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My Photos of Bestival 2010
Last weekend I and 50,000 or so other people boarded ferries, hovercraft or other conveyances and set sail for the Isle of Wight, wherein Rob Da Bank's eclectic music-nerd-fest Bestival was in full swing despite reports of possible unsettled weather on the way. This did not deter me nor the other punters, who bravely incorporated wellies into their obligatory fancy dress costumes and sallied forth. Speaking for myself it was a grand time – although I didn't see that many "checklist" bands, the sheer quality of music that pervaded every nook and cranny (and Drambuie bar) of the Bestival site meant that it was one continuous potpourri of fantastic music all weekend.
My Carnival photo awarded Gadling.com “Photo of the day (9.2.10)”
I was happy to see one of my photos from the recent Notting Hill Carnival featured on Gadling.com’s “Picture of the Day“.
Photo of the day (9.2.10)
by Meg Nesterov (RSS feed) on Sep 2nd 2010 at 5:00PM
Each year around American Labor Day, the elaborate costumes and street partying associated with pre-Lenten Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations are taken outside in several cities too cold to parade in February. Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade is one of the largest in the world, drawing several million spectators, with a population of local West Indian residents to rival that of the Caribbean. This photo by Flickr user Luke Robinson taken at West London’s Notting Hill Carnival in England (the largest street festival in Europe) captures a father and son who look like they’ve enjoyed the revelry but might be ready to call it a day. With 20 miles of parading, music, and food to cover, it’s no wonder the little boy looks a bit tuckered out. I just hope that’s not a vuvuzela he’s carrying. Other Caribbean Carnival events take place throughout the US, Canada, and UK this fall.
Take any great festival photos? Upload them to our Flickr pool and we just might choose one for another Photo of the Day.
Filed under: Festivals and Events, Photos, Europe, United Kingdom, Photo of the Day, Caribbean
Notting Hill Carnival 2010 in Pictures
This year we once again walked down from our homes in West London and converged upon the riot of colour, sound, taste, and smells (mainly jerk chicken and spliff) of the Notting Hill Carnival. I love Carnival for the experience and the shooting, and I have learned over the years how best to approach it so as to avoid hassle – basically, I stay around the edge of the route and don’t go into big crowds if I can help it.
Last Weekend: Kew Gardens and Richmond
Last Saturday, on the way to meeting friends in Richmond, we hopped off the train at Kew on a spur-of-the-moment impulse and made our way down through the leafy village streets to Kew Gardens, where we enjoyed the myriad of flora on display, boggled at the rain-starved brown lawns, sweltered in the tropical Victorian greenhouses, and climbed the stairs to walk amongst the treetops at the Xstrata Skywalk. We ended our journey at Richmond Green, to enjoy a pint or two in the sunshine. Ah, summer.
A weekend in London
Last weekend I had occasion to shoot along the Regent’s Canal (again) and around the East End (again) and South Bank (again). I like to think returning to the same locales over and over again means I am improving my technique, but it’s probably just laziness. At least on Saturday we got a dab of culture as we visited the Whitecross Street Festival, which was a showcase of street art, food and a little music. More here…
(Jet)Blast from the past – Royal Air Tattoo 2004
Recently, other photographers on Twitter (namely @eosnetwork) mentioned that they had been to the Royal Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, which has traditionally been the world's largest military-only airshow.
Glastonbury 2010 Pictures: Saturday 26th June
Saturday was rumoured to be the hottest day of the festival, and I had had enough of massive crowds in stifling heat on the Friday. This combined with the fact that there weren't all that many acts on the main stages that I had a burning desire to see, meant that I took a punt on the Saturday and decided just to avoid the main stages entirely and keep to the smaller, out-of-the-way parts of the festival (including some quite bizarre late-night areas) and just follow my nose. Some of the time I was with friends, some of the time alone, and in fact I ended up going off on a little photo journey around the site post-midnight (for the first time ever with a tripod) and manage to snag some shots I had never gotten close to achieving before. I managed to see some pretty cool stuff along the way, and was very thrilled to be able to catch Imelda May's rockabilly act at the Acoustic Stage. It hit just the right note for me. And I saw a lot that made me laugh, including the "Hug a Troll" guys below.
Glastonbury 2010 Pictures: Friday 25th June
My second installment of Glasto 2010 pictures is rather smaller, as I think the heat got to me on the Friday (and the fact it was as bright as blazes and impossible to get good light) and so I didn’t take heaps of pictures. I also elected not to have my SLR with me at night so I relied on the little Canon S90 compact, which I love as a daytime point-and-shoot but hate as a night-time camera. It’s built to take low-light pictures, with a high-sensitivity sensor and a fast F/2.0 lens, but its night-time autofocus is atrociously bad and nearly renders it unusable. But, I digress. I did manage to capture the images below, as well as some more which may be found in the Flickr set here.
Glastonbury 2010 Pictures: Thursday 24th June
Here’s my first set of Glastonbury 2010 pictures. These are from the Thursday before the start of the main festival. This is usually the time that some of the smaller stages start putting on lesser-known bands, and it’s a good time to have a general wander around the massive site to try and get your bearings before the chaos of the music schedule starts to take over your life. On Thursday, after 2 separate trips right across the site to first set up tents and then collect rucksacks, we then had a wander from our campsite in an overflow field near John Peel to the Dance Village, the Other Stage and thence through to the West Holts (formerly Jazzworld) stage where we enjoyed our traditional first pints of Brothers Pear Cider, which at 7% ABV sets one up nicely for a further exploration. We carried on through to the Avalon field, and then onto Arcadia (which was already spitting fire) and thence to Shangri-La, the late-night area / small town where all manner of bizarre side streets and alleyways are honeycombed with bizarre miniature bars and clubs, with subversive street art littered throughout. We finally ended up with a stroll up to the Stone Circle and onto the Park for some tea and cookies (yes, really).
Brothers Pear Cider and blazing sunshine… a winning combination at Glasto
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