Wrapping Up Carnival

I have a few more photos from carnival that I wanted to put up. Some colour, some black and white. I am still experimenting with colour and am still not entirely happy with how it's going. I have come to the conclusion that the faster the film the better the pictures. Anyway. That's for another post. So yeah. Here is my last bit from Carnival before I more on.

Jump and wave.

These two were running a stall on the side of the road and wanted me to take a picture.

There was a sound system. You can see the people beginning to gather. I took the photo because if you look into the little shack on the left, you can see a guy poking his head up. It was quite funny. He seemed to be resting on his moustache.

Orange: A good colour to take a photo of...

This was a slight experiment into long exposures. I took two like this. The other was too bright, so I am going with this one. Maybe colour would have added something more to it.

Right. Stay tuned for China (in glorious black and white. Ha~!).

Better Late Than Never

Right. So finally I am going to get to putting up some photos. Possibly two months later than when I originally planned to. But hey... screw you.

Carnival is the theme for today...

Other than colour, there is a lot of food. Poor guy was probably there all day. And this was taken at 11 in the morning.

This woman is cool. That is all.

You may have cottoned on to the fact that I like taking photos of groups of policemen.

This guy was cooking and looked like he was taking a break. I'm not sure if I should've cropped the no entry sign out of it, and just had the graffiti.

It could almost be fog. The sheer number of BBQs leads to this kind of thing.

I like how the police are just completely ignoring her, like it's completely normal.

"What's up?", "Just chillin'".

So many many people. I like the slightly washed look of this.

I just like this photo.

It kind of shows how people are just doing their thing and having a good time.

Yada Yada Yada...

... I meant to get round to this two weeks ago. But you know how it is (I couldn't be arsed).

So... Carnival. That's what I was getting to.

These are all in black and white. Next post will be in colour. I swear.

Obviously there is a sizeable police presence at carnival. This lot in the left seemed to be having a bit of a break. Caught in the act.

This is pretty much on every other corner. These big huge half drums are pretty much everywhere. And there is shed loads of chicken and corn on the cob.

Since it's a parade through Notting Hill and the surrounding areas, obviously people live right on the route. I love the fact that this group of guys just rocked up with some deck chairs. True Caribbean style.

Yeah, I know it's out of focus. Still, not too shabby though.

A bit more fisheye. The kid at the bottom makes it.

Something I have touched on before

These are a couple of random images that I have picked up on my various travels. They don't really fit in any particular subject. I suppose after my recent photos of bits of graffiti, they would sort of fit in that, but these are a little more special. And they weren't taken in Bristol either; it didn't feel right to put them in with the others.

This was actually taken at Notting Hill Carnival. But this guy was just off a side street pretty much playing to no one. I quite like how he sat down in front of a boarded up window that was scrawled over. I appreciated the fact that he was in his own little world I guess.

This is a wall. A dirty wall. With a electrical box of some kind. I just like the colours. I'm a little simple like that. It's also straight, which is quite rare for me.

People of Paradise Presents:

It was Notting Hill Carnival recently, I went for the day with my brother and a mate. The weather was decent, the food was good, and there was plenty of spectacle. I took about three rolls of film the whole day (being somewhat conservative due to the ridiculous costs of film developing these days - £19.60 for one roll of b&w film!). I took two in colour and one in black and white. The b&w came out better as usual. I am pretty unimpressed with my colour shots, but will be putting a few up over the next few days. But here is a small selection. The photo above sums up for me the feeling of Carnival. My mum's family are from the West Indies, having moved to the UK in the late '50s; I think there is something comforting about the ability to have something like the second biggest carnival after Rio's on a tiny rain swept isle in northern Europe. Aside from the occasional flair-ups of trouble it's a good day out. I will be putting these up gradually, but it's late, I'm tired, and my internet connection is so painfully slow it's hard enough uploading these at the best of times.

Seriously. Painfully slow...

One of the best things about Carnival is the colour. It adds to an already incredible atmosphere.

With all the dancing, there is plenty of flag waving. The pride in one's origins at Carnival is pretty special. The flags above from right to left are Trinidad & Tobago, Bermuda (you can't really see it), Dominica (above), St. Lucia (below and last on the left). The perception of West Indies most people have is of Jamaicans, but all the islands are so unique.

The costumes are fantastic. The black and white photos don't really do any justice.

Case in point...

Colour. Lots and lots of colour (well, lots of pink in this case).

More to follow. Good night.