Welshot Focus - Issue 3 - October 2017

Indeed, it had been a busy time in Portugal’s capital city,
Lisbon, having spent most of the day photographing a
bride (Sadie) and her bridesmaid (Beth) around the busy
streets of this popular location. Our little team certainly
attracted the attention of locals and tourists alike when
we rocked up and started shooting with our off-camera
flash set-up.
You’re probably wondering why we were taking pictures of
a bride and her bridesmaid in Lisbon and to this day I’m not
sure there’s an answer other than ‘why not?’ After all, neither
Welshot’s bosstog Eifion nor I harbour any ambition to be
wedding photographers.
But that is the joy of digital photography: we do things with
our cameras that were unthinkable when all we had was film.
Now, it is because we can and in this case it did make for a
special birthday treat for Eifion.
As a photographer, I have always shot projects to keep me
inspired and now with a pocketful of memory cards I can
now obsess to a point where going for a walk with me comes
with a health warning. In Lisbon, I took the opportunity to
obsess on its trams. My projects mostly do not have any
predetermined end goal or preset time limit – they just
happen so when I saw the city’s trams I thought they would
be a good theme for the weekend to fill in the gaps when
Sadie and Beth weren’t around.
The trams proved fun and challenging. For example, I ended
up spending an hour in one spot waiting for a composition I
previsualised in my mind’s eye. I left empty-handed – well, it
wasn’t a complete bust but I didn’t get what I wanted. I got
close, but cars or tourists entering the scene at crucial times
ruined shots beyond the recovery of Photoshop’s cloning
skills.
I had greater success with one of my long-standing series:
my fascination for umbrellas. I am gradually building up
a collection of shots from various spots around the world
that would make a good book, in the same vein as Steve
McCurry’s On Reading featuring shots of people reading.
Our trip to Lisbon coincided with some grotty weather that
gave me the chance to hunt the brolly with the camera.
One day, it rained so heavily and for so long that it meant
that there were brollies everywhere which for me was photo
heaven. The conditions were so bad that it would have been
easy to sit in the hotel bar but having a reason to get out with
the camera meant I had purpose. Maybe too much purpose.
To be honest, the camera was better equipped to deal ...
Rain didn't STOP PLAY
Early in the morning I looked out of hotel window to check the
weather. The heavy rain told me to get back to bed, but looking
straight down I spotted a row of four stationery trams. Five
minutes later I was out on the street.
by Will Cheung
PAGE 8
You two girls have given Eifion
the best birthday present ever,
said Lee Iggulden to Team Creative’s Sadie and Beth, continuing
he’s exhausted but he’s got
loads of good pictures.
PAGE 9