Little Black Submarines.

My first, and quite probably last experience of being a wedding photographer.
Maybe in time, the memory of the stress and nerves will disappear and I'll consider doing another (I've already been asked), but for now, Ben and Kate look like being the only ones...

Having said that, it was a great day and they are a wonderful couple. They put no pressure on me whatsoever and I thank them for the opportunity. The idea that my pictures will be the lasting memories from their wedding day is quite an honour.

Thanks to Ash Brown too. I asked Ash to come along and be my back-up, but if the truth be known, he was the creative one, and some of my favourite pictures of the day are his (including two of those below. I won't tell you which though).

 

An ePetition for Road Improvements.

Tonight I visited the spot where 2 toddlers were killed after being hit by a car that had just been hit by another. This sounds like a freak chain of events until you spend a few minutes at the junction where it happened. When you do, you see that all the ingredients are in place to mean that, while not inevitable, some tragedy was likely to happen.

I had been sent a link to an ePetition earlier in the day and while studying road layouts is not something I make a habit of, this story was so awful, yet so close to home, that I was interested to understand what had contributed to it.


It was a chilling site with the pile of now dried out flowers and still the yellow, spray-painted markings showing the path of the cars and what I imagine is the final position of the pushchairs.

I have no link to the people involved, nor is it a junction I use very often. My concern and support for this cause has nothing to do with me being a cyclist either - although it does bring road dangers into sharper focus.
I'm not sure either that a petition is the right thing to do, but what else is there? How else can fellow human beings show compassion and tell someone that those kids didn't need to die like that?
And of course the road layout wasn't entirely to blame. Unless there was some mechanical failure, it is safe to assume that someone did something they shouldn't have and I feel sorry for them having to live with that for the rest of their lives. But if those 4 lanes narrowing to one, or the illegally parked cars did contribute, shouldn't we at least try to get something done about it?


You can follow links to the petition below and I hope you will join me in showing that the death of two young children should not be tolerated and something positive must come out of this...

From Rob, "I was horrified and not in the least bit shocked by the fatal accident at the Junction of Narborough Road and Braunstone Gate earlier this month. I requested the council allow me to launch an ePetition and the approval came through at the weekend. I was hesitant in hind-sight about sharing it, fearing appearing like a little-Englander. However, while waiting at that junction yesterday I saw one car jump a red light and a van take an illegal right turn. Please sign my petition if you are as concerned about the safety of people at this junction. "

Link to the ePetition

Bylem przerazony i zaszokowany okropnym wypadkiem, ktory zdarzyl sie na skrzyzowaniu Narborough Road i Braunstone Gate na poczatku tego miesiaca.

Zarzadalem od Urzedu Miasta zeby pozwolili mi zapoczatkowac ePetycje. W zeszly weekend otrzymalem pozwolenie.

Kiedy wczoraj czekalem na tym skrzyzowaniu, widzialem samochod, ktory przejechal na czerwonym swietle oraz busa, ktory skrecil w niedozwolonym miejscu.

Prosze podpisz moja Petycje, jesli tez jestes zaniepokojony bezpieczenstwem ludzi na tym skrzyzowaniu.

Mowi ona:

MY, nizej podpisani rzadamy od Urzedu Miasta, zeby sprawdzil konstrukcje skrzyzowania Braunstone Gate i Narborough Road w LE3 oraz, zeby skontrolowal obecne przepisy drogowe, aby upewnic sie, ze bezpieczenstwo pieszych oraz rowerzystow nie jest zagrozone, szczegolnie po tragicznym wypadku oraz smierci dwoch dzieci z dnia 6 sierpnia 2012.

Predkosc pojazdow przy tym skrzyzowaniu znacznie wzrosla, od kiedy droga zostala poszerzona ze wzgledu na nowo otwarty supermarket.

Ograniczenia predkosci oraz przepisy ruchu drogowego przy Braunstone Gate sa ignorowane oraz nie sa egzekwowane, co zagraza bezpieczenstwu osob pieszych oraz rowerzystow.

Rzadamy:

- Egzekwowania podwójnych żółtych linii na przeciwko fryzjera na Braunstone Gate.
- Egzekwowania zakazu postoju - Zig-Zagow przy przejsciu dla pieszych na skrzyżowaniu Braunstone Gate, oraz zbadanie jego konstrukcji
- Egzekwowania ograniczenia prędkości na całym skrzyżowaniu, gdzie Narborough Road zwęża się z 3 do 2 pasów wokół tego skrzyżowania
- Zainstalowania kamery ruchu ulicznego, ktora przylega do czerwonych świateł, gdy jedzie sie w kierunku zachodnim na Narborough Road
- Egzekwowania zakazu skretu w prawo od Hinckley Road do Narborough Road
-
Ta ePetycja trwa od 07/08/2012 do 04/09/2012 i można ja znaleźć na http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/mgEPetition

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=36&RPID=5982066&HPID=5982066

If I Get Lucky Mama...

Tonight was the rehearsal for Kate and Ben's wedding. I'm super excited about having the privilege of providing them with the pictures that will be the memory of their day forever. However, it is really dark in that church and the forecast isn't good...

Me. In shock

 

So, yesterday I was hit by a bus.
To save me typing it, you can hear the recording I made on my phone after I came out of the Police station. The second recording is after I'd been back to the scene and pieced together a bit more of the 'evidence' that I'd missed in the heat of the incident.
It's in the same Soundcloud link below and in it, I sound a little more shocked having thought through what might of happened. (There is a little bit of potty-mouth in there, but I WAS quoting).
Me. In shock on Soundcloud.

I'm still not sure how I feel about it 24 hours on.
I've ridden in the city for years and have had hairy moments before. They usually happen as a result of peoples ignorance or laziness. Yesterday's was different as the guy meant it.

What does stick with me is that it was another example of people doing things with no concept of the possible consequences. It's like the people that drive up our (30 MPH) residential road at 60 or 70 miles an hour. Travelling at that speed, if something goes wrong (a blow-out, swerving to avoid an animal/child/cyclist, or making a spelling mistake on the text they're writing) on a motorway might mean crossing lanes or at worst hitting a barrier. On our street, it means their car ending up in our front room.
The guy driving the bus yesterday was 'teaching me a lesson'. It was afterall, his 'f---ing road' and sure, driving his double-decker into me certainly got my attention. In his mind, he believed the situation was under control and he knew what he was doing.
I can only hope that the witnesses, the Police and the bus company would have taken the incident seriously if I hadn't been able to tell anyone what happened.

I was riding in to town for the opening of the Leicester Lo-Fi Photography group's exhibition at the Leicester People's Photographic Gallery. It was a chance to see the work of a group of enthusiasts for lo-fi photography in all its forms, from fairly standard 35mm film photography through pinholes, sun prints and even an Afghan Box Camera.

They also had plenty of kit to have a go with. You could build your own pinhole camera or use one of their 'birdbox' models.

My Pompino has been photographed on all sorts of cameras and in all situations. Above is my first attempt at pinhole photography and developing. It had to be a picture of my Pomp. 2 minutes and 20 seconds exposure, another 5 minutes swilling the paper in various darkroom tanks then scanning into digital form. Certainly not a 'snap', but I love the results all the same and plan to build a pinhole box camera soon. 

The Afghan box camera was amazing. The developing is done manually within the camera in two lunchbox sized tanks. The world largest instant? You can read about the project and the history here: afghanboxcamera.com

Here's my portrait taken on it.