A four week trip on the trains in northern India is nearing completion.  We, my daughter Morag and me, have flitted around the country on and off trains on a 3 or 4 daily basis visiting some of the seminal sights of northern India and seeing the country in the raw in between. And there is much to see and more than a few surprises.  But it has always been an enjoyable and exciting experience.  A long held desire to visit India combined with Morag’s wish to get in touch with India came together in August and September (2016). 

It has been focused on photography and a search for the real India.  Sounds heroic but the camera opens up so many avenues of engagement.  Particularly on trains as the world passes by and people engage.  2 AC is what foreigners are expected to do and we need to book ahead.  So it has been highly structured.  Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, and finally Amritsar with a base in New Delhi.  All at the tail end of the monsoon and summer heat.  It has been hot and Varansi was particularly challenging because of floods.  But we quickly got into the routine of going out at sunrise and returning to our hotel for 12-4 pm and then out again for sunset.  And it works well to avoid the heat of the day.  Hotels have been good and not always budget.  They have also been almost empty because this is not the tourist season.

The trains have always been busy and it is a culture shock but it is the real India you see.  Uncensored and trundling past your window as you wake up in the morning to the sound of Chai or panne or much else.

For photography well I continue to shoot with the D800and continue after 3 years to expand and improve how I use it.  Perhaps it reflects the amount of time I have recently been able to spend shooting with it.  But it is a fine tool.  It has become a reflex and the only limitation it has is its iso sensitivity beyond 3200.  Which is a draw back yet given the recent improvement in this area is hardly a criticism.

The Indian multitude wants its photograph taken.  The difference between here and the UK is astounding. 

Highly recommended.

Alex

Chamonix 2015 Ski Season

After nine weeks of skiing in Chamonix I am home and working on my portfolio.  One of the outcomes of the trip is a new book in the offing.  This will be a monochrome work and is nearing completion.  It is highly focussed and is an emotional response to being in the Chamonix valley in the depths of winter, skiing every day in good and bad weather.  Living to life's beat in the snowy days and the sunny days.  And lots of wind.

I started out thinking I would be very formal and shoot with a tripod.  But in the end that just wasn't possible.  The best photographic opportunities, as it transpired, were in gales of wind and it was so cold -15ºC some days and -30ºC on top of the Midi that I could not hang around to fiddle with a tripod.  Also I shot with my trusted Nikon D800.  I am very happy with this camera.  The photographic world raved about it when it came out and then moved on.  Sure it has been superseded by the D810 but in reviewing the detail in these RAW files; it is a truly stunning camera.  The best I have had to date.

So here are some shots.  I have put a lot more on the home page of my website:  http://www.mountain-photography.net

Vintage Glastonbury - 2013 Was About the Rolling Stones

After Glastonbury I bathe in a post Glastonbury glow as I trawl through my images.  My memories of of music and people and much else floods past.  2013 was vintage.  Because the Stones played and it was such a privilege to be there.  As the girl in the Nelson Mandela Bar said after the gig - that was the Stones.  I cannot believe I saw them.  And so it was it was like a surreal dream.  They came on and you just couldn't believe they were real.  And with time and the smoke and the emotion and the colour and the sounds it became more and more surreal.

And there was such warmth from the crowd to them.  Clearly it was special for everyone.

And then there was the D800.  It was the first major event I have shot with it.  There has been so much written about it by people who get it one day and review it profoundly the next but who don't try it out in the heat of a must get the shot situation.  Well this is undoubtedly, for me, the best camera in the world.  Yes there are other more expensive cameras and there are quicker cameras.  And there are more forgiving cameras.  But when you get it "right" with this camera it has a tonal range and quality that is above and beyond my expectations.  Difficult to describe but the D700 became an extension of my photographic vision and in time so will the D800.  And it will take time because it is unforgiving.  Especially when in one minute you move form a dark festival tent and flashing strobes into bright sunlight and then onto night time.  But it has all the right capabilities and more.

The "Glastonbury Vibe" Coming to an iPad Near You

There are several reasons to be cheerful. Our Glastonbury book has gone to the distributor.  When I say our, I mean this is a photographic documentary of the Glastonbury Festival and contains images from both Alasdair and myself.  250 images to be precise.  So it has been a serious undertaking and covers 3 Glasto festivals.

I find writing a cathartic experience.  Also I enjoy the challenge of doing a photo book.  It is a historical record of my photography at this time.  This time around I have used Apple's iBook Author.  This was not an easy decision as it restricts the book to those that have an iPad.  Nevertheless I am using iBook Author because it allows me much greater flexibility in how I present the book.  I have been able to include YouTube clips from some of my favourite Glastonbury sets which help to bring the book alive.  Also I very much appreciate the ease with which you can produce what is a very slick presentation format.  Like much of what Apple does - it just works.  And effortlessly.  Following on the challenges and tribulations of trying to achieve photographic quality in an eBook format, by comparison iBook Author is a dawdle and much more.

So the book should be in the iBookstore in the next few weeks.  I will confirm the date nearer the time.

Meanwhile it is back to the mountains.  Where I belong :-)

The Golden People - Death of Michael Jackson

Trash City Mega Phone Music

Silhouetting The Ting Tings on the Other Stage

The Boss on the Pyramid Stage

Tabernas Turbidites and Cowboys

I always wanted to visit Tabernas in Andalucia and see the deepwater turbidites.  And also the cowboys.  For a week last week we drove around the ramblas and inspected the world class outcrops.  Many thanks to my colleagues and I dedicate these images to all those in Car 5.  May you always be strapped up and your sense of humour never leave you :-)

And here are the outcrops and the cowboy.  I include the perro who is  a contemporary Spanish native.

Perro.

Looks marginal to me - the devil is in the architecture.

Tabernas Europe's only desert world class mostly confined tubidite systems.

Modern cowboys have PDAs and still shoot.

Sunday Morning Reading

A couple of articles in the FT make interesting reading this morning.  One does not expect quality photographic critique on the FT, but these days you take it where you can get!!

The first is an interview with Cindy Sherman.  For those not familiar with her work then this article reveals a great deal.  It is a prelude to her forthcoming retrospective at MOMA.  Say no more:

Cindy Sherman in the FT.


The second is a more difficult concept to get your head around but nevertheless a thought provoking one.  A review of a project on Israel with a group of the most famous photographers in the world.  Sounds extreme and from reading the article, seems.  If you are interested on how Koudelka and Shore and Struth spend their days then this a is a little, but not huge insight.

FT Ways of Seeing.

Finally the reason for my long time silence is that I am busy and that includes another book.  I always wanted to publish my Glastonbury homage.  And with a year off - the Olympics in June will use up all available portaloos in the country- this is the time to do it.


As a taster here is a photo from Chumbawamba in the Avalon Tent - not many musicians can play the tie!!

Everest Here Continents Collided In a Store Near You

Finally and I mean what an amazing feeling to have this book out there!!

You can get a copy here:

https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000001219/Everest-Here-Continents-Collided.html

Enjoy the book.  I wrote it for you :-)

Alex

 Now what will I do next?  Maybe climb a mountain!!!

Latest book to the distributor

Everest Here Continents Collided has now gone to the distributor.  I expect the 160 page book to be available from eBookit in a couple of weeks and thereafter Amazon, iBookstore and Barnes and Noble by October.

You can follow the book blog at

Everest Here Continents Collided

Elsewhere you can already find my "Kate and Wills Royal Wedding" book on Amazon or iBookstoe.  Again in eBook format. 

Glastonbury - Paul Simon and Bono Rock

I feel a bit odd at Glastonbury, and not because you are in a tent city with 180,000 people. And strangely at home at the same time.  There is something for everyone and for me as a photographer there is a compelling photographic story from the moment you get up in the morning to when you crawl into your tent in the wee small hours.  The older acts are inspirational and this year non more than BB King at 85 and Paul Simon at 70.  There is something amazingly uplifting to see an 85 year old man playing the guitar sitting down and in front of 100k+ people.  And then you have the young acts trying to make their mark, but few will be around when they are 70 I would guess!!!

Then there are the headline acts.  U2 were outstanding however I am identifying my generation here.  Coldplay no less so.  For these events I stood up close wishing to photograph the individual artists.  For Beyonce I decided to stand back on the hill to capture the broader perspective. Eventually when I made it up the hill I was sitting on my own watching it all beneath me like a surreal model, but in real life.  The remarkable thing about this image is how clear Beyonce is on the stage.  The image reminds me of a Gursky image I saw years ago where despite having thousands of people present at the event that one key person stands out.  And so she did!!!

 Beyonce Glastonbury 2011

 U2 - The streets with no name

 BB King - The Godfather of Jazz

 Don Maclean - American Pie

 Paul Simon - The Boy in the Bubble.  An understatement to say a living legend

 Dance Village

Glasto  Stonehenge

Glastonbury 2011 Preparations for the Annual Pilgrimage

Four more days and we will head down the long M6 to Glastonbury on our annual pilgrimage.  Al and I have reviewed the images from the previous two years and are fired up for it.  Al for the music and me for the photographic opportunities which abound.  And of course the music.  I am excited to see the anarchistic Chubawamba and the consummate U2.  On previous years we have seen 40 bands in a weekend and it remains astounding even on this the third run around.  Difficult to convey other than say that it is a feast of what is good in contemporary culture.  And in a way it keeps me contemporary.  It allows me to slip thing into the conversation like the Bombay Bicycle Club or Let's Buy Happiness or Enter Chakari hopefully in the right places and context.  My favourite spot where I normally have my Glastonbury moment is in the corner of the John Peel tent where I normally snooze in the morning sun and listen to the latest bands.

If you are there say hello.

Alex

The Late and Great Clarence Clemons The E Street Band

Top Guys

Michael Jackson 2009

Waiting

Stevie Wonder Pyramid Stage 2010

Fun

Marina and the Diamonds John Peel Stage 2010

John Peel Tent

Thursday 2010 waiting orderly for the start

La Bourgogne an incredible landscape and a remarkable hotel

In April I drove back down memory lane across the Bourgogne in central France.  It was one of those unexpected days.  I had no plans to be there but was and it was wonderful.  The fields were full of colourful rape seed and the countryside lay out in front of me like a regulated carpet.  I could not believe the intensity of the landscape and the depth of my feelings.  The yellows and greens in the brilliant sunshine were without parallel.  France has it all.

  I had been here 20 years before drilling an unsuccessful exploratory oil well.  On the edge of the Champagne district.  And here I was again driving thorough visiting my old haunts and reliving how beautiful and rich this part of France is.  It is a paradise of agriculture and alcohol and when I was here in in 1989 they were celebrating 200 years of Republic.  I stopped at the Champagne hotel and the Maitre D agreed with me that it is paradise but it is a tough time in France.  Delivering the promise is no longer guaranteed. 

The night before I stayed in the Grand Hotel Terminus Reine in Chaumont.  It was one of those places you visit that is unforgettable.  For two reasons.  The owner was a hunter and in the middle of all the richness of decor and flowers and leopard skin upholstery there were these fabulous animal heads protruding everywhere from the walls and from all over the world. When I went upstairs it was completely transformed with bold colours, blue walls and orange doors and fabulous wall art.  And why?  Because this is the town that hosts the world poster competition - of course why didn't I know.

Grand Hotel Terminus Reine Chaumont - Heads and posters

Grand Hotel - Leopard skin furniture and stuffed pig

Room 64

Bourbon Stairwell

Rape Seed and Pylons

La Bourgogne at it's best - amazing empty roads and vistas

Country Roads

Maitre D Champagne Hotel - Would only serve a 5 course meal at 3 in the afternoon - where else?

The Royal Wedding Three Days of Photographic Nirvana

My three days in London photographing the royal wedding were unmissable.  For those that think why photograph a wedding? Then think again!!!I didn't have permission to enter the Abbey.  But the circus that developed around it was fascinating.  The worlds media were there in force and they worked themselves up into a frenzy.  Witness the cream of world "anchors" out on the streets around Buck House and the Abbey.  and the cameras everywhere and of every type.  Days of building small camera platforms for coverage and then all the hand held video camera crews roaming the street searching for the "soul" of the population.  What they found of course was a lot of unusual people many of whom had travelled from the US and Australia etc to camp out in front of the Abbey.  And on them photographers pounced.  A little like Catch 22 they could not sleep in their pop up tents because they were always being woken by CNN or CNBC or XYZ.

And then the Royals arrived and they ran a show that involved thousands of military and police and it all played out in front of us on the Mall with an energy and verve which was remarkable to observe.  And to photograph.  The Lord of the Rings like rush of the Death Eaters swept down the Mall with a determination that cannot be seen on the television screens.  The video images will move on but the still image captures the moment for posterity!!!!!

Attached are some rush images.  The important ones will come later after some reflection. 

Kate and Wills on the Mall

Family Wedding Image

Andrew and family

Cavalry rush down the Mall

All that shinny brass not to forget the head gear

Demonstration against war

Stan Peppar 91.  Friend of the Beatles and Chelsea Pensioner

Channel 5 Presenter for the Kate and Wills Wedding