Sandy Young Photography Blog
scottish photographerArchive for people
WW2 Polish war veteran Ludwik Jaszczur
Yesterday on a completely different job, I spotted Ludwik a ww2 Polish war veteran, as I have a great passion for ww2 history I started chatting to Ludwik, turned out he fought at the battle of Monte Cassino.
I had a great chat with him and he was more than happy to pose for a picture.
let us not forget the great sacrifice made by all these men who fought at a very young age during ww2.
Now 93 Ludwik still runs his own shop in Edinburgh, repairing zips and locks for leather handbags.
Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day…
get your Christmas jumpers looked out for Save the Children’s Christmas Jumper Day.
Sports personality Judy Murray and celebrity chef Tom Kitchin donned their Christmas jumpers for the cause.
The Impossible Row!
As a professional photographer you get to meet and photograph some amazing people, yesterday was one of those days when I met Jamie Douglas-Hamilton who plans to row from Cape Horn in South America to mainland Antarctica across Drake Passage, considered the most dangerous ocean crossing in the world.
Noel Cowards Mad Dogs and Englishmen comes to mind!
The Impossible Row, no one has rowed this far South before and crossed the Drake Passage by human power alone. Not only can seas reach up to 80 foot in the Southern Ocean but the crew will be rowing against the current. Jamie is the only British member of a team of six who will row in 90-minute shifts around the clock, with little to no sleep for 24 hours a day for around three weeks in cold to freezing conditions.
And over Christmas so no roast potatoes for Jamie!
As Jamie said “should be fun” …All the best to him and the rest of the team.
The expedition is being recorded by the Discovery Channel, which is sending the aptly named Braveheart vessel to follow the journey, however the boat will offer no support or supplies to the athletes. The expedition can be followed online with updates on Twitter at @actiphwater and @discovery.
Moulin Rouge dancers
Moulin Rouge dancers help raise money at the annual Lunch with an Old Bag.
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All three Scottish dancers from London’s West End show Performed at the Prestonfield House Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh (an amazing venue).
I’ve been shooting this event now for 11 years now, over 300 well lubricated ladies get together to help raise funds for the The Prince’s Trust Scotland to transform the lives of thousands of young people.
Since the first Lunch with an Old Bag the event has raised more than £4.7m, which translates directly as help for over 4,700 young Scots.
4am start with Tom Daley!
4am start with Tom Daley, Nile Wilson and Denise Lewis…which really means up at 2am to drive the 70 miles to the location, the glamorous life of a freelance photographer!
But a great morning shooting with Tom, Nile and Denise who were on top form even at that time, I love an early start especially in the summer as you always get a great sunrise even in Scotland.
Shooting at that time of the morning has it’s benefits and challenges, on the plus side shooting a portrait outside with early morning light (golden hour) is fantastic but freezing the action of Tom jumping is a bit of a challenge, high iso and a fast shutter with shallow depth of field (for all you guys who keep asking what the tech is) the shot above was shot at iso 1250/500sec at f2.8 on a Nikon d4s with a 16-35mm lens.
Great also to work with Nile and Denise.
As always a great shoot is a team effort with a lovely client and big thanks to Haven who were hosting us all…and supplied us with coffee and a fantastic breakfast!
Best of June
It’s been a very busy month with lots of long days, stating early and finishing late…still editing at 2am so my clients have their images for first thing the next working day.
I wouldn’t change it for the world, as I sit here in my kitchen looking out on a lovely sunny morning listening to the radio working away.
Being self-employed is fantastic not for everyone but certainly for this photographer, still not bored and now in my 19th year as a freelancer!
A few images from June, I choose them for many different reasons, how good the light was on a specific shoot, the people oh and the people, working across so many diverse industries is such a pleasure and an insight.
meeting them all from apprentice electricians all the way up to the CEO and everyone in-between, I always enjoy a good chat with them before I start taking a picture.
National Selfie Day
Its National Selfie Day…yes really its a thing!
Love them or hate them their here to stay, I was recently asked to by a client to write a short brief on how to shoot the perfect selfie in a lift for #nationalselfieday.
With the help of model @iamrebeccadonaldson at @apexhotels who was a great sport and in typical selfie fashion I shot lots of pix to get the right one!
Capturing the perfect shot of yourself in a lift is big business there’s 400,000 tagged posts alone on Instagram, With #liftselfie, so the brief was to shoot in a lift @apexhotels.
Here’s my tips on how to elevate your selfie (#elevatorselfie ) …
1…Make sure your eyes are in focus, this makes such a difference when viewing your selfie, smile like you mean it!
2…hold your Smartphone above, (chin down camera up) this gives you a more flattering look and defines the jaw line, try lots of different poses and angles to find your best look…practice makes perfect!
3…Light is everything in photography! Try to shoot in diffused natural light, no direct as this will throw unflattering shadows on your face and don’t use the flash as this is to harsh for a nice selfie. The “golden hour” (during sunset and sunrise) is best for outdoors when the light is at it’s most beautiful.
4…Be mindful of your background, the best selfies have really interesting ones or a nice plain simple one and watch out for photo-bombers!
5…Get to know your camera, try using the self timer for a more professional looking portrait and find a good app like snapseed or lightroom and don’t over edit!!
Michael Gove PM?
I love my job, every day is different I get to see so many varied industries.
So when I was commissioned to photograph Michael Grove MP Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and prospective Prime Minister, on a visit round a factory that makes floorboards, it didn’t sound too exciting but it was very interesting learning how the process works.
Putting politics aside I found Michael Gove to be one of the politest well-mannered politicians I’ve photographed (the worst a former PM who didn’t last) and had a genuine interest on his visit.
All in all a good finish to the week!
Best of September
It’s been a very busy month, with lots of early start and late nights sometimes on the same day…
I’ve put together a few of my favorite images from September, I’ve picked them for various reasons, for the technical challenges to weather, being in the right place and some just because I had a such a nice time on the shoot.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I did taking them…
Read the rest of this entry »
Bo’Ness Revival
I’ve always fancied going to the Bo’Ness Revival, a classic car hill climb event revived in 2007 but for one reason or another usually due to work commitments I’ve never managed along so I finally made it this year…71 years after the fist British hill climb was held at Kinneil Estate in 1947!
One camera and one lens, none of the usual two cameras four lens a set of lights and a laptop I would usually turn up to on a shoot, well it was my day off!
I was hopping for a nice sunny day but the Scottish weather didn’t let me down…it rained, that small stuff that really gets you wet! But it didn’t deter me from enjoying my day, there was so many classic cars just in the car park (which was free,hats off to the organisers for this), I parked up next to a DeLorean, also spotted a really nice Alfa, a Jag and a few MG’s all before I got to the entrance!
What a great collection of classic and vintage cars, the best bit walking round the paddock seeing all the cars getting prepped for the hill climb.
Spotted this lovly old 1957 Audi Auto Union 1000.
What a great day despite the weather, hopefully I’ll be back next year. Defiantly worth a visit, more than just the usual classic car show – paddock access and racing make it just that wee bit more special.
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