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

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 performing what has been described as a Tommy Cooper impression.  

Caught In The Act.

The famous catchphrase “just like that” of one of Britain’s favourite funnymen, Tommy Cooper, is accompanied by the classic pose of both hands raised in the air, an image which has drew comparisons to the photograph by Mary McGowan who captured a grey squirrel whilst looking nonplussed but imitating the comedian. This year’s competition was to find the most hilarious wildlife images with entries by photographers from 86 countries, totalling a number of more than 3.5k images, so it’s no small feat that the Florida-based photographer’s portrait was selected as the winner from all the other pictures. Entitled “Caught in the Act”, Ms. McGowan’s winning entry of a North American grey squirrel captured the creature as if it was performing a madcap magic trick.

The winning shot only came about because the squirrel was having a few problems eating and Ms McGowan was at the ready with her camera at that very moment. As a prize for her winning shot the photographer has won a safari to Kenya where no doubt she will catch many other creatures in the act.

She said: “He was coughing, gagging or something, but after a few seconds, he was just fine and went back to eating.”

Even a polar bear who could fool you into thinking it had aspirations itself to enter this year’s Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards was caught in a comical scene which put a smile on judges faces as they looked through the other photographs. A snowy-white polar bear was caught looking through a camera, with its powerful telephoto lens and fitted viewfinder, as if about to frame a shot itself, in the High Arctic, as the equipment was set up there. This image was taken by Roie Galitz from Israel who was highly commended for the rear view shot.

 

 

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In On It, too.

Winner of the Under the Sea category went to Tanya Houppermans from Virginia in The US, who framed a blue shark that appeared to be “smiling” into the camera, adding further merriment to the competition as she captured the creature who seemed to be in on the fun.

 

 

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Hybrid.

Kallol Mukherjee from Singur India captured an image that appears as a half-bird-half-rhinoceros hybrid, a picture which made the judges shortlist and was arguable the strangest looking picture of the competition. The image was taken in West Bengal’s Gorumara National Park and captures a one-horned rhino standing in front of a male peacock who is fanning it’s huge tail behind, a perfect moment of photographic timing notable upon closer inspection.

 

 

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Raising Awareness.

While simultaneously injecting humour into the world of wildlife photography the aim of the competition is to put a spotlight on conservation efforts according to Tom Sullam and Paul Joynson-Hicks MBE, the two Tanzania-based photographers who founded the awards.

Sullam explained: “Conservation was always at the heart of the competition, along with the fact that people seemed to enjoy images of animals doing entertaining things.

“Essentially living in a country that has some of the best wildlife in the world, Tanzania, and seeing how destructive human actions can be to this wildlife, made us want to do our little bit to help.

“Raising awareness through photography, getting people involved and using humour as a positive reinforcement of the good things, rather than focusing on the negative imagery that has historically been used.”

Among this year’s judges were comedian Hugh Dennis and television presenter Kate Humble.

Words by Elijah (Content Marketer).

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Further To The NorthSide

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 for this year’s NorthSide Festival.

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Plush digs

We arrived at our AirBnB, a plush student digs, with all the specifications that 4 lads from The UK would need to furnish our needs during our stay. It immediately felt like a lads’ holiday. But we were there for the serious business of getting the shot!

Gonzo

One of the perks of the job is that I can write this review whilst casually sipping on a beer; I joked with Matt and had a lot of banter about making our review of the festival in the vein of Gonzo journalism, pioneered by Hunter S. Thompson who was renowned for his wild benders when reporting, but to be fair, I’m still trying to come down from the high of the festival so I’m just chilling with a cold one (it’s 11:30am, by-the-way, but, hey, like Sheryl Crow sings, I like a beer buzz early in the morning).

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Racking up a tab

More banter ensued as we arrived to meet our fellow journos – I could say Gonzos but you have to be a Doctor of Journalism to earn that kind of reputation, man. They were waiting for us at the aforementioned apartment, a one-bedroom one-living room with kitchenette area and a bathroom, but you could see from the style of how it was all made up that there’s a reason that Danes are considered to be one of the happiest people in the world. Like I said, it was plush, and more than comfortable for an affordable budget price, even though Matt can claim it back through the business (don’t ask me how that works, “just send me the bill,” I said).

Credentials

Thursday afternoon was already upon us and we were eager to get our press credentials and enter to feel the place out in terms of what the protocol was for getting into press junket areas. It was a bit different for me since my role was only auxiliary and most definitely glorified, but, alas, here I am to tell the story. The plan was to get in for 2pm so that Matt and his colleague Joe Miller could snap D/TRIOT on the secondary blue stage but we ended up at a checkpoint being confronted by resistance at the security gates. All Matt’s hardwork putting the hours into his Danish lessons over the past year or so came in handy at that point as he was able to negotiate fluently, although, I did hear him drop the word “checkpoint” into what was otherwise all but perfect Danish. The sun was blazing and we didn’t appreciate that until what would come to be much later when we all looked like a spanked lobster. So, after waiting 20 minutes at the security checkpoint for some official or other to finally let us in we were ferried across to the Blue Stage where Matt and Joe entered the junket and myself and Joe’s auxilliary, a burly Scot with a placid charm called Lee, were left to our own devices.

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Junket

So, naturally, with the sun shining we decided to get a beer and listen to D/TROIT from the site whilst Matt and Joe were in the press junket area (tucked in at the front in between the crowd and the stage). For the first band of the festival they sounded like bog-standard funk n’ soul and the people there were ambling about, buying drinks, or playing Klask (which is supposed to be the national game of Denmark!). We didn’t know what would happen to Matt and his colleague Joe after that but we had a rally point so all was well and we found out after that as soon as they’d had their 3-songs-worth of shots they had gone down to the smaller red stage area to photograph a new up-and-coming band called Findlay, a band that after he had seen them Matt was raving about saying things like: “you know when you’re just really grateful for a band like that to come along? Well, they’re one of those bands.” Must’ve been ’cause they’re from my birthplace Stockport, England. What a Viaduct! Next up was a personal favourite of mine – Warpaint. I’d seen them before in Portugal and their sound is perfect for the big stage setting, but the other lads, now re-united as a foursome, said they sounded a bit too dreamy for their tastes so unfortunately for me I was dragged away before they could finish their set as we headed back to the apartment for Spag. Bol..

Thursday night festivities

After some good food and a few beers back at the apartment we found ourselves back on site in time for Future Islands, who I’d heard about when I was doing my MA back in 2015. I recommended to the others that we see them because they had such an unusual style owing to their frontman who would dance in a captivating way or suddenly growl down the microphone at the audience over parts of songs that should hold a melody. Tell me you haven’t seen a frontman behave like that before! However, they were merely OK, but that owed to the fact that we were several beers deep and we were quite far away from the front this time and if I hadn’t have been familiar with them already they could have sounded like just another band. Matt thought that the growling thing was a bit funny, though! Immediately after seeing that band with us, Matt and his colleague went to the press area – a relaxing and comfortable area where you could get free refreshments if you had your press pass like we did – and were told to follow the junket leader around to make preparations to follow Bjork. Little did they know that when they got there that Bjork’s manager insisted that no photographs were to be taken and so Matt and Joe were censored. I was in the front rows with Joe’s assistant Lee for the Bjork set and looking back on the whole experience of NorthSide Festival she was clearly the best act and easily my favourite – that distinctive vocal was offset by the deepest of bass grooves, a concerto of flute players joining in for one particular song which sounded magical and her outfit was just surreal!– she was wearing a very flattering red dress and had this peculiar red face mask on complete with a black-feathered headdress.

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The War On Drugs were to be Matt’s last assignment of that day and they took to the stage 11:15pm and played an hour and a half set – by this point, I was definitely trying to compete with Hunter S. Thompson in terms of how much I thought it was appropriate to drink, promptly got lost for about half-an-hour before being rescued and we went home after that, leaving Joe and Lee to see out their night having a boogie to The Internet in the smaller red stage area.

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The morning after the night before

Next morning came and it was Friday. I’d completely crashed out the night before and was feeling sad that my advances towards a plethora of women had been unrequited so I made the resolve not to drink that day and help Matt out as much as possible. Rival Sons and Aurora were the first two assignments that he tackled but it wasn’t until we saw N.E.R.D that the crowd began to seriously move! Of course, there he was down in the press junket area for the allotted 3 songs-worth while Pharrell Williams got the crowd going with his entourage like nothing I’ve seen before in my time as a festival goer. Arms were swaying from side-to-side, people were crowd-surfing, and whole swathes of people were crouching on demand only to jump back up and pogo when the beat kicked in again. I departed from the N.E.R.D set a bit early to go and take up a place in what would be the Liam Gallagher crowd awaiting his appearance with anticipation. It was a good job I did, too, because although the crowd was sparse to begin with by the time Liam Gallagher came out they were throngs farther back than the eye could see. He began his set with the lead track from Oasis’ debut, Rock N’ Roll Star, to which he introduced it: “there’s not many of these around today,” before resuming his usual arrogant swagger as if to embody the title of the song. Its epitome! A lot of what he said in between songs could have been seen as rude and arrogant but the crowd lapped it up and the more the set went on the more you realized that he was living off the back of the reputation of Oasis and the set promptly became a hit-parade of the Oasis back-catalogue, which was to be expected, naturally. I stayed until the end of the set to which I’d sang along in parts and found that I’d really enjoyed it. But, just check out Matt’s masterful photography!

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After it was over I made my way to see A Perfect Circle because I am a massive Tool fan I have a lot of respect for their singer, Maynard James Keenan, who has a great vocal range, but I found myself a lot less inspired by the APC set and left to retreat to the press area for some much needed relaxation and found the guys there gathered talking about the photos they had taken. It was at this point that Matt had published an interview with his colleague Joe about what being an exclusive photographer at this type of festival meant to him, and Matt said to me: “this is our festival.” And that was it; the exclusivity of it, the prestige of having access to the artists, mingling with all the other journalists. It made you feel important, and if it wasn’t for people like Matt, making sure the world can see these stars they simply wouldn’t have the recognition that they have today, so we owned it.

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Headliners … Over, Under, and Out

We took a break in the gap between what would be Queens Of The Stone Age headlining that Friday night. The National could be heard grooving along on the breeze in the background as we ate some Danish fish n’ chips, better than traditional English fish n’ chips in my opinion but I don’t think I was convincing Matt about that. Since QOTSA frontman, Josh Homme, had gotten into trouble recently for kicking a photographer in the face from on stage there was tighter press-controls for their headline set and only a select number of photographers were given a specific wristband for that show. Matt was on the list, a fact that added to his prestige. They headlined the Friday night at 11:15pm and played and hour and a half set; they were tight, the guitars sounded good, and the vocals were excellent. At one point, the drummer broke out into a drum solo and ended it with a rimshock on the snare drum that was so hard it blew out the left-hand speaker box and killed the visuals on the televisual displays. The set raged on but it wasn’t until after ten minutes of technical difficulties that the sound on our side of the stage came back to life, to a great cheer from the crowd. QOTSA could still be heard playing as we left that night and arrived back at the apartment where we had a nightcap and reminisced. Joe and Lee were to stay on extra for the final day, but, for Matt and I it was over and under the sea and back to Copenhagen, sunburnt and satisfied!

Words by Elijah (Content Marketer).

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Game of Thrones Star Joins Climate Change Talk

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 fictional knight Jaime Lannister.

In the real world, climate change seriously imperils our actual walls of ice.

The ice-rich territory of Greenland is Nikolaj’s second home. His wife is from Uummannaq in the northwest of Greenland, and his two daughters are half Greenlandic.

The world’s largest island has a delicate ecosystem and rising temperatures are having a devastating effect on the climate.

Arctic Imagination in Copenhagen

On Saturday 25 November The Royal Danish Library in Copenhagen hosted an event as part of the “Arctic Imagination” series – an artistic brainstorming session on the future of the Arctic – which is taking place in several high profile libraries across the world.

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The undergoing transformation of the Arctic will be the subject of a conversation opened by Nikolaj, who is currently the UN’s Global Development Goals Goodwill Ambassador.

For those outside of the North Atlantic what happens in Greenland is not of primary interest. However, if the Greenland ice sheet – which covers 80% of Greenland – melts, the results for the rest of the planet will be monumental. In such an instance, sea levels will rise by 20 feet, according to experts.

The United States has major metropolitan areas such as New Orleans, Miami and New York, of which residents will be affected by said rising sea levels, but the risks of climate change do not end there. Issues such as education, energy, ocean life, poverty, and hunger are negatively impacted by the consequences of climate change, as they are delicately intertwined, according to The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which set a road map for tackling the planet’s most pressing problems. Natural disasters and their intensity increase in number, being directly affected by the unpredictability of weather patterns as a result of climate change.

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Sustainable Development Goals

Nikolaj‘s mission is to call attention to the dangerous consequences of ignoring climate change. Carbon footprints and greenhouse gases are aimed to be reduced by countries who are a part of The United Nations Development Program.

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For a Better World

Nikolaj says: “I want a safe and secure world for my children, their children and the generations to come. We must not bury our heads in the sand when it comes to climate change – we must instead have the courage to make other changes to preserve the stability and safety of our planet.”

Arctic Imagination is produced in collaboration with the Danish Consulate General in New York and supported by the Castle and Cultural Agency, the State Art Foundation, the AP Møller Foundation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.


The photographer’s perspective

At first I wasn’t sure anyone was going to turn up. The auditorium where the Talk was taking place – Dronningesalen – comfortably holds a couple of hundred people, but the queue outside wasn’t giving anything away.

Gradually, though, they turned up one-by-one, and eventually the room was full. In hindsight not so surprising, given the fact that the main attraction – Denmark’s very own Nikolaj Coster-Waldau – is now an international star thanks to his portrayal of Game of Thrones’ Jaime Lannister.

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Joining Mr. Coster-Waldau on stage was geology professor Minik Rosing and journalist Martin Breum. The three of them immediately started talking Danish, which I wasn’t expecting, although I did manage to follow the discussion relatively well. The conversation flowed comfortably, with light-hearted moments here and there, and plenty of references to Coster-Waldau’s character and the show itself.

But the subject matter was far from light-hearted.

For me, Climate Change is real. I accept that there are many many questions, factors and studies that have all come up with something different, but I feel strongly enough about it to do whatever I can. The thought that my kids – or theirs – may be forced to find a different home within the next 50 years bothers me. And living so close to the water, in a very flat country, makes the reality even worse.

I’ve met my fair share of Climate Change deniers, but thankfully the up-to date modern thinkers of Copenhagen seem to have accepted it’s a proveable fact. Is there any need for them to be further persuaded by one of their most successful male exports? Probably not, but it can’t hurt to further hammer the point home.

I left feeling humbled. As I write this I find myself scratching my head trying to explain why. I think it’s because I had just taken photographs of a very well-known man who probably has enough wealth to “turn a blind-eye” to many issues that face the rest of the world. Yet the bottom line was, despite all the armour, make-up and showmanship, the real Jaime Lannister faces these global problems alongside the rest of us.

Words By Elijah James (Content Marketer) and Matthew James Harrison.

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This blog post originally appeared on www.photographybymatthewjames.com

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Britain’s Prince Harry Visits Copenhagen

Special Request

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The Prince is in Copenhagen today (Wednesday 25th) and tomorrow, and Matthew has been placed in a special press pool to gain access and provide exclusive photographic coverage. The visit has been somewhat shrouded with no official press releases from the official website of The Royal Family. However, we have learned that the visit came from a special request from the British Foreign Office, yet, the visit is more cultural than diplomatic.

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KPH– a creative hub

According to a statement from the Kensington Palace press office the trip is very much focused on social development where Prince Harry will meet young community leaders and up-and-coming entrepreneurs, especially because Prince Harry takes a special interest in initiatives that are environmental, cultural, and social. KPH works with small growing businesses and innovative startups to form a creative hub for these kind of projects.

Because the objectives are environmental, cultural, and social, KPH is the hub for associations, organizations, and businesses that aim to improve society which is a focus of the purpose of Prince Harry’s visit.

To see why the royal is so interested in visiting KPH take a look at this promotional video.

Royal Duties Incumbent

The startups that KPH supports are focused on aspects such as development, community, and inclusion, as well as change, opportunity, and social innovation, and growth, businesses orientation, and culture. With such a social outlook it is easy to see why a public figure with royal duties incumbent upon him would be so interested to get an inside look into the inner-workings of the organization.

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Reasons Why

Anne Katrine Heje Larsen, co-founder and CEO of KPH projects, had this to say about the reasons for the KPH hub’s existence and social relevance:

“We have great respect towards the people who choose to start a company, an organization or a project that contributes to society in one or several ways. We therefore wish to ensure that the program we have put together has a high level of quality and ambition. Our vision is to create a program which can contribute to creating economic sustainable entrepreneurs, no matter the business model and business format. Furthermore, we believe that diversity and interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary when it comes to thinking of innovative solutions, which is why the program targets social, cultural and environmental entrepreneurs.”

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Meet n’ Greet

Prince Harry met with KPH Residents who are part of the social hub and work together to make up the social initiatives. KPH also includes Volume– a 700m2 hall that was once a tram depot but has now become Copenhagen’s most authentic music and event venue.

The photographer’s perspective

Battling the wind in Denmark is no-one’s idea of fun. Sadly, there are rare occasions where you find yourself peddling in to what feels like a brick wall that’s sliding along in front of you. Add to that the rain, and two heavy cameras around your neck, and you’ve got a recipe for a jolly afternoon.

Thankfully I arrived in good time and found a spot – wait, was told where to stand – along with all the other photographers. The majority were Danes, of course, but I did identify BBC Royal Correspondent Nicholas Witchell (quietly sitting with his phone) in a trendy jacket and hat combo. The mood amongst the snappers was positive, especially when a police officer’s black Labrador decided to take a dump right where the Prince was due to alight from his vehicle. We all gingerly raised our long lenses and took a few cheeky pics whilst giggling like school boys (the women didn’t find it so amusing).

image

When Prince Harry arrived he was quick to shake hands with those waiting to greet him, before politely making his excuses and heading over to say hi to a small group of fans who presented him with flowers.

Around me, camera shutters fired like crazy, but the sound of the click-click-click increased to machine gun levels when Harry turned slightly in our direction. Gotta get that picture!

And in the blink of an eye he was making his way indoors to a part of the show we weren’t invited to see. We were told we’d see him again in an hour. I decided to go back to the office and crack on with the editing and writing.

This blog post originally appeared on www.photographybymatthewjames.com

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Fact: Danish Newspapers don’t care about swans!

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 wondrous event, with ideas swirling around ones head during the 20-minute bike ride.

Those of you who read our last blog (Barcelona, see below) may have noticed that it was written by a guy named Joe Miller, who recently started putting pen to paper for me. During a lengthy chat yesterday we discussed the stress of having so many ideas and thoughts buzzing around but not really having the time, money or man-power to execute them properly. In many ways it was quite a depressing conversation, the realisation that money plays a huge role in decision-making processes.

One of the things we are working hard on here at PBMJ is delivering a weekly journal entry every Wednesday, and it can be difficult to come up with interesting content on a regular basis. So far we think we’re doing quite well, but as always these things can always be improved.

Fortunately for me I have a rather large archive of former blog posts from the website denmark.dk, which sadly stopped running blogs late last year.

So this morning, when I decided to take a break from the office and swing by a very relaxed cafe for some breakfast, I started looking through my archive for some inspiration. And I found it in the shape of a swan!

When the post was first published I was relatively new on the scene in Copenhagen and my photography business skills were still trying to find their feet. I had no clients, my website(s) were still under construction and I had absolutely no direction or guidance. As a result, I often spent the afternoons aimlessly wandering around the city, trying to get my bearings. It was a bizarre time of my life.

During one of these wanderings I spotted a small crowd of people and went over to investigate. Low and behold, the police had stopped all traffic down Hyskenstræde due to a rogue swan sitting in the road, and if experience has taught me anything it’s that swans make great front page news. No?

Said experience came from my days as a photographer for the Derby Telegraph, where we once received a tip off from a guy who had spotted a family of swans walking down the road. “Wow, what a scoop,” I said sarcastically to the editor. “It’s a great story,” she frowned, “get down there.” Indeed it actually was and the picture made the front page the next day. I shit you not!

Back in Copenhagen I was papping away as our rogue swan sat and did nothing other than exist. Thankfully there were plenty of passersby who stopped to interact with the beast (who not only can snap your arm, but wants to) and I left with enough decent images to send to the local newspapers.

Now you have to appreciate at this stage, that getting in to the Danish newspaper industry was at the top of my list of things to do, so I began sending email after email to as many editors as I could find and eagerly awaited their replies. (By the way, the swan is Denmark’s national bird).

Needless to say, the responses didn’t come thick-and-fast, and those that did were a resounding ’No!’ I was partially devasted; why on earth could nobody see this was front page news?

image

Over time I figured it out, of course. Copenhagen is, after all, a city on the global stage. Presidents come and go, wind energy provides a ridiculous amount of power to the population, and the city is just alive with amazing people and events. It puts the swan to the bottom of the list, even on a slow news day.

But it’s bugged me ever since; trying to get your work noticed by ‘influencers’ in print and online is a huge task, and one that requires dedication and focus. Like I said, we’re working on it.

With all of this in mind, I can end on a high note, and some good advice for those of you struggling to get your foot in the door: try the back door instead!

It’s something I’ve advocated before, and will continue to do so in the future.

During my attempts to get Mr. Swan in the press, I found the head offices of Berlingske Media – a large publishing house in Denmark. I asked to speak with the Picture Editor, and after a quick phone call the receptionist told me to send her an email.

I understood the dismissal, of course, but it was probably the beginning of the end for my DK newspaper hopes and dreams. All I wanted was a chance to show off my portfolio and feel the hectic hum of a working newspaper office once again. That day it didn’t happen, and I abandoned the idea shortly after.

Then, a few months ago, I received a phone call from a friend of a friend, and he was looking for a regular photographer for monthly assignments. He worked for Berlingske.

We eventually negotiated a deal, which also gave me the opportunity to permanently hire a new addition to the team, and so began the growth of Photography by Matthew James.

That deal was broken in with an official tour of Berlingske’s office, and at long last I got to see the place for myself. I found myself longing for the regular job lifestyle all over again: the awesome canteen with great food, the outdoor balcony with views over the city, the journalists laughing at the TV as Donald Trump bullshitted his way through yet another debate. I confess I miss it all very much…

Sadly, the trend of staff photographers losing their jobs is on-going and seemingly irreversible. Which is why being a freelancer is harder now than ever, yet even more rewarding. There are job opportunities galore out there at the moment, as my calendar confirms.

And let’s not forget the attractive fact, that I am currently finishing off a Danish pastry whilst listening to some 60s tunes, surrounded by like-minded creative professionals.

My boss doesn’t give a shit!

This blog first featured on www.photographybymatthewjames.com

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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...

Back to Copenhagen

It's been a while... Hi folks, what's going on? Jesus, it's been a while, hasn't it? I bet some of you are even tired of me saying something along those lines. Anyway, I just wanted to say 'hi' and tell you what to expect from us here at PBMJ in the lead-up to...

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...

Journal Challenge Day Two

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com Work, sunshine, work, parties, repeat Day Two of the Daily Journal experiment, and I’ve had to force myself to start writing. I’ve got exactly 97 minutes before I need to be somewhere else, and...

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...

Danish Imports: The Neuropyschologist

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...

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...

Teaching Photography in Copenhagen

This entry was originally posted on my main journal over at www.matthewjames.dk One area of photography I don't shout about too much is my Shooting Copenhagen Workshops, but after this week it's probably about time I gave myself a pat on the back and shared the story...

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...

When Matthew “met” Noel Gallagher

When Matthew “met” Noel Gallagher

A brand new Career High has just been achieved

Throughout the next few paragraphs I’m going to break a couple of cardinal sins when it comes to blogging and acting professionally.

I’m going to:

Boast and brag about my job as a photographer
Not offer any guidance or advice to any of my readers
Talk about a celebrity encounter that has left me feeling on cloud nine

Tonight I have just photographed the one and only Mr. Noel Gallagher. Of those of you reading this who know me quite well, you’ll no doubt be aware of how influential this man has been to me since the age of 14. When so-called friends laughed and poked fun at me for being an Oasis fan back in the 90s it made it quite difficult to feel confident about declaring ones musical tastes. So I just tended to keep it to myself. Until I started at Buxton College in 1998 and met a new group of friends who were on board with the Brit Rock scene and helped me to embrace it. And so life went on.

Noel Gallagher, Roskilde Festival, Oasis, Live Music, Music photographer, music photography

Since then I have fallen in with different groups all around the world and finding Oasis fans amongst them has never been a problem. On the contrary; I’m fortunate enough to have a great bunch of mates who share (or have shared) the love and its been a huge part of the bonding process.

Which leads me to tonight’s encounter with Noel and his High Flying Birds, who took to the stage at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark at 8:30pm. I rushed to get here from Copenhagen, where I had a race to shoot for about an hour. With just minutes to spare (I’d bagged a reserved parking space and legged it to the press area as fast as possible) I was slightly pissed off to discover that my ‘press pass’ wasn’t valid in the photo pit, because it was missing the letter P. Bollocks, thought I. Nevertheless, I still found my way to the front of the crowd and began papping away like the enthusiastic little monkey that I am.

Three songs in and the photographers were told to leave, as is always the case after three songs at a gig. But I, on the other hand, had a prime spot at the front and managed to continue taking pictures. And the gig just kept getting better and better. It was pretty Oasis heavy, to be honest, but the crowd definitely didn’t seem to mind.

Lo-and-behold the end was nigh and Noel and Co. left the stage in my direction. Now’s the time, I thought, and clicked the shutter as if it was about to go beyond its use-by date. Which is when I got this little beauty – a keeper for the portfolio, I can tell ya.

Noel Gallagher, Roskilde Festival, Music Photography, Music Photographer

Noel Gallagher exits the stage at the end of his Roskilde Festival performance

I exited the arena too and meandered back to the press area, which just so happened to go right past the Artist Entrance / Exit. And who was coming out at that very moment? I don’t need to tell you, do I?

Not wanting a repeat of my Chris Moyles showdown, I managed to cooly give him the thumbs up, which he promptly returned before disappearing with his entourage to the safety of the Artists’ Camp. And that was that.

Writing blogs can be difficult, mainly because of the time it takes to write something thoughtful and constructive, whilst trying to be passionate and honest. It can take research and lots of will power to get to the end before you’re happy to press Publish. Which is why, just for a change, I wanted to give you, dear reader, a quick passionate insight in to why I fucking love my job.

Maybe I can offer some advice to you after all. Don’t waste your time hanging around with people who don’t support or respect what you do or love in life. I know I did. Instead, take the time to find people who share the same interests and feelings and run with them. They will be the ones who set you free on the path to an enjoyable and fascinating life.

I’d like to dedicate this post to Matt Lomas, Alan Cope, Johnny ‘Cakes’ Millane, and Jamie Knowlden.

Photography’s Commitment To The Environment

When we think of sustainability our attention is obviously drawn to areas such as fossil fuels like oil and gas and, especially, these days, that is to what the media’s attention relates to also. However, with that being said, what people do on a daily basis and the...

Aerial Photography Protecting The Planet

Aboard a tethered balloon, from an altitude of nearly 500 meters, when Gaspard-Félix “Nadar” Tournachon photographed Paris from above was the moment when we can trace the roots of aerial photography right back to 1858. Before airplanes entered the picture, photos were...

Regular Photography Turned Inside Out as Fujifilm X-Pro3 Officially Arrives

As part of a drive to rediscover “pure photography” is a rear screen that has been turned inside out.   Innovative Feature Tilting the screen downwards to become visible, the rear screen that faces inwards not outwards,is a bizarre yet extraordinary feature...

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...

Defining Street Photography, the Cartier-Bressonian Way

Street Photography pioneer Henri Cartier-Bresson has come to define the way the photography industry thinks about the genre. This article draws on sources that explains the way the genre has taken shape. Defining Street Photography Of what constitutes “street...

How a NASA Photographer Accidentally Touched Moon Dust 50 Years Ago.

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Even Photography Boffs Will Be Impressed By Polaroid’s New Camera.

    Vintage but not backwards. Whatever is in style right now, it seems, can make us feel like we’re in another decade. Vintage fashion, retro cars, and record players are all making a comeback.  Making the decision to jump in on the action, and by doing so...

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....

Famous Photographs That Inspired Film.

There has always been a sibling-like relationship between film and photography.   “The Horse in Motion” (1878) was a famous photographic series using an early movie projector called the zoopraxiscope invented by Eadweard Muybridge, a 19th-century photographer who...

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.

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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...

Photographer’s Picture of Bald Eagle Gets Overwhelming Response

The worldwide response to a photograph of a bald eagle has overwhelmed a Canadian amateur photographer who took the picture.   Initially posted on Facebook photography groups, Steve Biro snapped the image of Bruce the bald eagle at the Canadian Raptor...

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...

Ex-Oasis Photographer warns UK Risks Losing Classic Rock Archives.

Unless a dedicated museum is set up British musical history may be lost. According to one of The UK’s most celebrated photographers unless a dedicated museum is set up to preserve large swathes of classic British rock photography it could lose them all to private...

The Photography That Paved The Way For Apollo 11.

  A Desire To Capture. It can be hard to resist the urge to whip out your smartphone and snap a photo when you see a beautiful moon that is full and bright in the night sky. But this is an incredibly old impulse to capture the moon. Whether, it’s the...

Samsung reveals a phone with screens on both sides which could change photography forever.

Screens are multiplying! Offering photographers a truly revolutionary ability, Samsung has designed a smartphone with two or more screens.   The front and back display on the device has just been granted a patent. The gadget will be able to run speech translation...

Viral Photographer Quits To Make Bread.

Viral Photographer Quits To Make Bread. Amassing over 300,000 followers after dreamlike photos from Burning Man Festival went wildly viral online a few years ago, photographer Victor Habchy went on to become a Sony ambassador as his career took off. But, as of last...

First Professional Wedding Gig Shot by Photography Robot.

Would you hire a robot for your big day? Making the rounds for a few years now has been the news that robots are coming for our jobs. Many of us have nothing to fear despite automation increasingly taking over our lives, unless you’re a wedding photographer, maybe? A...

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...

Colour Photography Pioneer’s Images of Old Russia.

    Way Before Instagram A Revolution in the Use of Filters was Taking Place. Deep scientific roots underlie the art form we know of as photography today. Early pinhole cameras were both described by Euclid and Aristotle in ancient Greece. In order to...

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...

The Hidden Colours of the Moon Revealed by Photographer.

A Mineral Impact. Different minerals impact the Moon’s surface leaving different splashes of colour as shown by the enhanced photo of the Moon created by extracting colour data from 150,000 photos of the Moon composed by Sacramento-based astrophotography enthusiast...

Piccadilly Circus’ Neon Lights Reflected By Shiny Cars: the Photography of Nick Turpin.

    Advertising Reflecting. In London’s Piccadilly Circus vehicles are caught reflecting advertising to show how modern life embraces consumerism as shown by photographer Nick Turpin in his latest series, “Autos.” “Shiny new vehicles passing through the city...

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...

Capturing Cancer: Tumour Cells in Action.

Every year, researchers submit extraordinary images to the Science and Medical Imaging competition which tells the story of pioneering work and its benefits for patients. Replicating cancer cells invade the blood vessels.     Each year, The Institute of...

Selfie Harm.

Selfie Harm. Witness the scary results of Photoshopped portraits done by teens at the behest of professional photographer Rankin as part of his project called “Selfie Harm.”     Unnaturally Perfect. Unnaturally perfect social media photos are being made...

Young Marketing Guru Who Helped Photo of Egg Go Viral on Instagram.

Going Viral Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few weeks you should be fully aware of the photo of an egg that went viral and claimed the top spot for having the most liked photo on Instagram. The simple photo of an ordinary, brown egg has garnered...

600 Years of Architecture in Mexico.

A History of Architecture. German photographer Candida Höfer presents an image set which documents Mexico’s architectural history from shadowy nooks to decorative Baroque churches and is to be exhibited in Sean Kelly’s New York gallery. On a trip across Mexico four...

The Story of the Desert as Told by the Dubai Photography Exhibition: Inhabited Deserts.

Dramatic Landscapes. Some of the most dramatic landscapes across the world have been captured by UAE-based explorer Max Calderan and Italian photographer John R Pepper through their much renowned collaboration. It was never going to be the usual desert landscapes when...

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...

Aura Photography’s Clairvoyant and Colourful History.

Aura of the Object in Art. From an artwork’s unique presence in space and time stems a mystical force that comprises its “aura” - the loss of which by 1936 cultural critics like Walter Benjamin were lamenting. In his essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical...

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.

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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

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

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Further To The NorthSide

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Jacob Cockle: in Life & in Death.

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How a Shot Went Viral is Revealed by The Royal Wedding Photographer.

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Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

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