Photo finish!

Having taken lots of PR photos for Newport Playgoers' production of 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' it was nice to see them used in the South Wales Argus. Even nicer was the fact that one of my photos was used on the cover of the paper's weekly Guide supplement.

Thanks very much to the Guide's editor Andy Howells - and I recommend you visit his amazing website where he writes about everything from 'Dad's Army' to Doctor Who:
http://andysretrospace.blogspot.co.uk/

Making "ghosts" for 'Blithe Spirit'

Recently I had the pleasant job of photographing members of the cast of Newport Playgoers' production of Noel Coward's supernatural comedy 'Blithe Spirit'.

The play is about a man who, for a dinner party amusement, arranges for a medium to come and hold a seance - which conjures up the ghost of his first, mischievous wife, Elvira. Only he can see and communicate with her - much to to the consternation of his present wife.

In the play, Charles Condomine (David Constant) 

accidentally summons up the spirit of 

his dead first wife, Elvira (Eloise Rossiter) 

much to the annoyance of his second 

wife Ruth (Rosamund Jones-Griffiths)

I thought it would be good to use Photoshop to actually create a ghostly image of Elvira and these are the results, achieved by taking two photographs and overlap them using layers, then adjusting the opacity and adding a slightly green filter to give a spooky effect.

These are the results. Next project is to make a video trailer for YouTube in which a see-through Elvira talks about the play - and hopefully entices people to come along and see what promises to be a truly haunting production. Noel Coward’s sophisticated comedy ‘Blithe Spirit’ is at the Dolman Theatre from Wednesday 12^th – Saturday 15^th September at 7.15 pm, with an extra matinee performance on the Saturday at 2.30 pm. To book tickets call 01633 263670 or visit www.dolmantheatre.co.uk. More information is available online at www.newportplaygoers.wordpress.com. New members are always welcome to become involved both onstage and behind the scenes!

Wishes do come true (when it comes to crazy golf)

So there I was, desperate for a crazy golf course to take photos of the cast of my one act play 'Bunkered' which is part of the Hole in One Act Play Festival.

Where shall it be? I wondered. Barry Island perhaps - there's a very good pirate one there - or possibly Tredegar Park.

Whilst I was pondering this, as part of the Big Splash event held over the August Bank Holiday weekend a crazy golf course was built on the doorstep of the Dolman Theatre.

A quick chat with the owner, Dave Lovatt, revealed that he's a theatre director from Bristol with a passion for crazy golf courses. Could we take photos of our cast on his course? No problem, he replied. So we did, for which, much thanks, Dave. His crazy golf course, by the way, is brilliantly fiendish and includes a pool table!

Dave is pictured, centre, at the photoshoot with Playgoers Bruno Cook and Lauren Brown. More details about the photos can be found here: http://newportplaygoers.wordpress.com/

Information about Dave's show 'Carny Village' can be found here: http://invisiblecircus.co.uk/invisible_circus/TheInvisibleCircus/Home.html

'Allotment Keeper' - the Video

Here's my video of the opening of the latest exhibition of photographs by Betina Skovbro - 'Allotment Keeper'.

Betina’s Photos in Full Bloom

Allotment keepers are a hardy breed, braving all weathers to tend their plots of land. So, it was not surprising to see them turning out in the rain for the opening of the latest exhibition of photographs – entitled ‘Allotment Keeper’ - by Betina Skovbro. The event, at the National Museum of Wales, features an amazing series of portraits of allotment keepers, along with their tips and tales, arranged on a zigzag trail around an actual allotment created especially for the exhibition, complete with shed and greenhouse.

LEFT: Betina with Terry Walton, the Allotment Doctor from BBC Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show. Terry opened the exhibition, praising not only Betina's work but also allotment keepers everywhere.

Although a little July sunshine would have been nice, the rain and umbrellas seemed somehow appropriate for the opening of this exhibition, emphasising just how dedicated allotment keepers are in their quest to grow the best flowers and vegetables. I took the photos here to capture the atmosphere of the event.

Betina was inspired to do this project after becoming an allotment keeper herself. The result is a fascinating series of photos, capturing allotment keepers in their natural habitat. Each work features an observation, with advice such as “Don’t forget your flask of coffee”, and what they love about their allotment: “No-one complains about my singing”.

Betina had grown up watching her parents grow their own vegetables in their garden just outside Copenhagen. Working on her allotment, she says, opened up a wealth of new experiences and encouraged her to explore a range of issues she hadn’t considered before such as today’s supermarket society with its pre-packed foods, and the return to a “grow your own” culture.

"Allotments are great places for reflection,” she says. “They help us re-connect with ourselves; the pleasure of simple tasks, the joy of being at ease with nature, the rewards from putting your back into it, and opportunities to learn, share and improvise.”

Betina used a 1975 Hasselblad medium format camera to capture the images in the exhibition which feature an eclectic mix of personalities, abilities and experience – “each one nurturing their own small plot of land”.

Among them is Ade Morris (pictured above with Betina), who hails from the Black Country and keeps bees on part of his allotment. He met Betina when she was working on her last project about dog walkers in a Cardiff Park. The resulting exhibition was just as innovative in its presentation as this one – with photographs of dogs and their owners hanginging from the branches of a tree.

For more information, read Betina’s blog: http://www.allotmentkeeper.wordpress.com/. Also check out Betina’s website: http://www.skovbro.com/