilst I tried to upload a new album. This was entirely due to user error (I mean brain failure) as it seems I had forgotten the correct procedure!

I was so stuck that I contacted the Photium help desk!

Photium are the host company for this website and I have always found their service to be absolutely second to none!

Whenever I have needed to ask Photium a question the reply usually arrives within minutes. They really are that good and I would recommend them to everyone. Their site Admin is easy to follow (even for a pensioner, normally!) and you can customize your website to you own style. So this is a BIG shout out for Photium. Thanks for your help.

Now once again, after receiving a reminder of how things work, I'm back with a website featuring the latest pics all safely uploaded!

Take a look at the Skipton v Le Mont Saint Basketball gallery here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF SKIPTON v LE MONT SAINT

On Saturday 20th June 2020 Guernsey joined communities around the world and came together to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The event had been delayed by one week to allow the Island to enter its Phase 5 of the plan to lift all Covid 19 lockdown restrictions.

Hundreds of people joined the peaceful crowd to listen to speakers who told of their own experiences of hate and prejudice. The event finished with a symbolic eight minute forty-six seconds silence with most people kneeling.

I took some 360 degree panoramic images of the event. The panoramas are VERY high resolution so please give them time to load. It's worth the wait as there is amazing detail for you to exlpore!

Please click on the link to view.

WARNING: This is a VERY high resolution image.... give it time to load!
CLICK TO VIEW THE 360 PANORAMA

I decided to try a different viewpoint whilst photographing the Guernsey Rowing Club's lockdown beating rowing event.

The Club came out of the forced lockdown to hold their first event of the year over the B course totaling 5,200 meters of open sea.

After starting at Havelet Bay the rowers headed south to Fermain Bay making a turn amongst the anchored leisure boats before heading back to St Peter Port.

I had positioned myself on the cliffs surrounding the picturesque bay in the hope that it offered a new viewpoint. The effort to get there was more than I remembered as I trekked down from the Jerbourg monument... there are a lot more steps than I recall!

But the reward was an open view looking down 300 feet on to the competitors... luckily I had taken my Nikon 180-400mm (560mm with the built-in extender) lens. With this lens I could see right into the boats.

I've added a small gallery of pics which can be viewed here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST ROWING PICS

I fear that I'll probably never quite catch up with the backlog of editing from last year.... but I'll keep trying.

Last year wasn't quite a 'normal' one. There were quite a few distractions taking large chunks out of my work time. By far the most demanding was overseeing the modernization of our new home. This is now nearing completion but I think I was a bit naive regarding how much chasing and management would be required in getting the 'trades' to complete their work.

However we have now settled into the new place and the move has worked out brilliantly. We have renewed everything from ceilings, heating, electrics and networking to 65" TV's, flooring, driveway.... well just about everything! Oh, and I mustn't forget the great new kitchen too!

Whilst all that was underway I found myself emergency medivaced to the UK after Doctors found blood clots on my brain and I had a mild stroke. Thankfully the outcome has been much better than first feared and I've nearly made a full recovery.

So that's the excuses for the missed edits!

But I continue with the catch-up. This link takes you to a missed Autocross Banger event from last March. More will follow:
CLICK TO VIEW THE AUTOCROSS CATCH-UP

Now I really should know better. I’m the bloke who is paranoid about backing up Computers, Images, Databases, Emails…. everything really.

But we all drift off the right track sometimes, don’t we?

My latest excursion off the straight and narrow was at the weekend.

I was trying to write a new Blog. This is something that rarely produces anything of note. They are usually just links to the latest Galleries or they only feature my bland comments. I know my limitations!

However last Sunday afternoon whilst writing a new Blog I felt inspired (in my dreams, eh)!

I’d added a Gallery that featured some shots I’d taken of the Guernsey Snooker Masters Finals at the Gremlin Club.

As I was editing the pics I was remembering how difficult the sport can be to capture pics of.

Now you have to remember that I photograph many, many different Sports. I should be used to whatever challenge each one throws up. But when analyzing my Sports shoots there is a trend… most Sport photography is about split second timing. Nothing unexpected there. Then the environment is usually noisy and the play is fast paced. The skill is in being able to follow the action, anticipate the moves, make sure you are in the best place to see the highlights and keep your concentration.

It was with those thoughts in mind that I was intrigued by how different the skills need to be when photographing some Sports. As I mentioned above I was completing an edit of an important Snooker competition.

I’ve photographed Snooker several times before and you soon realize that being in the ‘arena’ and trying to work is unlike most ‘playing fields’.

A photographer is at risk of ‘getting in the way’ and distracting players as they make frame winning shots. There is no doubt that a photographer will soon be asked to leave if they interrupt the hush with a CLATTER. CLATTER just as a player lines up a crucial shot.

Also a photographer must not, cannot, move around trying to find ‘their’ perfect composition. That movement might again distract and influence play. The important work is being done by the players, ideally a photographer should not be seen or heard, we are very low in the pecking order!

So Snooker is nothing like most Sports to photograph… and I haven’t even mentioned the lighting. OK the table might be brightly lit but there is usually a difficult green colour cast from the baize and the ‘background’ of the room is often as black as a coal mine.

All problems added together it is a great help if a photographer can enroll a little assistance from modern technology. I did this at the Masters Snooker.

But firstly, getting back to how I started this Blog. I’d spent quite some time writing a text on this theme (I’ve already said that words don’t flow easily for me) when my wife called me for the evening meal. I was disappointed to break the flow of ideas but the aroma of roast beef saw me step away from the creative process. The plan was to let the PC go to ‘sleep’. I would simply continue from where I was after the meal. There was even a chance that a couple of glasses of red wine would lubricate the creative juices. However when I returned I discovered that all those wonderful words had somehow disappeared. I was raging… the work was awesome, inspiring, wise and could have changed a generations ideas about photography, ha,ha!

Could I ever articulate such wisdom again? Of course not. That’s why this is all you get to read!

Back to the storyline ….

You will remember that I was limited to the dark confines of a Snooker room with little control of what I could do to give myself any sort of advantage to get the shots. Oh I forgot to mention that I’d only been assigned a short time to get the shots before moving on to the next assignment… a rugby game. No problem taking pics of that Sport! The pressure was on!

So I used experience from previous Snooker shoots to decide that one of Nikon’s latest cameras might help me out. I’ve owned a Nikon Z7 from the day it first went on sale. I was immediately impressed with the quality of files it produces, the detail and dynamic range are as good as it currently gets. But I confess that it is rarely taken out of my bag as mirror-less technology really can’t yet match Pro level DSLR cameras when it comes to photographing fast action. For how long? Who knows as I’m sure the Nikon ‘Z’ range will quickly develop into an ‘all-round’ system. Watch this space.

But as the saying goes… ‘you should always use the right tool for the job’ and maybe I’ve found the perfect one for photographing Snooker. My Z7 stepped up to the mark big time. The dynamic range of the RAW files enabled me to edit for the lights and darks and the colour cast could be balanced with ease. Also the completely silent shutter allowed me to capture moments of play that my D5’s shutter clatter would have got me chucked out. There is a gallery online where you can view a few of my latest Snooker pics. Click the link below.

To summarize. This Blog has become an extended ramble as I made an attempt to re-write my thoughts. The points to note are:

1: Always backup your work as you go along. You don't want to lose your words of wisdom!
2: Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by the aroma of roast beef.
and
3: Always use the right tool for the job!
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE GUERNSEY SNOOKER MASTERS

We must all acknowledge that recent generations including ourselves have little to be proud about when it comes to how we have treated the Earth... the only planet that can sustain life.

Any of you who like me are of near pensionable age will probably be departed before the true horror of the seeds we have sown manifest their worst damage and change.

Thankfully there are groups of people of all ages who a least attempt to undo some of mans short-sighted excesses. One such group is the Guernsey Trees for Life who aim to increase tree and hedgerow cover throughout Guernsey.

The planting is made using native species which should offer the best habitat to other native plants and wildlife. They must be praised for taking a long-term approach and hopefully future islanders will be grateful for the endevour.

I was able to spend a short time talking to some of the volunteers whilst taking a few pics for the Guernsey Press. There was a good turnout even though the weather wasn't great... maybe the promise of a bacon butty helped!

A few pics are online here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE GUERNSEY TREES FOR LIFE PLANTING

Those who know me will be aware that I love live music and that I combine this passion with my profession in the form of my music photography.

But those who really know me will know that I also enjoy mixing a few pints of Real Ale into that mix. This is an entirely natural and obvious pairing to me!

So I was one of many visitors to this years Vale Earth Fair who were aware that something was missing. It just wasn't quite the same.

During the past year the Vale Earth Fair Collective... and indeed all of us, lost one of Guernsey's special ones. Errol Groves passing left a massive hole in the heart of the VEF music festival. It also left me without my favourite landlord, even if he was that for just one day a year.

But we can all be sure that the quiet, caring, thoughtful, likeable and memorable guy who was friend to so many will live on at the VEF as his real ale bar has been renamed as 'Errol's Bar'.... which of course it always was.

I'm pleased to say that Errol's Bar continued his fine work by serving many a satisfying pint. I, as did many others, drank an extra pint just for the great man.

My edit of the many pics I took of the VEF 2019 (fueled by many pints) will take a while to edit as I actually still have to finish the Chaos Festival edit. That too was fueled by music and real ale!

For now I've added a small picture gallery featuring my Press edit that had to be submitted overnight for publication.
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2019 VEF PRESS EDIT

Once again this year I was asked by the Guernsey Press to help them cover the opening by students of their 2019 GCSE results.

This year I had to cover this event at Elizabeth College and the Ladies College.

This is a most enjoyable event to cover as a photographer finds himself 'in the middle of' what is a quite happy and emotional occasion where students discover that their ambitions and future is falling into place.

I've added a small gallery featuring my pics to this website. It is password protected as it features young people. You can Email me to get the password.

This is a link to the Gallery:
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2019 GCSE RESULTS GALLERY

On Saturday night I took the steep Stairway to Vale Castle to see a tribute to one of my favorite bands... actually is was a steep pathway but that didn't quite work with my analogy!

The previous comment should be enough of a clue to any rock music lover of my era as to who the tribute was for.

One Louder promoted a special event within the historic walls of Guernsey's Vale Castle featuring Europe's finest Led Zeppelin tribute band.

Letz Zeppelin powered through two sets of the originals finest songs and had the crowd (which were mostly of a 'certain age' - like me!) rocking like the years had dropped away!

The event could have done with a few more people... the band certainly justified gig goers making more of an effort. But for those who had made their way to the castle it was a memorable gig.

This Gallery of pictures should give you a flavour of the night:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF LETZ ZEPPELIN

Once again the SoPM Summer Gig at The Fermain Tavern proved to be one of my favorites gigs of the year.

The 2019 version had a fantastic atmosphere and it is great to see the progress students have made since their last performances. Well done to teachers and students alike for organizing such an enjoyable evening.

I was invited to capture the performances and my Gallery of pics is now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE SoPM 2019 SUMMER GIG

Darren Warwick has received a sponsorship deal from Zef Eisenberg's MADMAX Race Team allowing Darren to race the last three rounds of the 2019 FIA European Hillclimb Championship.

This Championship series is very expensive to compete in as the Hills are spread across many European countries. The overall cost has meant that currently no British driver takes part.

There is also the added challenge that Darren will be competing against many big budget teams and drivers.

However we have our hopes raised that Darren does enough during this short run of events to attract a big headline sponsor in 2020 to allow him a real opportunity to try for his Class title.

As well as the MADMAX logos Darren's car also features Zef's new ITV4 series 'Speed Freaks'.

This gallery features my pics of Darren and Zef shaking on the deal.
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF DARREN WARWICK & ZEF EISENBERG

A notable anniversary deserves a special effort to celebrate it and that is what the SoPM team made to mark their fifth year supporting the musical population of Guernsey.

Hundreds of children and adults have benefited from the talent and enthusiasm within the young, energetic SoPM team of tutors. I've been lucky to have covered most of the SoPM special events and the latest anniversary concert was organized in the modern Performing Arts Centre.

Once again the talent was amazing as performers did their thing in front of a packed audience.

The SoPM goes from strength to strength each year with a stream of new ideas and events designed to keep their many students exciting and enthused.

My pics of the anniversary concert are now online. Check them out here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE SoPM 5th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Its been a busy few weeks doing almost everything apart from photography!

Life has been full of selling property, buying property and dealing with Advocates. I need to get back to work to pay for that one as that's an expensive business!

Also I've packed more boxes of belongings than I'm prepared to admit too.

How is it that many of us feel we need so many possessions to be 'who we are'? Probably most of them are forgotten and unused until we have to pack when moving residence!

To add to the work load I've been project managing the modernization of our new home which will be a completely up-to-date and most importantly easy to keep clean and maintained fully networked bungalow... after it is finished and we can move in. For now we have to 'camp out' in rented holiday accommodation.

Carol and I never really expected to be moving to a modern place after more than forty years living in a nearly two hundred year old Guernsey cottage but now we have started on this new journey we are really excited by it and we are certain the future will be easier for both of us.

All this ties in with my retirement in less than a years time but this will mean anything but putting my feet up as there will be a long list of decoration and projects to complete before life becomes all about putting the feet up, drinking beer and laying in the sun (at least that's my plan - I haven't run it by the boss yet!).

Luckily I was able to find my cameras this weekend (an amazing feat given we have things spread over four buildings and dozens of boxes) so I managed to get out to take some pics. I've photographed Sandracing, Cricket and a loud gig... much like normality really!

The first pics are online and feature a pre-season friendly game of cricket at KGV where Cannaccord Griffins played a visiting side from the UK, Sparsholt. The pics can be viewed here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF CANNACCORD GRIFFINS v SPARSHOLT

Harry Dean Junior and the New Breed played their first gig to a packed theater at Beau Sejour. We were all there to pay tribute to one of our talented and loved 'musical brothers', Ged Kelly who recently died too young.

It was a true tribute to Ged and his family to see so many local musicians play a role during the evening, many others had traveled to Guernsey just to be a part of the evening.

The headliners on the night were Harry Dean Junior and the New Breed. This new band fronted by Chris Dean featured several members who would be familiar to fans of King Rat & the Soul Cats.

That link kind of gives you a clue about what you'll hear from Harry Dean Junior and the New Breed... together with a new set list. A greater recommendation couldn't be made. Make sure to get along to one of their gigs.
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE GED KELLY TRIBUTE CONCERT

Guernsey's Baliff, Sir Richard Collas, conducted the opening ceremony of the new Sarah Groves Room, a refurbished children's library, within the Guille-Alles library.

He welcomed the children as he opened the new facility and encouraged them to charge up the stairs to be first into the beautifully designed and constructed room.

Everything has been laid out specifically for children with places to explore and many little nooks and bolt holes for the young ones to hide and find a quiet spot to read.

I photographed the ceremony and a few of my pics can be viewed here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE OPENING OF THE SARAH GROVES ROOM

As I near the end of a marathon edit of the Greenman Chaos Festival photographs I’ve had a lot of time to mull over my photographic life.

I am indeed very lucky. I work for myself. I’m busy enough to enable me to be a bit selective of the jobs that I take. I’m also able to fit a large chunk of ‘personal assignments’ into a year’s work.

My personal work mostly comes under the headlines of Music and Motorsport. These two subjects (I think) are really good fun and at times challenging to capture.

But, whilst spending many hours sorting, editing, uploading and linking the Chaos pics I’ve started to question what I do and why!

The thing is that it has taken a working week to capture, edit and upload my Chaos pics. Bear in mind that my working day is usually 12+ hours and a working week is six days long… that’s an underestimate!

I’ll let you do the maths.

What makes my previous comments worthy of consideration is that (referring back to my first line) my (only) job is as a photographer and as it’s my work I should be trying to make an income from it.

This is where things start to go wrong.

I know from conversations, the Internet and the viewing stats for my website that there is a fantastic interest in my pics. But ‘likes’ don’t pay bills!

So after a boring week editing pics (it’s only the taking that is exciting) I’m questioning why I should continue giving major coverage of these events. Can I justify taking the pics when it costs me so much in time for no gain?

It would be nice for good coverage of local events to continue…. But should it be by me?

The bottom line is that my interest in these events is sure to continue so I’m certain to still attend them and I fancy I’d find it hard NOT to take a few pics! But maybe it would be nice to leave the exit knowing that the job was done?

I’ve got a lot to think about.

So getting back to the important stuff. My Greenman Chaos edit is nearing the end and there is a massive Gallery of pics to look at…. Maybe you’ll even be tempted to buy a couple to help me justify the time and work?

Follow this link to view my pics:
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2018 GREENMAN CHAOS FESTIVAL PICS