May 2017 - Richard Spurdens Photography

And then it was Three !

London Salon Medal 2017

So this may seem a bit of an unusual title for one of my posts. Over the past few years I have always tried to support the London Salon of Photography. By entering images into the Salon.

The Salon is dedicated to exhibiting “only that class of photographic work in which there is distinct evidence of artistic feeling and execution”.

Thus when you receive notification that you have images accepted. And also that one of those has been awarded a medal. Then that is a really great feeling. Especially as this is now my third, medal from the Salon. So I thought it was worth posting with an offbeat title.

So The London Salon does not run under FIAP Patronage it stands alone. It is a print only salon and it receives entries from all around the world.

Therefore getting an image accepted in to the Salon is a real achievement. Plus having an image selected for a medal is also really a great result.

The image below entitled : Blue Haired Beauty. This was from a studio beauty shoot, with the Model Amber Tutton. Also it features the make up artistry of Monica Montalvo. Who I was very lucky to get some of her time to come and do the MU for me.

This was the image that received the award of the Salon medal.

portrait photography - portrait photographer - colour portrait image of model with blue coloured hair — Blue Haired Beauty

I also had another image accepted into this year Salon too. Again this was from a fashion shoot. But this time it was shot on location. With the Walters wardrobe team.

Fashion Photography - Fashion Photographer - couture fashion stairway elegance (designer mishi may — Couture Fashion Stairway Elegance (Designer Mishi May)

Model: Nicky Philips.

Styling by Jen Brook,
Design by Mishi May,
MUA: Sopie Battersby,
Millinary: Donna Graham,

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Events, News

Photo London 2017

Just back from a visit to Photo London (18^th– 21st May 2017). This is a major international Photo Fair being held for the third year at Somerset House. Having attended the event last year, we decided to book again to visit this year’s fair.

Guide statement.

The Photo London guide stated: ‘Photo London was created to give London an international photography event befitting the city’s status as a global cultural capital. Photo London has established itself as a world-class photography fair and as a catalyst for London’s dynamic photography community. From the capital’s major museums, to its auction houses, galleries large and small, right into the burgeoning creative communities in the East End and South London, Photo London harnesses the city’s outstanding creative talent and brings together the world’s leading photographers, curators, exhibitors, dealers and the public to celebrate photography, the medium of our time.’

High lights

There were as many galleries as last year. With some showing the work of emerging artists. And others with new images by some of the big names in the field. I was particularly impressed with the black and white portraits taken by Yousuf Karsh. Certainly a highlight for me.

It was also good to see some prints of the work of Saul Leiter. I felt that they were certainly better than any of the images I have seen published in the books on his work.

David Hurn

David Hurn’s exhibition of images that he had obtained by swapping photographs with other photographers of his generation was another highlight too. The exhibition showed which images he had swooped alongside the image he obtained in return.

Photo London also had a program of talks and symposia each day which were curated by William A. Ewing, writer and a distinguished curator. Having missed out on last years talks, we booked early to listen to David Hurn in conversation with Martin Parr. This was certainly an informative and fun discussion, with David sharing stories of his early years in London.

As the Photo London Fair didn’t open until 12:00. So we decided to make use of the morning and also visited the Courtauld Gallery. Which is right next to Somerset House. The first two images below are of the great Staircase that is a feature of this gallery.

A selection of images from the days visits:

architecture photography - architecture Photographer - looking up at the stairway to the ceiling — The Courtauld Gallery stairs from the bottom

Looking down from the top – The Courtauld Gallery stairs

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in monochrome showing visitors to the david hern swoops exhibition — David Hurn – Photo swap gallery – Fuji X-T2 : XF18mm f2 R

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in colour capturing a man walking past fashion poster shot on the wall. he is engaged with reading his ticket — Outdoor fashion – William Klein Image – Fuji X-T2 XF18mm f2 R

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in monochrome of fashion images outside the pavillion gallery — William Klein Image – Fuji X-T2 XF18mm f2 R

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in colour capturing a lady looking at the posts image on one of the outside walls — Taking a text by the Dual Reality wall – Fuji X-T2 XF18mm f2 R

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in colour showing the selection of images on the image wall by noh suntag — Noh Suntag – Dual Reality – Fuji X-T2 XF18mm f2 R

travel photography - travel photograher - images from a visit to photo london this one in colour capturing a lady looking at her phone as she strides past the dual reality wall imagess — Engrossed in the phone – Fuji X-T2 XF18mm f2 R

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Events, General

Dragon boat racing

A chance to shoot some Dragon boat racing on the river Aire in Saltaire was too good to miss.

The event was held at Roberts Park, which is a World Heritage Site. Here the River Aire runs along the side of the park. So this gives a great vantage point to watch and photograph the close the racing.

The event was billed as a team building event. And the idea was that each team member would do there best to raise £50 for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal 2017 Charity: YoungMinds

As well as the boat racing there was a large number of landside attractions. Which included stalls, food, bars. As well as entertainment. Featuring live music and just so much more in a stunning spectacular, picturesque venue. So this gave some good photographic opportunities:

So here are a few images from this years racing event.

sport photography - sport photographer -colour image of dragon boat racing on the river aire at roberts park saltaire, image captures the dragon boats head — Enter the Dragon – Dragon boat racing series

sport photography - sport photographer -colour image of dragon boat racing on the river aire at roberts park saltaire, a slow shutter speed was used together with panning to give a feel of the speed — Your timing is out mate

Having taken a few classic Dragon boat racing shots, I decided that the colours in the scene might provide something different and colourful abstract images.

I set a challenge and started to use a slow shutter speed and then added on camera flash set to second curtain sync.

Playing with different slow shutter speeds gave a set of interesting and sometimes abstract images which I really liked.