Almost all conferences these days use twitter hash tags to promote to the audience within the venue, as well as those around the globe that couldn't make it or just would like to know more about the event, it's speakers and general content.

Hash tags ( eg #creativephotos) are used by twitter users to quickly search on all tweets that contain the hash tag that has been chosen by the conference organiser. As more and more people tweet from a conference and include the hash tag then a growing list of tweets can be viewed that directly relate to the event.

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A good example of where using a professional photographer is beneficial to your conference's social media output, is when you need to tweet a photo of a presenter (along with the hash tag) before they have finished and sat down. You could snap it on your mobile phone - but this is rarely good enough to convey a well run event. I would have a series of professional looking photos within the first few minutes, upload them to my online gallery and they would then be available for tweeting.

Social media is such a fast paced, instantaneous communications tool. People do expect updates to happen quickly and often. Momentum is the key here. Keeping updates flowing throughout the day will build a real buzz around your event.

Processing my photography at events in this way provides your communications team with a constant flow of relevant and topical imagery.

slideshow_alanbennett (57 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

OK, so I have a thing for pigs. I put my hands up and admit to finding these creatures quite brilliant. They have personalities galore and just love to run around like they just don't care! Photographing pigs and piglets can be such fun and the results can keep you smiling for years to come. Next time you see any in the farmers field why not get your camera out and give it a go, you won't regret it !

slideshow_alanbennett (99 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Chinese New Year is coming up in February and 2015 is the "year of the sheep." 

Every year the Chinese calendar is associated with an animal as part of the zodiac which is based on a 12-year cycle.

Each animal carries specific traits, and people's personalities are believed to be affected by the years in which they were born.

I took this photo during New Year celebrations in Sydney's China Town district. What an amazing and colourful spectacular that was.

slideshow_alanbennett (45 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Where are they now? I can't help to imagine where these cheeky chappies are today and what they are up to. Whilst on a cathartic Nepalese trek in 1994,  I came across these lads. They were very happy to line up and pose for me - and I was very pleased with the photo. I gave each one a school pen for their services !

It is very grounding to meet people like this from different cultural backgrounds - incredibly materialistically poor by our standards, but yet so in the moment and embracing life and happiness. 

slideshow_alanbennett (76 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Bondi Beach at dusk produced some amazing colours for my Velvia slide film to reproduce. For those that can't remember or are too young to know about transparency film, Velvia really kicked butt when it came to beautifully saturated colours.

slideshow_alanbennett (107 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

I really love to get out with my camera into the urban environment and just photograph the everyday goings on. It's a real bonus when you come across the unusual. This photo is taken of a normally very busy street - it just so happened that it was closed for an event this day and it allowed for this pedestrian and his dog to stroll casually along towards what would have normally been vehicles hurtling towards them. The diagonals and the arrows all help to illustrate the theme of 'going against the flow'.

slideshow_alanbennett (29 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solution  Location: Boston, Lincolnshire,1983.

With much of the TV and print media now pushing down on the general election acceleration pedal  - I thought today I would dig out another 'golden oldie' black and white photo that I took when I was still doing my A levels in 1983! 'Think Positive - Act Positive' was the catchy slogan thought to help elevate the Labour leader Michael Foot to the countries top job. Actually it gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945!

longexposure© Alan Bennett2012 - 09/10/12 The St Ives Michaelmas Fair Photo credit : Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

The St Ives Michaelmas Fair,  Photo credit: Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

The Michaelmas Fair has been coming to St Ives for over 800 years, the first recorded event being October 12th, 1200. The fair has a right to set up in St Ives by charter.

In modern times the site of the fair has led to complaints from shopkeepers and townspeople. Many of the sideshows and rides have to be sited within a few feet of the windows and doors of shops. In addition, they feel that if a fire were to take place, emergency vehicles would not  be able to get to the fire

To obtain a photo like this I used a sturdy tripod, cable release and a long exposure of 20 seconds. 

slideshow_alanbennett (26 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions 

Here's one of my favourite and most popular images, taken in the days when film was the only option. There are no tricks here - no double exposures or composites, just fortunate timing to get the bill board poster image of the face in just the right place.

These days, if you try to take a photo on the underground you could be spot searched as a suspected terrorist!

slideshow_alanbennett (24 of 108)Photo by Alan Bennett, Media Imaging Solutions

Moon viewing from two wheels, by Media Imaging Solutions

The power of the 300mm lens - how I love it ! I don't own one but will hire when required to do so. The guy on the cycle seems mesmerised by the golden glow from the lunar landscape floating up into the sky.

City Angel, Sydney.

I've always had a thing for angels amongst us. I used to come across them in Sydney quite a bit. From childrens' drama groups to TV adverts - people like to dress as angels!

Chris and I were both on a mission - so the time flew past quickly. Then came the point of not being able to feel the end of my fingers and toes! The rest of the activities were then transferred to the nearest pub!

e-Luminate Cambridge Festival 2014e-Luminate Cambridge Festival 2014 connects ambitious art with imaginative technology to shed light on low carbon innovation.[c]Alan Bennett 2014 tel: 0781 49949

e-Luminate Cambridge Festival 2014 connects ambitious art with imaginative technology to shed light on low carbon innovation.

Product Photo5th Feb 2014. Product Photography at Azuri Technologies, credit : Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

Product photography is quite a challenging photography skill to get right. This week I was asked to shoot the above at my client's premises (which I wasn't quite expecting), after having done their company profile photos. I kept the white background up since I knew this would work a treat. The challenge was to find a workaround for the top surface. I can now reveal my new best friend accessory  - a brand new white board ! It belonged to my client and was still in a box, and once removed was also covered in clear plastic. How perfect is this I thought. I was going to take the plastic off, but actually I realised that it gave a nice reflection and alleviated the need for major post production. I now have a white board firmly on my shopping list!

Dalai LamaDalai Lama Photo on Have I Got News For You TV SHow

pensioner and child[c]Alan Bennett - 0781 4994934

Alconbury Incubator Site13/06/2013. Alconbury Airfield, UK. Inspection of the building of The Incubator - the flagship building of Alconbury Enterprise Campus. Designed by internationally renowned architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, it will provide flexible inspiring space for small and start-up businesses at the heart of the Alconbury Weald Development.

Mobile Studio[c]Alan Bennett - 0781 4994934

AB6_487905/09/13- Keepmoat with tenants in Northampton . Photo credit : Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

AB6_4879-Edit05/09/13- Keepmoat with tenants in Northampton . Photo credit : Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

AB6_3607© Alan Bennett 2013 - Chesterton Sports Center shoot for new web site. Photo credit : Alan Bennett/Media Imaging Solutions

AB5_6703 It was in 2002 that I first had the pleasure of photographing Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. This was in Sydney and I remember it was an all too brief encounter at a very large entertainment centre. I always hoped that maybe one day I would have another opportunity.

This opportunity did come again – last week actually, he was visiting Cambridge for the first time in 20 years to speak at the 2013 Global Scholars Symposium. After initially having my request to attend the media conference declined, I was given the green light after a quick email to London News Pictures (an agency that I sometimes work through for my press work). They organised clearance for me to attend the next morning.

I arrived an hour early at the Divinity School of St. John's College, the venue for the press conference, so that I wouldn’t be held up too long by security checks. Inside the auditorium I made myself comfortable in the front row and opposite the resplendent oversized arm chair that would seat His Holiness the Dalai Lama. One side of me a youngish snapper from Getty Images and the other side a BBC radio reporter.

The Dalai Lama entered the room 10 minutes late and sat in his comfy chair – a few feet from where I was sitting. It was great to see his happy, charismatic face again. I thought that maybe time would have taken its toll on his visual features and some of his enthusiasm. Not a bit of it – it was just so amazing to see that he hadn’t changed that much at all since 2002.

After an hour of this almost seemingly exclusive and intimate audience, I must have taken a couple of hundred images. At one point though I did stop taking pictures, took the camera’s view finder away from my eye, and just sat there and absorbed the moment.

Since this was the Dalai Lama, the end of the press conference didn’t mean a quick exit and escape from the long lenses and reporters’ questions. No, he just got up out of his chair and started shaking the hands of anyone who was in reach as he walked around to the exit. The BBC cameraman even got a high five! Unfortunately I missed out on that hand shake, but still I have great memories from my second encounter with him.

More photos at http://bit.ly/17wFLek

(Equipment details: I was shooting with two cameras (A D600 and D7000), the majority of images caught on my 70 – 200 f2.8 Nikon lens. ISO was 3200 and I had already set a pre-set white balance. I always use RAW files as opposed to JPEGS.)

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Nikon D600 - 24mm lens at 1/80th sec, f4.5, ISO 3200 - from original raw file.

It's December 2nd on a cold and frosty evening in St Ives. The local children are wide eyed and hyper, their parents seem to be happy about it all as well. To be honest I was looking forward to seeing Santa tonight as well - it was a great opportunity to test out my new Nikon D600 digital SLR camera in extremely low light without the help of a flash.
 

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                                              Nikon D600 - 24mm lens at 1/50th sec, f3.2, ISO 3200 - from original raw file.

Santa was about as authentic as I have ever seen before. No middle aged guy in a false beard here. The elf on the other hand was not quite as convincing, but full marks for the false jumbo size ears. The young girl, with ears a flapping, was constantly on hand to keep our Santa on two feet. Santa's little helper was much more than that.

My new camera was fantastic - and it was quite liberating to shoot in such low light and not use a flash. It does help to blend into the background when not relying on a bright burst of light going off at all times. Well done to Nikon for the latest offering for professional photographers, I would thoroughly recommend the D600 to anyone.

 

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To see more images from the floods see: http://bit.ly/TnvRs8

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Floods are inevitable along our stretch of the Great River Ouse in St Ives. Infact this is the second time this year that the river has breached the banks and created a lake feature where there should be a meadow and grazing livestock. Fortunately the authorities have spent a good deal of money over the years to make sure properties in the area are protected and that only fields take the full force of the water.

The Dolphin Hotel (above) is next to the river and the meadow, but perches many of it's rooms on concrete stilts - affording a glorious view to those lucky patrons. If it was me staying there, it would definitely be beer o'clcok on the balcony at sunset and feeding the swans.

The only negative if you want to stay at The Dolphin Hotel now, is that their car park is lake!

To see more images from the floods see: http://bit.ly/Tanpco

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I didn't know they did that with recycled cardboard. It's amazing what you learn about the World in this profession. This week I infact learnt that there are automated balers for making huge blocks out of cardboard and paper. Makes for easy storage and transportation, and also stops the stuff blowing around in the wind.

I was asked by Bollegraaf to complete a 3 day time lapse movie of their engineers installing their machinery in a warehouse just outside Ely in Cambridgeshire. I love doing these projects, and jumped at the opportunity. For this shoot I used a Wingscapes TimelapseCam 8.0 camera and programmed it take a photo every minute between the hours of 8am and 8pm. The unit is powered by 4 lithium AA batteries (which would last for 2 or 3 weeks easily) and the images stored on a 16 GB SD card. The movie was compiled very easily with Adobe Lightroom 4, using a preset in the slideshow module.

While I was there I discovered that the warehouse used to be a RAF hanger and housed a Lancaster bomber during the war. That's another fact I learnt this week!

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A large crowd turned out for this year's Remembrance Day 2012 at the St Ives War Memorial. Always a very moving occasion and a fitting tribute to our fallen heroes. The weather was beautiful, which was a real bonus for everyone. I have been to these ceremonies before when rain has fallen on to the ex-servicemen and women - but with great resolve and fighting spirit maintained their positions.

A woman's sob broke the silence at one point - it was such a grief stricken cry and reminded us at that moment what has been sacrificed by so many and what sorrow is left behind.

To see more of my images from this day go to http://bit.ly/SPMKsl

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MorrisDancing  Don’t believe me, well take a look at this next photo taken less than a minute afterwards….

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Yes, that is hail stones falling on our merry men. Even though I don’t quite understand these chaps and their habits, I have to say that they have guts and determination to carry on through an ice storm. It did bring smiles to a lot of onlookers in the cold, so cheers chaps!

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Ranworth

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