Geoff McGrath SWPP Contemporary Portrait Gold Award Winner
- Geoff McGrath SWPP Contemporary Portrait Gold Award Winner
Just thought I’d share this image which recently was awarded a Gold in the December SWPP Competition for Contemporary Portraiture! The shot was taken on 25th May 2011. Matt and I had headed up to the North West 200 for the day and when we got there… well.. for starters the weather was awful and then there were a lot of delays in the racing until it was finally cancelled. We headed back home and on our way through Belfast, we thought we’d stop and take a few photos.. that way the day wouldn’t be a total waste! Passing over the M3 we spotted a car park that looked like it had avoided the downpours. So we spent some time there exploring different lighting and angles and the end result you can see is very dramatic and atmospheric to say the least!
If we hadn’t, then the award would never have happened! I’ve enclosed another shot from the same session, just for kicks!
I decided to enter a few other catagories and awas really pleased to be awarded Bronze Awards for each of these images!!
This shot was taken of Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Review at the Fuel 11 Festival in Ballymena, N.Ireland. This was the first time I’d heard of Mike and all I could say was WOW! I couldn’t believe I was in the pit front stage at a gig with so much raw energy! Check Mike out on YouTube. His backing singers have worked with Bob Dyland and the King himself, Elvis Presley. Recently Mike performed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Tribute to Aretha Franklin!!
Jime Eastwood, a man with whom the Force IS strong!
I decided to enter this shot of Jim Eastwood for fun really. We’d met Jim at an event in Newtownards, where he spoke from his experiences on the Apprentice, what Sir Alan Sugar is REALLY like and about THAT mind control trick he did in the Board Room! Jim’s a really down to earth man, who definately has kissed the Blarney Stone for sure! There were no Jedi mind tricks though, well, at least I don’t think so!
I added a tilt to the shot, to make it a little more interesting. I DO love my tilts!
The Doolittle Effect!
This had to be one of the funest (yes the most fun!) shots I’ve taken in a long time! I had been inspired by some other images I’d seen by another photographer and so couldn’t resist this. I approached the sheep, rather, err sheepishly (sorry!). It took me a coupe of minutes to approach them, and since there was noone around, I started to talk to them, hoping they’d stay curious enough to hang around! It worked! So here I was sitting at a gate on the side of the road into Ballycastle talking to sheep! I got a few strange looks from motorists that past by. Just call me Doolittle!
One of my favourite all time images, this was taken as storm clouds rolled in over Downhill Beach, near Castlerock, N.Ireland.
I took this image back in 2003, when I was just starting to take photography seriously. Its a bit dated now, but its still a great image and worth a Bronze!
I’ll keep you posted on any further awards! Thanks for taking time to take a look!
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