Work, Rest and Play

 Here is the link for my book hope you all enjoy it, it has been a remarkable year getting this together and now it is finally here yay! So please share the link and if you like it BUY IT!http://www.blurb.com/b/4257984-work-rest-and-play?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget

Its full of some great street shots I have taken over the course of a year, and I have enjoyed shooting this book.

Thanks for your support!


David Rothwell

Long Time No See

Well, well

Hi all, this is probably gonna be a right blurt! I have not been on this blog for a while and haven't really posted anything on here for such a while.

Have started a new blog using the word press format, I like it! But I have also been so busy, with my own photography and so many assignments one in particular was my 'first' try at making a film about my photography. I really enjoyed making the film; Work, Rest and Play. The version is a film short, however the full version will be available towards the end of the summer, that is if we ever do get a summer! 

Continuing with that theme, I also have been busy shooting more material for the book of the same title. I recently concentrated on New Brighton for this set and am looking to go and shoot some more material in Manchester. It's starting to rain and Manchester can produce some amazing light under a dark sky!

You can view my recent post on my other blog too Boston Triumphs! Which is a perfectly good reason to read about how a city has triumphed over adversity.



Star Spangled Banner ©David Rothwell

It gives me inspiration to be positive about things in life, and that is a really good thing! So just going off kilter, I have to remind you that the annual 1940s Weekender is coming up in May 18 -19 2013 at Haworth If you have never been and are going to be visiting the picturesque county of Yorkshire, then why not pop by...it's a real tonic!

Last year we had a genuine spitfire, and this year promises to be a lot more exciting, I think we may have George Formby Tribute this year too.

So plenty of opportunity to get dressed up 1940s style or get a camera out and shoot some vintage footage. I was there last year and it really is authentic like stepping back in time into a period drama.

One of the shots from my recent shooting trip, this one taken at the Colwyn Bay 1940s weekend. The theme was there, however it just wasn't as authentic as it was in Haworth. It was too close to a main road and to be honest cars of this century going past is not what this event is about, so if you really do want that nostalgic feel to it, then your best bet is Haworth.

What I will say is this that the re-enactment crews were brilliant and hats off to them for putting on a good show.

So my next trip out should be an eventful one, am currently working on a project too for my last assignment. Five photographs in total, and I have to focus on three photographers too. Which is not too hard it just begs the question which three?

I was thinking about Duane Michals and a brief thematic that would entail maybe a story involving sub framing techniques and out of bounds photography. Which to be honest sounds really appealing to myself, last night in the studio I began a few shots and had limited resources, however am sure I can pull this technique off.

You may remember from my other post Music is the Answer that I gain inspiration from music for my photography, well I been looking at Pink Floyd album covers and the titles to certain tracks etc. So of course if you have seen my  Tears Among The Trees work, you will know that I shoot a lot of surreal self portraiture, I enjoy it and you really do set the scene yourself you are in fact in the style of Cindy Sherman conceptual portrait photographer, however my work has a different approach, I also shoot duplicity so am playing two to three characters!

I have to go back to that place too very soon, so I can place the next part of the story in there. Yes, yes a bit more long winded than an episode of BROADCHURCH Which I have to say is beautifully written and quite the epic it has turned out to be. Brilliantly acted out too by the actors Olivia Colman and David Tennant.

So for now I will leave you so you can watch that epsiode! For now I better catch up on some other form of typing for my assignment.

Farewell for now!



A Brief Encounter

A Brief Encounter, a photo by David Rothwell (rothwell172) on Flickr.

A shot of a couple engaged in conversation, chattering about tales at the beach while the sun shines through. A brief encounter perhaps?

Llynnau Mymbyr Winter [Explored]

Llynnau Mymbyr Winter [Explored], a photo by David Rothwell (rothwell172) on Flickr.

These three; in this mini series are test shots for an upcmoing project on April 6th 2013 entitled One Minute On Earth

If any of you are currently shooting a 365 + Project may be you would like to get involved for more information please see the link below.

The photographs will get voted for a book, so if your happy for your work to be displayed you can register at www.kujaja.com

Thanks for looking.

Cinematographer...

Well, well I never thought I would ever consider myself to be a Cinematographer. That said it is currently my assignment, so far I have made a fairly good draft using Adobe Premiere Elements 11. It is meant to be two minutes in length, however looking at my peers work of such length am not overly impressed.

I cannot see how someone like my target market can grasp my photography in such a short length of timescale, alas I digress. One thing for sure I definitely did notice was 'artistic' my draft is so far. It does reflect my style of photography very well, once my final edit is complete and I have completed the credits and subjected a movie score to the images I will post on here via Vimeo.

I have been watching a lot of amateur film makers work on Vimeo and to be honest I would not normally use the term amateur. These guys seem like Pros!

A lot of photographers have developed certain styles and one particular photographer has re-awakened a particular style of photography, Ian Ruhter AKA The Alchemist is known for his daguerreotyping which was the first commercially successful photographic process, his photography is shot on these rather large metal plates. Obviously with this style of photography, it is shot in brightly sunlit conditions for the process to be at an optimum. It is known as wet plate photography today.

Here is a interesting video if you haven't viewed his work, I would suggest you follow him on Vimeo

Le Métro©David Rothwell All Rights Reserved

For now I will post a 'still' from my short film...

Drowned DSLR

Okay, so one minute your there taking in the beautiful and very captivating; view of a river in winter in Wales. You have shot a few off and decide to move to get a wider view of the river.

Now when shooting in rivers especially in the UK and especially after some heavy snowfall you can expect to be a little bit wet under foot, you wrap up warm you have your special rubber grip gloves, and a trusty sturdy tripod. This tripod of course is made by a very reputable company particulary in photographers circles, a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with ball head.

So you have been shooting and you move your camera, I always switch off my camera after a shot in the snow or the rain or in this case; a river. Your camera holds a charge, and it is best advice to switch off, after a shot. I did two minutes later, and an unexpected increase in the water level lifted the tripod out of its firm hold and elevated the poor thing and camera into the water; I was of course oblivious as I was reaching into my kit bag to change a lens.

The initial reaction was to just pick it up, I did at once up the small hill, straight to the car, tripod off battery out, lense off and memory card out. Turn engine on, heater on, whack it up full blast and air conditioning on too. Well that a few bags of long grain rice; and plenty of hair dryer sessions and good old tungsten lights which worked as TLC lamps for my Canon 60D DSLR 108 hours later and my drowned DSLR had come back to life!

Yes, yes I am a happy man, yes I am insured but when you have a claim already for another camera, you really do want to keep your preimums down! I was ecstatic, to see the 'sensor cleaning' appear on the screen. As it goes for the last few days I have been shooting using my Canon EOS 1D MK II

And in another wet environment and pretty close to a historic castle in Wales, where else? This is shot next to the Afon Conwy; the title on the fishing boat said it all for me; it may have been a night shoot, but the whole scene was very crystal to me, so evocative. I decided to go for another perspective; the ambient light came from a nearby street lamp on the road level and the light was pretty amazing too.

So now that the Canon 60D DSLR is back online, I will be taking some surreal self portraits shots, for now enjoy this other piece from my recent night shoots.

Here is another surreal self portrait, this one with an obvious twist! I loved shooting this and the editing was just as enjoyable, Adobe CS6 is just a fantastic tool! Here is the shot and if your looking for a concept photographer get in touch! I have many more ideas coming so keep watching/reading this space, the inspiration for the shot comes from the film Twister such an exciting film; of course it shows how extreme the weather can be but for us Brits, we don't get to see many tornadoes on our little island!

However events have changed, the climate is changing and no doubt we will see more extreme weather coming our way for sure. The shot highlights climate change on a global scale, we should do more about it, people say.

Whoosh!©David Rothwell All Rights Reserved. Please do not use any of my images/digital data without my written permission. 2012

The thing is what if we physically cannot? We have an abundant energy source in our solar system, it is expanding all stars do this...I think we should stop looking for excuses of green house gases, and start looking at the bright bastard in the sky! It is the giver of life and it shall without prejudice take it away!

We are so insignificant...its about time we realised that fact.