2011- a year in 40 photos - Norfolk photographer Chris Taylor
I've spent today going through my images from last year and over the coming days will be posting some of my favourites, I've split them into Weddings, Portrait/pre-wedding shoots and Other - I'm going to start with Other.The below are 40 images, mostly personal work but a few in there that I was paid to do, from 2011 which I've selected either because the images mean a lot to me or because I was excited to be able to capture them, I'll try to explain....The first three are images from an annual photography workshop I go on run by an amazing collective of 40 or so professional photographers called MV (My Vision) of which I am proud to be a part. The workshop is geared towards improving photojournalism skills, each photographer taking part is given an assignment for two days to cover an organisation or business or event. At the end of each day the teams get together & critique the images with the aim of going back the next day & improving on the first day. This year the workshop was held in Brighton and my assignment was street photography in & around the businesses & lanes of Brighton Square. I love this shot of the pigeon leaving the fountain, some people have looked at it and said "Well, you've missed it haven't you!", but I did capture the pigeon in full in the capture before this one but it was too obvious & ordinary, I like the fact you can only see the bird's tail & feet & trail of droplets it's leaving behind as it flies off.
The below shot is one of a series of landscapes I shot at Happisburgh beach, North Norfolk of the bent sea defences, it really demonstrates the power of the North Sea yet the image seems so peaceful with not even a ripple in the pool of seawater on the landward side of the defences. I believe these have all been ripped up now to put in new defences so I got in there just in time!
The below monotones were some shots I did of Charlie & Will getting ready for bed one night, nothing out of the ordinary but they capture a moment in time in a typical school-night in our house that people probably wouldn't often bother documenting & I love em!
April 2011 saw some incredible sunsets along the North Norfolk coast, below is just one of many I caught along the fabulous coast road between Sheringham & Hunstanton.
In May we had a family holiday to Majorca, to be honest I hardly took my camera out of the bag but I liked this lonely tree on the beach....
In late May we had the second Sheringham & Cromer Crab & Lobster festival, a fantastic event over Fri, Sat & Sun at the end of May. The event opened with a concert in the Cromer Pier Pavilion theatre by the Sheringham Shantymen & the Cromer Smugglers, a few minutes into the concert I realised I had left a lens in my car that I wanted so I wandered back along the prom to get it & on my return along the beach I spotted the below shot, can't beat a good reflective sunset!
As part of the crab & lobster festival, Sheringham fishing legend Lenny 'Teapot' West was on hand again demonstrating the art of hand making crab & lobster pots. I was really pleased to get such an expressive shot of Lenny as he's usually very reserved, I just wish I could remember what I said to elicit this reaction!
During the Sunday of the crab festival comedian Ade Edmondson (and a long-time comedy hero of mine - I grew up watching The Young Ones!) appeared with a TV crew filming for his series 'Ade in Britain', below you can see him interviewing Lenny West.
I spotted this double rainbow over Bodham on the way back from a wedding at one of my favourite wedding venues - Voewood near Holt. Couldn't help but pull over and take some shots.
In June I was hugely honoured to be asked to photograph the wedding of two highly respected photographers - Duncan Kerridge & Suzanne Fossey - no pressure there then!
In July I had the trip of a lifetime to the arctic circle to Senja Island in Northern Norway to stay at this incredible building known as Krakeslottet (Norwegian for Crow's Castle). My brother Nik has been out here every year for the last four years as an artist & this year was the main artist-in-residence of their Arti-Juli - July arts festival - you will see a little shed on the roof of the main building in the shot below - that was handmade by Nik as part of his installation.
There were always porpoises in the bay out the front of the building, lovely to sit & watch in the evenings (although not conventional evenings as the sun doesn't actually set at this time of year so it just turns into one amazing long sunset/sunrise as the sun bobs along the horizon).
Below is a pattern the rainwater run-off made in the sand as it deposited darker mineral, I thought it almost resembles the branches/roots of a plant.
Below is the hut that was my home for the week - about 50 yards along the coast from the main building, it was originally built from stones with an upturned boat as a roof as a sauna but it's heat retention wasn't any good so they left the burner in & put a bed in. It was an amazing place to sleep every night, literally only a few metres from the lapping seashore.
I love the light & colour in the below shot of some salt cod being air dried - apparently these are what they have for Christmas dinner out there.
While in Norway I was thrilled to receive an email from Michael Palin's agent saying that Michael had agreed to let me photograph him on his visit to talk at the Holt Festival. I had written to his agent weeks beforehand to ask if I could have a few minutes to photograph Mr Palin & his agent said No but that he would show Michael my letter on his return from filming in South America. Michael read my letter & said he'd be happy to give me a few minutes, great result! On his arrival in Holt Mr Palin was exactly as charming & pleasant as his travel shows portray him to be, a true gentleman & he certainly knew how to produce some interesting expressions for the camera!
In August the Crab & Lobster festival held their auction for the deckchairs that has made the Deckchair Trail throughout North Norfolk. A couple of hundred local businesses and organisations had bought the deckchairs & decorated them as they wished, the chairs were then left with businesses around the area to form a trail for people to follow, ticking them off as they went. On the 28th August all of the chairs were brought together on Cromer pier & auctioned off for charity. Below was the chair I did, I was really pleased to see mine go for a staggering £250 (third or fourth highest of the lot I believe).
Summertime in North Norfolk is a fantastic place for children (and big kids like me!) and I always like to try to take the kids over to Blakeney Quay at least once during the summer to play in the creek & the lovely squishy, slidey mud. Charlie & Will certainly enjoyed it although I had forgotten how difficult it is to get off skin & clothes afterwards!
On the 26th September my brother Andy & his wife May gave birth to twins - a boy - Leo and a girl Tiger-Lily. There were a tough few weeks in September due to Leo having to spend a fair bit of time in the Norfolk & Norwich Neonatal ICU due to complications with his birth. Thankfully the amazing staff at the hospital nursed Leo through some very touch & go days and I'm pleased to say he is completely healthy & doing really well now.
Below, Charlie & Will meet the twins (with the twins' big brother Zach proudly looking on)...
In early October I was hugely honoured to be asked to do a post-wedding portrait shoot for my good friend & fellow photographer Simon Buck and his wife Rachel - they were married years ago but didn't have a pro at their wedding (have a word!) so we went back to their wedding venue - the fabulous Hales Hall & messed about for an hour or so getting some lovely shots & having a laugh.
At the end of October I travelled round the North coast of Scotland with three friends (also professional photographers), taking in the scenery, doing some walking & trying not to get drowned by the massive waves rolling in! Below are a few of my favourite shots from the trip...
November, once again saw the arrival of Movember - sponsored moustache growing and I was pleased to be able to help out the Norfolk Movember organiser Chris Wall & his trusty team of follically-gifted Mo Bro's in getting some shots ahead of Movember's commencement to be used in PR & advertising. We had a funny evening on the pier at Cromer, attracting attention from various bemused onlookers.
At the end of November the Norfolk Movember group hosted a celebratory get together at the Hog in Armour in Norwich with various prize-givings, bands and an auction. I was totally shocked when they announced the Norfolk Man of Movember & all turned around wearing a familiar looking face!
So that was pretty much 2011 for me outside of paid work - next post will be examples of some of my favourite Norfolk wedding photography showing some of Norfolk's top wedding venues & ideas for your North Norfolk wedding photography!