A photographer’s perspective of Shrovetide

A photographer’s perspective of Shrovetide

What really happened when I went home to document the biggest game of football in the world?

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Although I couldn’t see it at that particular moment, somewhere up ahead a ball made of Portuguese cork was being fought over by hundreds of men. Their aim was simple: to release it from the ‘hug’ and get it away to the fastest members of the team who were waiting anxiously nearby. My aunt, sensing my desire to see more of what was happening, lifted me up in to her arms for a better view and suddenly the epic battle of Royal Shrovetide Football became very clear.

Before me, hundreds of people were packed tightly together; their arms wrapped around the shoulders of the man next to them. Towards the centre of the crowd something seemed to be happening. The facial expressions of these men seemed intense; angry; focused. A column of steam rose continuously above them as their shoulders began to heave frantically.  In the blink of an eye, the ball shot up in to the air and the huge crowd, screaming playfully, began to surge towards us. Within seconds a small group had snatched the ball and disappeared down an alleyway just metres away from us, as my aunt enthusiastically asked, “Did you see it, did you see it?”  It was like catching a glimpse of some holy relic being paraded through the town. This was my very first Shrovetide.

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Warm Memories

That particular winter had seen severe snow storms across the country, and when we returned home later that day we could see dozens of footprints running across our back garden. “Looks like the ball’s been through,” my mum said. Wow, I thought; the ball’s been in MY back garden. This is the effect Shrovetide has on the residents of Ashbourne.

Since that day back in 1991, when I was just eight-years-old, my feelings towards the ancient game have teetered between pure delight and absolute apathy. Warm memories of days off school with my cousins, chasing the ball and eating a dozen sugary pancakes are sadly long gone. The emotions that have filled that void have ranged from pride and glory, to pure boredom and an excuse to go and do something else out of town. None of the other schools in the county were ever on holiday during those two days, so it was a good opportunity to frequent Derby Skatepark: we had it all to ourselves.

But before my fellow Ashburnians start sending me hate mail I should probably take a few steps back here to explain the very basics of this centuries-old game of street football.

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Rules of the Game

The market town of Ashbourne, which dates all the way back to at least 1086, lies at the gateway to the Peak District and it was there I was born and raised. The river Henmore runs through the centre of the town and is perhaps the most important feature of the whole game. Without the river there would be no teams of Up’ards and Down’ards and no goal posts.

There’s been a game of Shrovetide Football in the town since the mid-17th century, though records suggest it may go back even further; potentially as far as the 12th century during the reign of Henry II. Some stories even claim that a prisoner’s decapitated head was used as the ball, though sadly, a fire in the 1890s destroyed most of the earlier records, so the true facts may never be known.

Today the rules are very clear: Those born north of the river – the Up’ards – play against those born on the south – the Down’ards. The game starts at 2pm every Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday on a large carpark known as Shaw Croft in the centre of the town. After singing Auld Lang Syne, the National Anthem and addressing the thousands of players and spectators, a local public figure, pre-selected by the Shrovetide Committee, ‘turns up’ the ball by throwing it in to the waiting crowd. This year, the Tuesday ball was turned up by Barrie Greenwood – perhaps one of the town’s most well-known former teachers. Wednesday’s ball was turned up by Bill Millward, who also celebrated his 100th birthday on the day.

The goals are three miles apart and are situated on the river bank at the site of two former mills – Sturston to the east, and Clifton to the west. To score, the ball must be tapped three times against a millstone built in to the stone pillars. Over the next few hours (eight if the ball isn’t ‘goaled’) the hug, as it’s known locally, pushes and pulls towards either of the two goal posts. Using a motorised vehicle to transport the ball is forbidden, as is murder. Certain areas are out of bounds; in particular churchyards, cemeteries and the Memorial Gardens. Or the park, as everybody else calls it.

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Up’ards and Down’ards

Up until 1988, many of the town’s children were brought in to this world at the Ashbourne Maternity Centre – myself included. The location of the building meant that the children were born on the north side of the river, technically making them Up’ards. For everybody else, the city of Derby, 13 miles southeast, became their birthplace. This makes them Down’ards by birth, though there are many players and spectators on both sides who choose to follow their family’s traditional stance and therefore change sides.

Like all football fans and supporters, throwing verbal mud at people on the opposite team is part-and-parcel of the game. Shrovetide is no exception, and for two days friends and colleagues can become bitter enemies. All of my school friends were Down’ards, and I was forced to endure a torrent of abuse every year as we all walked in to town together. But I always felt I had the strongest argument when it came to yet another heated debate: historically, the town boundaries of Ashbourne ended on the north banks of the Henmore, with the township of Compton starting on the south. In other words, the Up’ards are the Pure Bloods of the game! (Cue death threats).

Being a 14-year-old Up’ard started to get a bit boring, as I was always following the ball on my own and feeling a bit lonely. Which is why I spent the next couple of Shrovetides heading to the skatepark in Derby where it was nice and quiet. My new skating buddies were equally not interested in the Big Game, and so I grew more and more detached from it.

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Getting back in to ‘the hug’

But by the time I was 18 my skating days were over and I’d discovered beer and girls. I felt I was ready to be considered a true player instead of a teenage boy on the edge of the hug. My sister’s boyfriend at the time had a strong connection to the players, and one day he asked me if I wanted to meet some of them. The time and place was a bit of a secret, and I was to keep it to myself.  But a few days later I was introducing myself to 20-or-so strangers in the middle of a field by an old oak tree. It was all very cloak-and-dagger.

That year I got stuck in to the best of my abilities. It helped knowing that Blue Peter were filming a short piece on the game, and there was no way I was going to be seen mincing around the edge of the hug on national TV. So, along with my cousin Stuart, we dug deep and got in to the thick of it. We remained at the centre of the hug for as long as possible and at times it felt l was going to break a leg or, worse, get crushed to death. But each time I went down (or anyone, for that matter) the players shouted, “MAN DOWN! BACK OFF!” and up we got again.

Once again, catching a glimpse of the ball, or better yet – actually grabbing hold of it – was enough to keep the pulse racing, and every time it went in to the river, there was no other option than to get in there with it. And although I would never class myself as a core player, I knew which way I wanted the ball to go and that’s the way I tried to push it.

Like most of the things I became passionate about as a young man, my ambition for the game disappeared as quickly as it has reappeared. I started learning to scuba dive and travelling to far flung places, meaning that I missed most games for the next five or so years.

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No other freelance photojournalist knows Shrovetide better than me!

And then came photography and my first attempt to photograph the game back in 2009, when I was a photojournalism student at Norton College in Sheffield. I remember borrowing a bunch of kit and taking a French guy (who was as black as the ace of spades and stood out a mile in a town full of whiteys) and a Danish girl. As they tried to get to grips with the rules of play, I tried to keep a grip of the college equipment that was getting knocked around in the hug. I was shitting myself that I’d drop it all and have to pay a large lump sum to replace it. It goes without saying that I bottled it after an hour or two and just went to the pub instead.

When I started working for the Derby Telegraph I made it very clear that I didn’t want to go and photograph the game. “Let one of the others go and have a good time instead,” I told the Picture Editor. It was a good decision, as the other photographers always returned with a massive smile on their faces and some great pictures to match.

After I stopped working for the paper I continued travelling and ended up in Denmark. Setting up my photography business was the priority, and every February I always had wedding clients to meet with. It was a busy time of year, and I needed the money. But all the while I kept telling myself, “You really should go and photograph Shrovetide again.” I knew I had the connections; I knew that no other freelance photojournalist out there had a better grasp of the game, its history and what it means to the town’s residents, than me. So this year I waved goodbye to the wedding clients and decided to do it.

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Working for The Guardian

I pitched the idea to The Guardian who were immediately up for it, so I booked my flights and started making a few phone calls. What I discovered was, despite my credentials as being a local lad from Ashbourne, not everybody wanted to give me accurate information. Whether it was intentional or not I don’t really know. But I got the impression that the foreign media weren’t exactly the most popular people in Ashbourne around Shrovetide.

Despite people’s concerns, my agenda was pretty straight forward: document the entire game from start to finish; the emotions, locations, people and the traditions. If I saw an injury, of course I was going to photograph it. If I saw a garden fence being destroyed, I’d photograph that, too. But it was never my intention, nor The Guardian’s, to focus on the latter. Leave that to the Daily Mail (which they did).

At this point I should give a massive shout out and thanks to Michael Hope-Smith, who is THE man when it comes to planning your Shrovetide Photo schedule. Michael helped me out from start to finish and vouched for me when I attended the Shrovetide Luncheon that takes place a couple of hours before the game. Even here I was met with scepticism when I explained I was indeed from Ashbourne but writing for The Guardian. I was told categorically that the last thing the game needed was more negative spin in the media. I totally agreed. Shrovetide is a game that my forefathers have played for almost a thousand years, so why would I want it to end or be misrepresented? But end it almost did in 2015 when lots of red tape caused problems for the committee. That year the game almost didn’t go ahead, and insurance companies couldn’t help but spot the endless stream of bleeding heads that popped up in the newspapers year after year. But there’s no way the journalist or photographer can take the blame for that. The decision lies with the editor, who already has an idea in his or her head how this story’s going to look the next morning. And let’s not forget all the Citizen Journalists out there who upload thousands of photos and hours of film on social networks like Facebook and YouTube. Are they being asked to tow the line as well? Can you even stop them?

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It’s not a Free-for-All

Before the game officially began, Shrovetide Committee Chairman Brell Ewart gave a very honest and passionate plea to the thousands of waiting players and spectators: “Our Treasured and ancient game has been played in the town for about 1,000 years and the committee takes the view that it is played by Ashbourne and district people only.

“It is not an invitation for all comers to come and join in for what some may see as a “free for all”. The game is disciplined by the players and in Ashbourne we know how to play fairly. We do not need referees, and many other sports would do well to take a leaf from Ashbourne Royal Shrovetide Football and the spirit in which the game is played. Let’s keep it that way. Look after the game and it will continue. Don’t look after it and it will finish forever.”

These words kept repeating themselves inside my head for the rest of the day as I mulled them over. At first it sounded very Royston Vasey to me (“This is a local shop for local people”). But the more I thought about it the more I agreed with him. Over the years I’ve watched the game grow and grow and with that comes more interest from the outside world. The crowds have increased year on year, and I’ve even seen helicopters circling overhead – the Japanese media, no less. But the number of Shrovetide Marshalls has also grown, and people unnecessarily climbing walls and trees is now frowned upon. The marshalls are always quick to act, and this was something I never used to see in the past.

I spoke with dozens of people during those two days and the conclusion was strikingly similar: one film is to blame for bringing the masses to Ashbourne for 48 hours in February. Wild in the Streets was a Hollywood funded project that made a lot of Ashburnians very proud and excited. Finally the game was going to be played on an international stage – one of the biggest in the world. The trailer gets repeated time and time again on social media close to match day and the majority of us think it’s great. A source told me that the production company had to pay for the privilege to make the film, and the producers even cordoned off an area around the goal at Sturston. When a group of girls tried to get under the tape they were told, “We’ve got filming rights here; you can’t go in!”

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Finding a solution

So is the game a victim of its own success? Probably, but it’s a cliche I get bored of hearing. Instead the town needs to work together to find a realistic solution to preserve the game for generations to come. Insurance and funding seems to be the largest issue. It would make a lot of sense to call a town meeting to discuss options and bounce ideas around. Everybody wants Shrovetide to continue, and I don’t think I’ve met anyone in Ashbourne who disagrees. Tourists and foreigners love it, too. They come from far and wide to witness the crazy spectacle and who can blame them?

No committee, player, spectator, film or newspaper is solely to blame for the problems Shrovetide Football faces each year. But surely those who benefit from and love the game the most can find a solution that keeps it alive for at least another generation.

Those people are the people of Ashbourne.

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This blog post first appeared over at photographybymatthewjames.com

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10 tips for awesome autumn photographs

10 tips for awesome autumn photographs

This blog post originally appeared over at matthewjames.dk

Autumn: Mine and many other people’s favourite time of year. The food is amazing, the fashion and clothing gets more interesting, and the world becomes softer to photograph. But how can you make the most of this time of year with your camera and capture all the colours and moods around you? I’m ready to give you a guide that will make your photos more than Instaready!

1. Capture the sunshine

Now that the days are shorter and the temperatures are dropping, you need to capitalise on every drop of sunlight you can. You will also notice that the shadows created at this time of year are much different than the ones during the longer days. All these factors create circumstances that will make your autumn pictures more dramatic and vibrant.

cornfield, sunset, derbyshire, halo

2. Clouds are your friend

Another great accessory to any autumn photo are the billowy clouds that appear this time of year. A blue sky always looks better with some fluffy clouds involved. In contrast, as an autumn storm is rolling in, you can catch some great photos of the big dark formations that come with it. So look to the sky for inspiration in all kinds of weather- clouds can be our friend.

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3. Then again, overcast days are also your friend

As much as we all love sunny days, as any professional photographer knows, the days with the most even lighting are the overcast cloudy days, which autumn has plenty of. There’s no risk of shine or bad shadows, plus you get the perfect amount of light with little adjustment on your camera. So even if it is overcast out, grab your camera and start shooting.

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4. Never underestimate the advantage of a lake

A result of all the rain during autumn can also bring positives like rain puddles. With more puddles and water all over the place, you have a chance to optimise your shots and create beautiful mirrored masterpieces of fall foliage, blue skies and more. The sky is the limit, literally, and you have another element to play with to make your photos that much more brilliant.

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5. Don’t be afraid to get on your knees

One of the best things about autumn are the fall leaves and colours, right? A great addition that comes with this is the TEXTURE of all these leaves. I recommend getting down and dirty in them, and not being afraid of trying new angles from down below. Give it a shot and see for yourself.

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6. Think outside the box

You might be looking at some of the images here and thinking “How is that an autumn picture?” The fact is, the weather is just one of many factors that go hand-in-hand with the seasons. But what about events such as Halloween and Bonfire Night (in the UK), and the foods that go with them? Apples, pumpkins and countless root vegetables. Autumn is more than just leaves, clouds and sunsets, ya know.

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7. Take advantage of every moment

Now not to get too ‘’inspirational here’’, but as you know, autumn can be a glorious time, however, the weather changes very quickly from one moment to the next, so if you are out, and get the urge to snap a couple of photos, my opinion would be follow your gut- because just as quickly, the weather will shift and you will have a completely different shot. Don’t put off taking photos if you have the opportunity because you don’t know how long you have that moment for.

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8. Mist and fog 

Another element/bonus that occurs this time of year is an excess of mist and fog. Because of the changing temperatures this friendly weather element can be found at dawn and dusk frequently, which helps us when we are out taking these great autumn photos.

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9. The changing sunrise and sunsets

As mentioned previously, the shorter days due to the placement of the sun give entirely different sunrises and sunsets. The colours are vibrant, while the positioning of the sun at different times of day gives you light that you could never have in the spring and summer months. As a sucker for sunsets myself, I would definitely recommend capitalising on these and get every last golden colour while you can and before the cold dark winter months are upon us!

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10. Carpe Diem, with an umbrella!

Unfortunately the rules with photography are, the more drastic the weather, the better the photos. As mentioned before, since autumn can be such a tumultuous time involving weather, you need to go out and risk the conditions to get some amazing shots that will truly capture this time of year. So even if it does start pouring, come prepared and grab the shot that not every other photographer would have gone after.

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So there you have it. 10 Simple tips that will help make your autumn photos even better. Now go out there, start shooting, and please share with me your best autumn shots. I look forward to seeing all the great angles, colours and textures you come up with.

(Images 4 & 7 kindly provided by landscape photographer Guiie Sandgaard Ferrer. You can see his portfolio of fantastic images over at http://www.guiiesandgaardferrer.com)

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From the UK to Oz. On a Bike!

From the UK to Oz. On a Bike!

The distance is over 11,000 miles, and this maniac did it!

 

Back in December I had the pleasure of working alongside freelance writer Oli Broom from the UK. Oli flew in to Denmark to write several articles about the cycling culture here (or just culture, as the locals kept reminding him), and one of the stories we were covering centred around CycloCross for CyclingPlus magazine.

I was a little hungover as I stood there waiting for Oli to arrive at Skovbrynet Station, but arrive he did – on a Brompton bike. For those of you not in the loop with types of bicycles, a Brompton is basically a very-well-built bike that can be folded for storage. In other words, they’re designed more for convenience and portability than for speed and comfort. Bare in mind it was also winter, so I was even more puzzled to see that Oli had cycled the entire 13km from Copenhagen sans gloves, which meant his arse was really aching and his fingers were completely numb.

But the physical torture wasn’t over for Oli, who then had to keep up with a group of hardcore cyclists on much faster bikes as we travelled another 1.5km up and down hills in order to reach our photoshoot location in the woods.

I wasn’t struggling too much – even with my camera equipment strapped to my back. But naturally Oli was a bit behind, so I waited for him at the top of the hill and watched him huff and puff his way towards me.

“How’s it goin’ fella?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m alright,” he replied. “This is nothing compared to some of my earlier trips.”

“Such as…?” I enquired.

“Such as the time I cycled from London to Brisbane.”

Now my interest was peaked, so for the next few minutes Oli told me his story; a story that lead to him becoming a writer.

Alone in the woods

Oli’s tale is centred around The Ashes – a huge cricket tournament played by Australia and England every year. One year it’s played in England, the next in Australia, and so on and so on. The trophy is a small vessel containing the ashes of the cricket stumps of the first ever tournament, and it’s extremely tiny and very modest. Cricket fans (like all fans, I suppose) are passionate about the sport and the results, but I’ve never met anyone passionate enough to cycle to the other side of the world to watch it. In fact, when I try to discuss cricket with the Danes, not one of them gives a shit. Fair enough; if a sport isn’t popular in your country then chances are you’re not that in to it. Still, knowing how much the Danes love their sport I’m surprised that no-one has tried to introduce it to them.

Anyway, I digress…

Oli and 17 friends left London for the South Coast of England on 10th October 2009. When they finally reached Dover, 16 members of the group turned around and headed back to their safe jobs and relationships. Oli, however, jumped on a ferry to Dunkirk to begin his cycling adventure through 23 countries.

“My first night camping alone in a forest was pretty scary,” he told me. “And it was only Belgium, so not particularly renowned for violence or crime.” Still, luckily for Oli he was carrying seven cricket bats that were given to him by a sponsor. “I played cricket in 19 countries and gave a bat away to any deserving cricketers I met along the way.” A great cover story for the cops when you’re caught busting someone’s face open in the woods past midnight.

After cycling through Europe and parts of Africa on his Santos touring bike, Oli flew to Mumbai in India and cycled onwards to Dakar and down to South East Asia. And it was whilst in Thailand that he was struck down with Dengue Fever – a mosquito-borne tropical disease brought on by a virus. Symptoms include fever, headache, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash that is similar to measles. In some circumstances it can be life-threatening.

Turning Back

For two weeks Oli lay in hospital with thoughts of quitting: “I thought of giving up at that point,” he told me. “I was tired and really ill, and all I wanted to do was go home.”

Thankfully the illness passed and he eventually arrived in Darwin in Northern Australia via a cattle boat. But his journey was far from over.

For another two months Oli cycled hundreds of miles through the harsh outback of Australia, changing over from the smooth but dangerous asphalt roads with their constant stream of road trains, to the tougher dirt roads that were often covered in thick sand. To make things more difficult, Oli was carrying up to 15 litres of water at one point, plus 65kg of baggage.

Amazingly, 412 days after setting off Oli reached the Ashes tournament in Brisbane and was greeted by England cricketer Andrew Straus. To make the whole experience even sweeter, England won 3-1 to retain the Ashes, meaning that Oli could return home to start work on his book, CYCLING TO THE ASHES: A Cricketing Odyssey from London to Brisbane.

Hate your job? Then quit!

After our photoshoot we cycled back and chatted some more. Listening to Oli it was clear just how much this experience had opened up his world to new possibilities and opportunities. Not only has his book received glowing reviews from celebrities and members of the public, but his ideas continue to blossom and I genuinely felt inspired by them. As we sat on the train I could feel the juices flowing in my own head. Instead of explaining them to you here, you should go follow him on Twitter, or check out his new website www.slowcyclist.co.uk – especially if you want to join him on his next cycling adventure to Transylvania.

The reason I wanted to share Oli’s remarkable story was for two reasons. Firstly, his life before the trip was office-based and he’d had enough. Lots of us find ourselves in this situation, and I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who regretted giving that lifestyle up after they chose to do so. Myself included.

Secondly, to iterate my original point, this crazy bastard CYCLED over 11,000 miles to watch a bit of cricket. Remember that next time you drive five minutes down the road to buy a pork pie from the supermarket.

 

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American customs is an absolute bitch. I can’t say I’ve ever had an easy time arriving at JFK Airport in New York, but I foolishly hoped that the third time would be the charm. It wasn’t. But instead of pulling me to one side and asking why “a dude would have hair...

Psychedelic Images of Tokyo by Jean-Vincent Simonet.

Psychedelic Experience. Tokyo at night can be a near-psychedelic experience in itself, and this is echoed in the warped images created by Swiss photographer Jean-Vincent Simonet who prints onto plastic paper then washes the photograph with chemicals, all part of his...

The $90.3 Million Painting That Reveals Unique Photography Methods.

A Masterful Piece of Art. The 1972 painting entitled “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” by legendary British painter David Hockney fetched the highest auction price ever for a living artist as it sold for a jaw-dropping $90.3 million last month. A man in...

X-Ray Apparatus & Concrete Pyramids: Guy Hollaway’s Photography Studio.

The Process Gallery. Distinctive works are created using X-Ray equipment, housed in a concrete pyramid chamber, by British photographer Nick Veasey, who has had a studio built and completed by Guy Hollaway Architects.     Inquisitive. Designed to be an...

Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards Reveal Hilarious Winning Images.

World’s Funniest Animal! And the world’s funniest animal photograph of the year goes to a squirrel who thinks he’s Tommy Cooper, writes The Express. The world’s funniest animal photograph of the year has been judged to be what appears to be a cheeky squirrel pictured...

Comedy Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards Reveal Hilarious Winning Images.

World’s Funniest Animal! And the world’s funniest animal photograph of the year goes to a squirrel who thinks he’s Tommy Cooper, writes The Express. The world’s funniest animal photograph of the year has been judged to be what appears to be a cheeky squirrel pictured...

Vanishing From The Museums.

Confronting the absent. Largely absent from Parissien museums are works and faces of photographic pioneers who have become invisible; so, curator Fannie Escoulen is inviting visitors to walk across the city and confront it.   “The history of photography has been...

Analogue Limelight

In an increasingly digitalised world, why is there still a special place for the physical? After connecting on Instagram around two years ago, James Moreton and Raph Hurwitz conceived AllFormat - a global photography collective. After developing a loyal community of...

A Career Shaped By The Photograph

Starting Out For more than three decades the biggest names in show business have been photographed by Derek Ridgers, but it all began by chance, one night in Finsbury Park, north London. With a Miranda SLR slung over his shoulder, Ridgers walked into the Rainbow...

Facebook Bans a Photographer Who Innocently Posted About ‘Shooting a Few Christians.’

Double Entendre When it comes to the word “shooting,” photographers can be subject to endless jokes. So when you post about “shooting a bunch of Christians,” the double entendre is there; this is what happened to one London photographer who found himself faced with a...

Further To The NorthSide

From one island to a peninsula From one island of Denmark to a half island of Denmark (otherwise known as a peninsula); a total of 116 miles, on a train that goes under the sea in a tunnel as well as above the sea on a bridge, we travelled from Copenhagen to Aarhus...

Jacob Cockle: in Life & in Death.

A life lived in the sea was a favourite past-time of one Jacob Cockle. Whilst learning to walk at a tender young age he also began to learn to swim and his natural element became water. Any opportunity to film surfing was the best of all options because he loved it so...
Derbyshire, Batman and Phone Apps

Derbyshire, Batman and Phone Apps

First off, Happy New Year everyone. I think this is the last week where you’re allowed to actually say that; afterwards you just sound like a prick who’s been somewhere warm over the Christmas period and want to boast about it to your colleagues because you’ve arrived back so late in the new year.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great time whatever you were doing. I missed out on Christmas Day snow here in Copenhagen, but thankfully it came a day later over in Derbyshire, England, where I went to spend christmas with my family and catch up with old friends. It was hard work trying to get to see everyone, and sorry to all of you who got struck off, but there’s always next time.

Ashbourne, Derbyshire, England, hills, snow, landscape, photography by matthew james, pbmj, instagram

A view of Ashbourne and the hills of Derbyshire

Being back home amongst the beautiful hills, rivers, caves and valleys of Derbyshire made me realise just how fortunate I was growing up in such a beautiful place, and I can’t for the life of me understand why I took girls on dates to the cinema or out for dinner, when there were perfectly good places to visit just a mile or two out of town. That’s social bullying for you: we men are told that women like flowers, rings and romantic dinners. What a load of sexist bullshit.

What all of this meant for me was that I could start experimenting with Instagram on a completely different level than normal. Those of you who follow me on the photo-sharing app will probably be used to random pictures of Copenhagen, sporting events or behind-the-scenes snaps of jobs I’m currently working on. But having sold a couple of landscape pieces recently I decided that #Derbyshire was just gagging to be photographed.

Church window, glare, lathkill dale, instagram, photography by matthew james, pbmj

The setting winter sun created a beautiful brown glow inside this quaint church at Lathkill Dale

We drove to areas I’d never visited before, including a very muddy single-track road that weaved all the way down to the river Dove. Flanked either side by woodland, farms, and steep hills covered with snow, I had to exit the car on three or four occasions to open and close access gates. But the stillness and crisp air made the inconvenience worth it.

When we got back to my parents’ house, my grandmother made enquiries as to where we’d been. “Ooh, that’s the route I used to walk to school everyday,” she told me. “Even in snowy weather like today,” she added. “Down the hill, past Uncle Jack’s farm and all the way along the river. It was about three miles in each direction.”

Comments like that makes you realise two things. A) We have it easy with cars and public transport and B) Life moves way too fast for us all in the 21st century and we don’t have enough time to appreciate the little things, like a peaceful walk to school or work in serene surroundings.

Sunset, Derbyshire, Hartington, Instagram, Photography by Matthew James

The sun sets over the village of Hartington during our exploration of the Derbyshire Dales

Moving on. but still speaking of apps and being back ‘home’, my partner and I decided we’d deserved a break from our 14-month-old and headed over to Nottingham where we first met. And to make things easier, I finally got to use my free Hotel Tonight app on my iPhone, which helped us to find a very last-minute, very decent hotel, right in the middle of town. Neither of us can remember the last time we were in the city (for me it was probably photographing a court case back in 2011, so not very glamorous), but walking past our old haunts was hugely nostalgic; all sorts of memories came flooding back.

Nottingham City Hall, Market Square, Christmas Market, photography by matthew james, instagram, pbmj

The Christmas Market and the Council House at Nottingham Market Square

After meeting up with my friend Craig for some beers and staring with unbelief at the hard-core English ladies plodding down the icy high street in their high-heels and hip-high skirts, we rounded our experience off with a classic English fry-up (that’s a breakfast to you non-Brits reading this) and headed over to Wayne Manor from The Dark Knight Rises, aka Wollaton Hall, for a spot of sledging. Sadly Batman wasn’t home, but Alfred didn’t seem to mind everyone using the front lawn, as long as we kept away from the Wayne family gravestones!

Wayne Manor, Batman, The Dark Knight rises, Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, sledging, instagram, photography by matthew james, pbmj

Wollaton Hall in Nottingham, used as Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises

And now here I am back in my office, as if non of it ever happened. Races have started, job enquiries are starting to come in, and the list of things to do is growing by the hour. What I will say is thank you for taking the time to read this blog, because I know that we all get bombarded everyday with “LOOK AT ME, READ THIS, SHARE THAT, ACT NOW, LIKE ME, TELL YOUR FRIEND” crap. So I try to make all of this fun and informative, just to give you a five-minute break from life.

I’m pleased to say that a brand new website is just around the corner, where you’ll get the chance to buy some of my artwork for a discounted price in the January sales. But until then you can still follow my work and connect with me Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

Hope you all have a fantastic 2015, and I’m looking forward to sharing my images with you over the next 12 months…

Copenhagen Photographer Casper Sejersen’s One, Two, Three, Four.

Casper Sejersen Debut Exhibition. Set to the beat of a drum, Copenhagen-based photographer Casper Sejersen takes us on an unsettling visual journey in his debut exhibition.     Alluring Yet Uncomfortable. Copenhagen-based Danish photographer Casper...

Photos Reveal Copenhill Ski Slope on Amager Bakke Plant.

    Copenhill Ski Slope atop Amager Bakke Plant. Coloured in vibrant shades of green an artificial ski slope on the roof of the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen has been captured in images by Danish photographer Rasmus Hjortshøj.  The centre...

The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

  A summer break in Copenhagen is highly recommended if you have never been to Denmark. The sun and heat is enjoyed by all the locals.   As an introduction to the most common places you must visit we’re presenting you with this 3-hour photo walk. If you wish...

And Slash Makes Four

It’s not everyday one gets to say this, but I do believe I’ve completed my to-do list. In this case it’s a list that involves four musicians, who I always hoped I would one day get to photograph. Copenhell Festival Last week saw the rock festival Copenhell return to...

New York City: A Nostalgic Return to a Filmset

American customs is an absolute bitch. I can’t say I’ve ever had an easy time arriving at JFK Airport in New York, but I foolishly hoped that the third time would be the charm. It wasn’t. But instead of pulling me to one side and asking why “a dude would have hair...

Further To The NorthSide

From one island to a peninsula From one island of Denmark to a half island of Denmark (otherwise known as a peninsula); a total of 116 miles, on a train that goes under the sea in a tunnel as well as above the sea on a bridge, we travelled from Copenhagen to Aarhus...

Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

Keep the diary open Whether it was wishful thinking or simply experience, when I first heard about the Royal Run back in 2017 I decided to keep the 21st May available in my calendar. “We won’t be needing you for that particular race,” I was told, but a voice in my...

Future King of Denmark Joins In Birthday Celebrations With The Royal Run.

In merely a few days time the future king of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik, will be celebrating his 50th birthday and all over the country flags will be at high mast. A total of five Danish cities are involved in celebratory shenanigans which began on May 18, and...

Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders.

Tech Workshop Last Wednesday, bestbrains.dk ran a Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders workshop which Matt went out to shoot. Participation in this event was strictly limited to a mere ten people and they were vetted by an entry assignment. Sorting the wheat...

Copenhagen wins international climate prize

Reducing the Carbon Footprint Reducing our carbon footprint means saving energy as well as the planet. With the recognition of Copenhagen as a cultural centre comes strict monitoring of energy consumption in schools and daycare institutions alike. With this...

Game of Thrones Star Joins Climate Change Talk

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau returns to his home country to take action An overwhelmingly massive wall of ice on regular display is one of the many stunning visual images in the popular television series Game of Thrones in which Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays...

Nordic Race: A mudfest for my camera

My first Nordic Race photography experience I don't know about you, but personally I like to be warm, dry and clean at this time of year. It's the reason I wear nice thick gloves, waterproof trousers and jackets, and a pair of boots every time I leave the house. On...

Calm sea; rough ride

From the Archives: My experience moving to Copenhagen in 2012 I grew up in a small town 40 miles south of Manchester - home of Smiths, Oasis, and other great High Street retail outlets (insert smiley). And it was from Manchester Airport that I left England for what...

PBMJ: Now we are 2

I've only got one pair of hands... until now! Finding a solution to doing everything myself has long been at the top of my long list of priorities. I've found over the years, that it's definitely getting easier to outsource some of the work I do, especially when...

Getting the Shot: RaiseNow Group Portrait

Somebody once asked me, "Do you find that it's always the first idea that works?" in regards to planning and executing a photoshoot. I admit I had to think about it. Sometimes definitely, and in these scenarios you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Go...

Following in the footsteps of Obama

Where would a former President of the United States go to eat when in Copenhagen? For my first blog post in nearly two millennia I thought I’d tackle something a little light-hearted. Despite never really pursuing a career in food photography, it appears it has found...

Who needs a photo education anyway?

Is it really worth paying to learn to be a better photographer? ”Sixteen hundred kroner!” So cried the partner of one my clients recently when she found out what he was paying me to teach him. More than once this week the conversation has turned towards education....

No Man is an Island

Finding solitude amongst Denmark's hidden gems Words by Joe Miller, Pictures by Matthew James Harrison It’s always hard in life to accept it when you lose friends, family or anyone close to you. People change, they move on and find pastures new. We live, we die… but...

Aarhus: European capital for culture 2017

Words: Joe Miller, Photos: Matt Marsh Every year, two European cities receive the prestigious title of ‘European capital of culture’ and in 2017, we welcome Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, as the holder of one of these two titles. Over the next year, fascinated...

Fact: Danish Newspapers don’t care about swans!

How a chance encounter with a big white bird didn't really amount to much In this industry, every day is a fresh start. Sure, you have the usual amount of daily tasks – social media, sending invoices, archiving images – but the commute to work every morning is a...

Beer+Barcelona+The Eixample=despair

Getting lost in the city's cleverly-designed grid system "Allow me to state here how much I love Barcelona; an admirable city, a city full of life, intense, a port open to the past and future.” Perhaps the future is now and the past is the present, but whichever way...

Recreating the sunset…without the sun

I made absolutely no secret of the fact that I got my very first National Geographic Traveller commission earlier this year. It was, without a doubt, the proudest moment of my career so far, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I wrote a lengthy piece about it for the...

Best Instagram Photos of Copenhagen 2016

Copenhagen has to be one of the world's best places to photograph I’ve been fortunate enough to live in many special places around the world over the years: France, Australia, many parts of the UK, and of course Denmark. Each and every one of these places has been...

A photographer’s perspective of Shrovetide

What really happened when I went home to document the biggest game of football in the world? Although I couldn’t see it at that particular moment, somewhere up ahead a ball made of Portuguese cork was being fought over by hundreds of men. Their aim was simple: to...

Press Trip to Crete: Part Three

The mixed emotions of being a Travel Photographer Once again, olives reigned supreme on the fourth and final day of our Press Trip. I completely ignored them at the breakfast table, settling instead for some eggs and some sort of chocolate cake. My head was absolutely...

Press Trip to Crete: Part Two

Long Days and Pleasant Nights At a height of 848m above sea level, Father Andreas’ Shepherd’s Shelter - known locally as a Mitato -sits on the slopes of Crete’s highest point, Mount Ida. Getting there with a hangover was not fun, and my drinking companions from the...

Press Trip To Crete: Part One

Strangers become friends thanks to alcohol The first time I ever tried Greek cuisine - it was goat’s cheese I remember - I had a thumping headache. I was about ten-years-old and my primary school class were doing a project on Ancient Greece, so we were very lucky to...

A job offer I really really wanted

However you earn money to keep your business going, never lose sight of your goals Over the past few years I’ve learned a great deal about running a business and adapting my photography skills to different genres and clients. I’ve never classed myself as a wedding...

10 tips for awesome autumn photographs

This blog post originally appeared over at matthewjames.dk Autumn: Mine and many other people’s favourite time of year. The food is amazing, the fashion and clothing gets more interesting, and the world becomes softer to photograph. But how can you make the most of...

Danish Imports: The Psychologist and her son

Due to some technical issues we're running a little behind here, so let's get back on track with our Danish Imports exhibition from last year's photo exhibition. Today we take a look at the life of Chilean Psychologist Paula and her son. Paula Cavada gives multiple...

Getting Liked on Instagram

Over the last couple of weeks I've been committing myself to setting aside at least an hour every day to concentrate on Social Media. It's something I've been struggling with for quite some time now, as I struggle to find the time, patience or topics to tweet, write...

Copenhagen to Crete, Part Two: An Aggro-Blogging experience

Long Days and Pleasant Nights At a height of 848m above sea level, Father Andreas’ Shepherd’s Shelter - known locally as a Mitato -sits on the slopes of Crete’s highest point, Mount Ida. Getting there with a hangover was not fun, and my drinking companions from the...

From Copenhagen to Crete

Why a late-November trip to the Greek island was just what the doctor ordered The first time I ever tried Greek cuisine - it was goat’s cheese I remember - I had a thumping headache. I was about ten-years-old and my primary school class were doing a project on Ancient...

Danish Imports: The Opera Singer

We've come to the end of our revisit to the Danish Imports exhibition, and today we're finishing off with somebody who I'm very fond of. I hope you've enjoyed reading these interviews and the images that accompany them. A lot of love and time went in to the planning...

Danish Imports: The Freaks

"I won't tell you the name I was born with, because what's a name, anyway?" These are the words of wisdom from the polite, baratone vocals of the tattooed gentleman that is Enigma. Covered from head to toe in jigsaw puzzle tattoos and sporting a pair of silicone horns...

Danish Imports: The Neuropsychologist

Grasia Maria Banegas initially moved to Denmark from Honduras in Central America as a volunteer for MS (Action Aid Denmark), to join an educational program called Global Change, where she trained to become a campaigner and youth facilitator.  Coming from one of the...

Danish Imports: The Psychologist and her son

Due to some technical issues we're running a little behind here, so let's get back on track with our Danish Imports exhibition from last year's photo exhibition. Today we take a look at the life of Chilean Psychologist Paula and her son. Paula Cavada gives multiple...

DO IT FOR MOM (Do it for Denmark)

It's highly unlikely that you've missed this one, but if you're reading this from outside Denmark then you might want to read on. This is the new tagline for a funny commercial that came out recently in Danish media. It’s a video that starts off with an older lady...

To refugee or not to refugee, that is the question

Today I wanted to open up the floor to a close personal friend of mine and fellow expat, Michelle Exarhos. Michelle was born and raised in the United States but is, in fact, half Danish. Here she shares her views on the recent refugee scenario playing out in Denmark...

Danish Imports: The Boxer

The next story from last year's Danish Imports photo exhibition comes from Michal Jezierski, who had a very long and interesting story to tell about his move to Denmark. Michal Jezierski is perhaps one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met and is full of positive,...

Copenhagen Half Marathon Pictures

So did you take part in yesterday's Copenhagen Half Marathon, or know anyone who did? The streets were absolutely alive, especially for the first half of the race where optimism was high and the mood was positive. There were no less than 23.786 runners taking part and...

Danish Imports: The Journalist

Continuing the Danish Imports theme, today we take a look at Brazilian Noemia Colonna's story. “Sometimes it's good to be like the Brazilians," is Noemia Colonna's advice to the Danes. "We're easy-going, more flexible and and not too obsessed about planning and...

Danish Imports: The DJ

This is the third instalment of my Danish Imports blog posts, looking at the stories behind people's decisions to live, work or visit Denmark. Today's story focuses on Danish DJ, Nikolaj Yu Andersen. You can read previous stories about Meriel or Luke if you'd like a...

Danish Imports: The Architect

Today I'll be sharing the second story behind one of my Danish Imports subjects, Luke Lorimer. If you missed the first post then you can read it here. These images were used for my first exhibition, Danish Imports, which was held at Generator Hostel in Copenhagen...

Danish Imports – One Year Later

Exactly 12 months ago I was celebrating my very first photo exhibition here in Copenhagen. It was something I'd been thinking of doing for a couple of years and it was a definite learning curve for me. Not only was I under pressure to include a selection of images I...

It’s Marathon Time

You can't really miss all the maps, posters and warnings that are dotted around the city at the moment. That's right; it's that time of year again where 12,000 people put themselves to the test and run for 26.2 miles. The Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon (to give it its...

Same-Sex marriage in Denmark

Or, how Sasha and Anthony got one step closer to happiness written by Antoaneta Borisova This is the story of Sasha and Anthony, a lovely gay couple, who have been struggling to be together for more than six years now. I use the word “lovely” not because I want this...

Denmark: the land of pork, windmills and same-sex marriage

Or, how Sasha and Anthony got one step closer to happiness written by Antoaneta Borisova This is the story of Sasha and Anthony, a lovely gay couple, who have been struggling to be together for more than six years now. I use the word “lovely” not because I want this...

Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns to CPH

If you've had your head in the sand for the past few weeks (or have just moved to the country) then you might have missed out on some pretty awesome news: the return of Red Bull Cliff Diving to Copenhagen. Back in June 2013, several of the world's bravest athletes...

Danish Photographer wins prestigious prize

World Press Photo of the Year 2014, First Prize Contemporary Issues. Photo by Mads Nissen A photograph that highlights the difficulties facing sexual minorities in Russia has won the World Press Photo contest's top prize. 'Jon and Alex', from a project called...

Re-editing Past Images

Re-editing Past Images

I can quite easily flick through all the pictures that I took prior to taking the NCTJ Photojournalism course, and not pay a single bit of attention to them. But as I take more and more images for other people and companies, I find myself returning to my own personal snaps more often.

In June 2007 I went on an adventurous roadtrip along the south coast of Britain, armed with a tent, a girlfriend and my first ever digital camera – an Olympus E-500.

Thoughts of an education in photography were still a long way off (it would take an annoying boss to cement that idea in my brain) and I was just happy learning how to use my new toy. I didn’t have Photoshop or Lightroom and I didn’t have a clue what style of photography pleased me the most.

A few years later, some of these images made it to my first ever portfolio, which I showed off to my fellow photojournalism trainees and our course leader, Paul Delmar. One of the images I really liked and thought it was deliciously quirky. It was this one below.

Brighton, Old lady, old woman, gambling, photojournalism, photography by matthew james

OK, so I used the camera’s pop-up flash, I didn’t dare venture any further than the door, and you can’t see her face or the reaction on it. But it still clearly shows a little old lady trying her hand on a One-Armed Bandit. Sadly, nobody else shared my enthusiasm. Paul Delmar, however, did quite enjoy this little number, taken on the same day on Brighton Pier.

Fat people, obesity, obese, americans, fat fucks, brighton pier, chips, fish and chips, fish n chips, overweight, photojournalism, photography by matthew james,

But these two images are not what this blog post is all about.

Seven years has passed since those shocking images and I like to think I’m a better photographer these days. We’re always learning and always improving, and that includes our abilities to edit and imagine things differently.

Two pictures I took back in 2007 during our roadtrip showed two different lighthouses at the famous suicide hotspot, Beachy Head. The photos I took of these lighthouses never saw the light of day, because the exposure was shit and there was a horrible haze creeping in from the sea on one of them.

But after revisiting them with Lightroom this week, I’ve dusted them off and refurbished them both. And because they have spent the last seven years sitting on my hard drive with no love, I simply wanted to share them with you, dear reader. It makes me wonder how many awful photographs there are out there, just waiting for a bit of love and experience. Like a virgin with a MILF, perhaps. Or co-op vanilla ice cream being welcomed by every Ben & Jerry’s flavour known to man.

So here they are, looking better I must say. Take a look and let me know if they inspire you to tackle some of your oldies in your collection. Send ’em over to matthew@photographybymatthewjames.com and I’ll share the best ones on my Facebook page.

Beachy Head Lighthouse, photography by matthew james, travel photography, lightroom, editing

Beachy Head Lighthouse

Beachy Head, Photography by Matthew James, travel photography, editing, lightroom

The Belle Tout Lighthouse on the southcoast of England. The lighthouse has seen a lot of history, including damage during the Second World War and a complete relocation due to erosion of the cliffs nearby.

Depth Of Field

What is depth of field in photography, and how do you control it? There are many terms which relate to a shallow or large depth of field in photography and photographers will bandy about these terms such as “hyperfocal distance”, “creamy bokeh”, “shooting wide open”,...

Stroboscopic Portraits

Use your unit’s strobe function to achieve rapid-fire flash and capture incredible staccato action.   Pulsing Flash A pulsing flash that fires lots of times during a long exposure can create a stop-motion effect by freezing the action multiple times as the...

Cheap Photography Projects’ Creative Lighting Ideas

Get creative with your images by using these lighting hacks to shoot cheap but conceptual photography. Beauty in Simplicity You don’t necessarily need to use top-of-the-line kit in order to capture brilliant photos. To help you inject some creative lighting into your...

Rear Curtain Sync.

With streaks going in the right direction, this article examines how to capture streaky headlight shots.   By combining flash with a long exposure you can achieve some great shots. You can get ghostly movement blur and trails of light from moving light sources if...

Tips For Using a Snoot in Photography.

Learn how to use a “snoot” in your photography to control the light and create theatrical lighting with your hot-shoe flash.   Even though it can often be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut a flashgun is always a handy tool to have in your camera bag....

UV Photography: tips for blacklight.

Blacklight photography can be great for shooting portraits so we are “shedding some light on the dark art” to reveal the secret of mastering ultraviolet photography!   You would most commonly see blacklight, or UV lighting, in nightclubs. White objects radiate...

Copenhagen Photographer Casper Sejersen’s One, Two, Three, Four.

Casper Sejersen Debut Exhibition. Set to the beat of a drum, Copenhagen-based photographer Casper Sejersen takes us on an unsettling visual journey in his debut exhibition.     Alluring Yet Uncomfortable. Copenhagen-based Danish photographer Casper...

Photos Reveal Copenhill Ski Slope on Amager Bakke Plant.

    Copenhill Ski Slope atop Amager Bakke Plant. Coloured in vibrant shades of green an artificial ski slope on the roof of the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen has been captured in images by Danish photographer Rasmus Hjortshøj.  The centre...

The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

  A summer break in Copenhagen is highly recommended if you have never been to Denmark. The sun and heat is enjoyed by all the locals.   As an introduction to the most common places you must visit we’re presenting you with this 3-hour photo walk. If you wish...

And Slash Makes Four

It’s not everyday one gets to say this, but I do believe I’ve completed my to-do list. In this case it’s a list that involves four musicians, who I always hoped I would one day get to photograph. Copenhell Festival Last week saw the rock festival Copenhell return to...

Off-Camera Flash Photography To Help You Perfect The Strobist Effect.

One of the easiest ways to achieve amazing portraits is to utilize off-camera flash. You’ll be amazed at how you can transform your photos by simply taking your flash off-camera if your only experience of using flash is the disappointing result you got with it fitted...

The World’s Creamiest Bokeh.

    Full-Frame 50mm Lens with Aperture of f/0.35. The world’s creamiest bokeh (definition: the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image) can be whipped up to give us incredible subject separation through the use of huge apertures. In...

Making a Living in Photography in 2019.

    How Viable is it Being a Professional Photographer? Whilst being both stuck in its ways and simultaneously forever changing, photography is indeed a strange profession. The majority of the profession work in a very different way to the old guard who...

Nobody Talks About The Problem With Camera Phones.

The camera itself was the biggest problem with camera phones once upon a time.   Released in 2000, the J-SH04 was one of the world’s first camera phones. Things have come a long way since then. Tiny 0.11 megapixel images was all it could shoot. To give their...

What Is The Focus of Your Photography?

Does your photography have a point? And how can your images engage with more viewers?   You can help define your photography by implementing these few very helpful following techniques, especially if you have reached that stage where it may be a struggle to...

What Is The Best Aperture and Focal Length For Portraits?

Get The Basics of Portrait Photography Right. You’ve probably asked yourself what is the best aperture and focal length to use if you’re just getting started in portrait photography. You can produce very different effects with your subjects by changing the aperture...

New York City: A Nostalgic Return to a Filmset

American customs is an absolute bitch. I can’t say I’ve ever had an easy time arriving at JFK Airport in New York, but I foolishly hoped that the third time would be the charm. It wasn’t. But instead of pulling me to one side and asking why “a dude would have hair...

The $90.3 Million Painting That Reveals Unique Photography Methods.

A Masterful Piece of Art. The 1972 painting entitled “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” by legendary British painter David Hockney fetched the highest auction price ever for a living artist as it sold for a jaw-dropping $90.3 million last month. A man in...

Further To The NorthSide

From one island to a peninsula From one island of Denmark to a half island of Denmark (otherwise known as a peninsula); a total of 116 miles, on a train that goes under the sea in a tunnel as well as above the sea on a bridge, we travelled from Copenhagen to Aarhus...

Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

Keep the diary open Whether it was wishful thinking or simply experience, when I first heard about the Royal Run back in 2017 I decided to keep the 21st May available in my calendar. “We won’t be needing you for that particular race,” I was told, but a voice in my...

Future King of Denmark Joins In Birthday Celebrations With The Royal Run.

In merely a few days time the future king of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik, will be celebrating his 50th birthday and all over the country flags will be at high mast. A total of five Danish cities are involved in celebratory shenanigans which began on May 18, and...

5 Things Every Photographer Should Know

Just starting out? Get to grips with these camera functions before anything else I was one of the lucky ones, starting out on a non-digital SLR camera. An Olympus OM-1 where loading the film was the first really important ‘setting’ I had to master. Then there was the...

How Photography Can Be Ruined By Bad Habits

Leaving The Camera At Home Even if it's your smartphone the camera you have with you is always the best one. Not every photo you take will be of commercial value or be photography-competition material. Nevertheless, if you leave your camera at home what use is it...

Unethical Upselling

By offering additional products and services and convincing a customer to purchase them many types of businesses can make a lot of money and this type of “upselling” is a tactic that camera equipment stores can maximise their gains. But how far can this upselling go...

What Camera Should I Buy?

Whether Novice or Professional Novice photographers, and even professionals, are constantly searching for the cutting edge in a hi-tech world and are keen to learn the tips and tricks to help them hone their skills. We want to help facilitate that process by building...

Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders.

Tech Workshop Last Wednesday, bestbrains.dk ran a Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders workshop which Matt went out to shoot. Participation in this event was strictly limited to a mere ten people and they were vetted by an entry assignment. Sorting the wheat...

How to live better as a freelancer: Part One

What have I learnt after five years in the industry? Welcome back! Enjoying January, are we? Officially the most depressing month of the year, and for good reason. Waking up seems 10x harder than normal, as does leaving the house. Even my office is a dull place to be,...

Copenhagen wins international climate prize

Reducing the Carbon Footprint Reducing our carbon footprint means saving energy as well as the planet. With the recognition of Copenhagen as a cultural centre comes strict monitoring of energy consumption in schools and daycare institutions alike. With this...

Game of Thrones Star Joins Climate Change Talk

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau returns to his home country to take action An overwhelmingly massive wall of ice on regular display is one of the many stunning visual images in the popular television series Game of Thrones in which Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays...

Nordic Race: A mudfest for my camera

My first Nordic Race photography experience I don't know about you, but personally I like to be warm, dry and clean at this time of year. It's the reason I wear nice thick gloves, waterproof trousers and jackets, and a pair of boots every time I leave the house. On...

Calm sea; rough ride

From the Archives: My experience moving to Copenhagen in 2012 I grew up in a small town 40 miles south of Manchester - home of Smiths, Oasis, and other great High Street retail outlets (insert smiley). And it was from Manchester Airport that I left England for what...

Google’s Nik Collection Resumes Development After DxO Buyout

Resurrection of Popular Software The resurrection of the popular photo editing software Nik Collection is taking place. For the benefit of the photographer community the continued development of Nik Collection comes about after DxO announces that it has acquired the...

The Trials of Obtaining a Press Pass

Who Qualifies, anyway? Around the time of 2012 to 2014 there was much debate surrounding who qualifies as a journalist enough to obtain press credentials, namely getting a press pass. Industry Bias According to NiemanLab, in 2014 a survey of 1,300 journalists found...

PBMJ: Now we are 2

I've only got one pair of hands... until now! Finding a solution to doing everything myself has long been at the top of my long list of priorities. I've found over the years, that it's definitely getting easier to outsource some of the work I do, especially when...

Getting the Shot: RaiseNow Group Portrait

Somebody once asked me, "Do you find that it's always the first idea that works?" in regards to planning and executing a photoshoot. I admit I had to think about it. Sometimes definitely, and in these scenarios you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Go...

Following in the footsteps of Obama

Where would a former President of the United States go to eat when in Copenhagen? For my first blog post in nearly two millennia I thought I’d tackle something a little light-hearted. Despite never really pursuing a career in food photography, it appears it has found...

Who needs a photo education anyway?

Is it really worth paying to learn to be a better photographer? ”Sixteen hundred kroner!” So cried the partner of one my clients recently when she found out what he was paying me to teach him. More than once this week the conversation has turned towards education....

No Man is an Island

Finding solitude amongst Denmark's hidden gems Words by Joe Miller, Pictures by Matthew James Harrison It’s always hard in life to accept it when you lose friends, family or anyone close to you. People change, they move on and find pastures new. We live, we die… but...

The Day I Lost £6,000

How a brand new camera holster helped ruin my life for 48hrs People ask me, on a regular basis, whether I’m happy living in Copenhagen. It’s an easy answer: yes, of course. Then they ask me why. Again, this isn’t difficult to explain, as there are so many reasons. But...

Aarhus: European capital for culture 2017

Words: Joe Miller, Photos: Matt Marsh Every year, two European cities receive the prestigious title of ‘European capital of culture’ and in 2017, we welcome Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, as the holder of one of these two titles. Over the next year, fascinated...

Fact: Danish Newspapers don’t care about swans!

How a chance encounter with a big white bird didn't really amount to much In this industry, every day is a fresh start. Sure, you have the usual amount of daily tasks – social media, sending invoices, archiving images – but the commute to work every morning is a...

Beer+Barcelona+The Eixample=despair

Getting lost in the city's cleverly-designed grid system "Allow me to state here how much I love Barcelona; an admirable city, a city full of life, intense, a port open to the past and future.” Perhaps the future is now and the past is the present, but whichever way...

Recreating the sunset…without the sun

I made absolutely no secret of the fact that I got my very first National Geographic Traveller commission earlier this year. It was, without a doubt, the proudest moment of my career so far, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I wrote a lengthy piece about it for the...

Best Instagram Photos of Copenhagen 2016

Copenhagen has to be one of the world's best places to photograph I’ve been fortunate enough to live in many special places around the world over the years: France, Australia, many parts of the UK, and of course Denmark. Each and every one of these places has been...

Three Great Books to Improve Your Photography Career

Whatever your style of photography, these three books are guaranteed to change the way you work When I first started this journey of being a freelancer, I really didn’t have much of a clue about running a business. But the more jobs I got the more I realised what...

Using Lightroom to edit your iPhone photos

Even with the new iPhone 7 causing a stir with its brand new camera functions, the old iPhone 6 is still a heavy-hitter when it comes to High Quality images I always tell those who join me on my Beginner's Photography Workshops that activating the shutter is just the...

Who Needs a Photo Studio to Get the Job Done?

Turns out a simple white background and a couple of strobes is all you need As promised yesterday, over the next few weeks I'll be re-sharing photography content with you from the past 12 months. Today's post has been taken from the 2015 Recap Newsletter When Disney...

Remember: You don’t know EVERYTHING

How a recent photography workshop taught me how to focus ”The D800 isn’t very good for sports photography,” said my very unreliable source. It was my first summer here in Copenhagen and I was working for a company photographing running events. I didn’t know it at the...

Summer Update

"Your blog entries don’t show up in my news feed anymore” Never fear, dear reader, I have not died or disappeared. Summer has truly been upon us these last few weeks and with the warm weather comes a calendar full of events and photoshoots. Unfortunately it means I...

Testing your business ideas

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com What I learned from my week of blogging Day 7 of the Blog Challenge is here, and I am fucking glad! Forcing myself to take time out of my busy schedule for the last 168 hours has been, quite...

London’s G20 Riots

London’s G20 Riots

The crowd were all facing the same way but nobody was moving. I strained my neck to try and get a better view, but apart from the general chatter of the thousands of people around me and the police and news helicopters circling above, I was still none the wiser of what was going on. Up ahead there was some sort of commotion at the corner of Bartholomew Lane and 62/63 Threadneedle Street in the City of London Financial District. I knew I had to get down there.

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

Office staff watch the protesters pass by during the April 2009 G20 Riots in London

Lifting my camera over my head and sucking in my stomach, I started to squeeze my way through the tightly-packed melee towards the front of what now appeared to be an audience at a live gig. Coming from the town of Ashbourne in Derbyshire (home of the manic annual Shrovetide Football) I was used to being crushed between arses and elbows, and I reached my destination in a matter of minutes. I was not the only photographer there.

What awaited me was a sight I’d never seen before. Despite an energy in the air that suggested anarchy (there were plenty of those flags being waved around), nothing had happened yet. But of course, that soon changed.

The first rock – wherever it came from – made contact with the window and a loud cheer went up. More flying objects followed, including a bin, a metal pole, and a crash helmet. People started kicking the glass and, soon enough, large cracks were appearing all over the windows of Royal Bank of Scotland’s offices. This was a revolt.

The collapse of the global bank Lehman Brothers back in September 2008 had almost brought down the world’s financial systems. More and more people were facing unemployment and a life without security. Businesses were going bust every day and the tax payer was baling out many of the guilty suspects in the banking industry. So it was no surprise when bankers came to work that day dressed in casual clothes instead of their usual suits. ‘Blend in with the crowd’ was the message given to them on Wednesday, April 1st 2009 – exactly five years ago today.

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

Many protesters arrived with a sense of humor, displaying home-made boards and posters to vent their anger

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

A man watches the crowd head towards RBS from a clock on the side of the Bank of England

Back inside RBS, riot police from the Met were standing guard, fully equipped with masks and helmets, shields, and video cameras. No action was taken to calm or quell the mob – that came later – so the vandalism continued until a hole appeared in the glass.

I wondered whether the men and women in suits were at all bothered by what was going on. Earlier I had seen them waving £10 and £20 notes out of their office windows as we marched through the financial district. Although I was only there to document the protest, I couldn’t help but feel slightly angry myself. It was almost as if they were sitting on their thrones of power, looking down at us mere peasants. They were happy to goad us, it seemed.

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

Protesters use objects to smash the windows of RBS on Threadneedle Street in London

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

Grafiti along the side of the RBS offices on Bartholomew Lane, reading ‘Fuck the System’

Eventually a small group of people stormed the building and the vandalism continued inside. The line of police outside intensified, as did the chants and throng of protesters. Video cameras and and SLRs grew in number just above head height and flashes were popping left right and centre. When the first man to be dragged away flashed the peace sign whilst sitting quietly on the ground, the media moved in. Minute by minute, the tension worsened and tempers flared on both sides.

I spent the rest of the day ‘kettled’ inside the financial district, as police refused passage to anyone trying to get in or out. The tube stations Bank, St. Paul’s and Mansion House were all closed and the stairwells were cluttered with litter and smelt of piss. With nowhere to go for a toilet break, people were forced to go behind a bush or wherever they could. And it wasn’t just to urinate, either. The smell was rancid.

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

One man flashes the peace sign as he sits on the ground surrounded by police officers

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

He is promptly dragged away by officers and puts up no resistance. Many people later complained at the Met’s rough handling of the situation

I saw all sorts of behaviour that day and have to admit that I enjoyed the experience. Being trapped in a tinderbox all day was tiring and stressful and I’d messed up big time by not bringing any food or drink with me. People with a press pass were aloud to leave, but unfortunately I was not one of them. So I made my escape by climbing a dodgy wall around a building that was being renovated. It felt like crossing some sort of No Man’s Land, as the ground between the two lines of police was covered with glass bottles and other objects that had been thrown at the cops.

And speaking of the law, they were heavily criticised of their handling of the whole event. At the time I felt a bit sorry for them. I’m sure most were decent men and women just doing their jobs, but I did see a lot of unnecessary behaviour from them. When it emerged that shopkeeper Ian Tomlinson died from a heart attack as a direct result of being unlawfully struck by an officer, I started to wonder about the Force and their use of it.

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

Two men – one of them an employee in the financial industry and wearing a suit, the other a protester – square up to one another during the G20 London Riots of 2009

photography by matthew james, G20, riots, London, Met, police, kettling, metropolitan police, human rights, journalism, editorial, financial crisis, banking crisis, bankers, banks, RBS, Royal Bank of Scotland

I’m not sure whether anything has been learnt from what went on that day. Keeping thousands of innocent people trapped like that is surely an abuse of Human Rights. How many other people just like me were present and not causing any kind of trouble, or doing a normal day’s work and not able to return home? Ridiculous.

I’ve since had many scrapes with the law when taking pictures. It’s usually the combination of a long lens and huge camera body that draws their attention, and often all I’ve been photographing is the front of a building. I’ve even had senior officers from Derbyshire Constabulary try to catch me out with false laws that they make up on the spot to try and frighten me away. That’s clearly an abuse of power, and if it wasn’t for my knowledge of Photographic Law acquired from the NCTJ, I could just be another member of the public getting shafted by the police.

I have learnt one thing, though. Next time I get called out to a riot in a major city, I’m taking some sandwiches with me. And a bottle of pop.

Depth Of Field

What is depth of field in photography, and how do you control it? There are many terms which relate to a shallow or large depth of field in photography and photographers will bandy about these terms such as “hyperfocal distance”, “creamy bokeh”, “shooting wide open”,...

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Cheap Photography Projects’ Creative Lighting Ideas

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Tips For Using a Snoot in Photography.

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UV Photography: tips for blacklight.

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The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

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Off-Camera Flash Photography To Help You Perfect The Strobist Effect.

One of the easiest ways to achieve amazing portraits is to utilize off-camera flash. You’ll be amazed at how you can transform your photos by simply taking your flash off-camera if your only experience of using flash is the disappointing result you got with it fitted...

The World’s Creamiest Bokeh.

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Making a Living in Photography in 2019.

    How Viable is it Being a Professional Photographer? Whilst being both stuck in its ways and simultaneously forever changing, photography is indeed a strange profession. The majority of the profession work in a very different way to the old guard who...

Nobody Talks About The Problem With Camera Phones.

The camera itself was the biggest problem with camera phones once upon a time.   Released in 2000, the J-SH04 was one of the world’s first camera phones. Things have come a long way since then. Tiny 0.11 megapixel images was all it could shoot. To give their...

What Is The Focus of Your Photography?

Does your photography have a point? And how can your images engage with more viewers?   You can help define your photography by implementing these few very helpful following techniques, especially if you have reached that stage where it may be a struggle to...

What Is The Best Aperture and Focal Length For Portraits?

Get The Basics of Portrait Photography Right. You’ve probably asked yourself what is the best aperture and focal length to use if you’re just getting started in portrait photography. You can produce very different effects with your subjects by changing the aperture...

The $90.3 Million Painting That Reveals Unique Photography Methods.

A Masterful Piece of Art. The 1972 painting entitled “Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures)” by legendary British painter David Hockney fetched the highest auction price ever for a living artist as it sold for a jaw-dropping $90.3 million last month. A man in...

5 Things Every Photographer Should Know

Just starting out? Get to grips with these camera functions before anything else I was one of the lucky ones, starting out on a non-digital SLR camera. An Olympus OM-1 where loading the film was the first really important ‘setting’ I had to master. Then there was the...

How Photography Can Be Ruined By Bad Habits

Leaving The Camera At Home Even if it's your smartphone the camera you have with you is always the best one. Not every photo you take will be of commercial value or be photography-competition material. Nevertheless, if you leave your camera at home what use is it...

Unethical Upselling

By offering additional products and services and convincing a customer to purchase them many types of businesses can make a lot of money and this type of “upselling” is a tactic that camera equipment stores can maximise their gains. But how far can this upselling go...

What Camera Should I Buy?

Whether Novice or Professional Novice photographers, and even professionals, are constantly searching for the cutting edge in a hi-tech world and are keen to learn the tips and tricks to help them hone their skills. We want to help facilitate that process by building...

How to live better as a freelancer: Part One

What have I learnt after five years in the industry? Welcome back! Enjoying January, are we? Officially the most depressing month of the year, and for good reason. Waking up seems 10x harder than normal, as does leaving the house. Even my office is a dull place to be,...

Google’s Nik Collection Resumes Development After DxO Buyout

Resurrection of Popular Software The resurrection of the popular photo editing software Nik Collection is taking place. For the benefit of the photographer community the continued development of Nik Collection comes about after DxO announces that it has acquired the...

The Trials of Obtaining a Press Pass

Who Qualifies, anyway? Around the time of 2012 to 2014 there was much debate surrounding who qualifies as a journalist enough to obtain press credentials, namely getting a press pass. Industry Bias According to NiemanLab, in 2014 a survey of 1,300 journalists found...

PBMJ: Now we are 2

I've only got one pair of hands... until now! Finding a solution to doing everything myself has long been at the top of my long list of priorities. I've found over the years, that it's definitely getting easier to outsource some of the work I do, especially when...

Who needs a photo education anyway?

Is it really worth paying to learn to be a better photographer? ”Sixteen hundred kroner!” So cried the partner of one my clients recently when she found out what he was paying me to teach him. More than once this week the conversation has turned towards education....

The Day I Lost £6,000

How a brand new camera holster helped ruin my life for 48hrs People ask me, on a regular basis, whether I’m happy living in Copenhagen. It’s an easy answer: yes, of course. Then they ask me why. Again, this isn’t difficult to explain, as there are so many reasons. But...

Recreating the sunset…without the sun

I made absolutely no secret of the fact that I got my very first National Geographic Traveller commission earlier this year. It was, without a doubt, the proudest moment of my career so far, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I wrote a lengthy piece about it for the...

Three Great Books to Improve Your Photography Career

Whatever your style of photography, these three books are guaranteed to change the way you work When I first started this journey of being a freelancer, I really didn’t have much of a clue about running a business. But the more jobs I got the more I realised what...

Using Lightroom to edit your iPhone photos

Even with the new iPhone 7 causing a stir with its brand new camera functions, the old iPhone 6 is still a heavy-hitter when it comes to High Quality images I always tell those who join me on my Beginner's Photography Workshops that activating the shutter is just the...

Who Needs a Photo Studio to Get the Job Done?

Turns out a simple white background and a couple of strobes is all you need As promised yesterday, over the next few weeks I'll be re-sharing photography content with you from the past 12 months. Today's post has been taken from the 2015 Recap Newsletter When Disney...

Remember: You don’t know EVERYTHING

How a recent photography workshop taught me how to focus ”The D800 isn’t very good for sports photography,” said my very unreliable source. It was my first summer here in Copenhagen and I was working for a company photographing running events. I didn’t know it at the...

Summer Update

"Your blog entries don’t show up in my news feed anymore” Never fear, dear reader, I have not died or disappeared. Summer has truly been upon us these last few weeks and with the warm weather comes a calendar full of events and photoshoots. Unfortunately it means I...

Testing your business ideas

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com What I learned from my week of blogging Day 7 of the Blog Challenge is here, and I am fucking glad! Forcing myself to take time out of my busy schedule for the last 168 hours has been, quite...

Vanity Blogs

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Deadlines and Prioritising your workload

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com 3pm - time to write The question is, what does one have to say on the topic of photography today? I actually have a half-written blog post just waiting to be finished sitting right here on my...

Whoops. I missed one!

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com Jumping back on the wagon So Day Three of the Photography Journal experiment simply bombed. Perhaps it was the warm weather, or that it was my first and only day off for the entire week, or maybe...

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Journal Seven Day Challenge

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com Time to try something different OK, so straight off the bat I'll get to the point: I'm clinging on to the imaginary wall that is Google, and looking down isn't an option; I want to climb to the...

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This blog entry first appeared on the journal page at www.photographybymatthewjames.com Why photographers need to stick their necks out once in a while If you've read the blog post immediately before this one then you might be aware of my new Periscope Series, The...

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Despite improving as a photographer over time, an image from my days as a trainee still remains one of my all-time favourites Nerve-wracking. That’s the best way to describe the first three months working as a trainee photographer for a newspaper. Don’t get me wrong -...

A photographer’s perspective of Shrovetide

What really happened when I went home to document the biggest game of football in the world? Although I couldn’t see it at that particular moment, somewhere up ahead a ball made of Portuguese cork was being fought over by hundreds of men. Their aim was simple: to...

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Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the Superhero genre is here to stay forever. That’s according to Disney chairman Bob Iger who announced this week that their Marvel films (and Star Wars) will be gracing our screens for years to come. With a wealth of untapped characters and...

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However you earn money to keep your business going, never lose sight of your goals Over the past few years I’ve learned a great deal about running a business and adapting my photography skills to different genres and clients. I’ve never classed myself as a wedding...

Angry Dude Flips Bird

Dealing with confrontation as a photojournalist Who the hell is this guy? And why is he holding a can of lager in one hand, and giving me the Finger with the other? We have to go way back to the winter of 2005 to get a bit of background story for today’s journal post,...

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We've come to the end of our revisit to the Danish Imports exhibition, and today we're finishing off with somebody who I'm very fond of. I hope you've enjoyed reading these interviews and the images that accompany them. A lot of love and time went in to the planning...

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How to charge accordingly for the creative services you provide I’ve been at this freelance photography game for over three years now, but I can assure you there’s much still to learn. And as usual, pricing sits right up there with the best of ‘em. If you’ve come...

10 tips for awesome autumn photographs

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This blog post originally appeared over at matthewjames.dk Grasia Maria Banegas initially moved to Denmark from Honduras in Central America as a volunteer for MS (Action Aid Denmark), to join an educational program called Global Change, where she trained to become a...

The importance of taking a break

The biggest problem with being self-employed is trying to find time to switch off. I know plenty of people who run their own businesses and work 12 hour days, and maybe take a day off at the weekend. We tell ourselves, that such-and-such needs doing, or these 17...