Matt Bye – Photography

With my sister going into hospital for some heart surgery, we decided to take her out for a day for some nice memories. We decided to travel down to the safari park for a look at some animals, that us, never mind the child, had no idea what they were. She enjoyed seeing the animals she recognised such as elephants, tigers, lions, zebras and things. She made a lot of impressions of them and had a great day out. I was also excited to go down there as this was the first chance I’d really had to go out with my new sigma 70-200mm f2.8.

The big attraction to the safari park is driving round and getting up close to the animals. Some even as close as sticking their heads right inside the car! Many seemed to have a lot of fun standing in the way of the car.

After driving around the ‘course’, you can park up and have a walk around the amusement area. A favourite part of this was the reptile house. A great range of snakes, crocs, lizards and other animals.

Life has passed by rather a lot since my last post. I’ve been taking photographs around, but neglecting both my flickr and this. Life has been very busy! I have a free week now so I am hoping to spend this week catching up with organising and posting some pictures.

I’ve upgraded my equipment lately too. I purchased a Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC Macro firstly to replace my kit standard lens. I purchased having used the 2.8-4 version for a while and I knew this would be better. Im happy to have the wide range of the 18mm and also upto 50mm is perfect for the music show shooting that I do. All with going down to f2.8 is a bonus, especially for the low lighting of a lot of shows.

Secondly I purchased a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 APO EX DG Macro HSM II. This was up for a very attractive price, and also being the ‘bigger brother’ to the 18-50mm f2.8, I knew this would be of good quality. I’ve brought this in the hope that I can start getting to more motorsport events and get shooting more. I’m really happy with the lens right now, though. It’s quite versatile, sharp, nice bokeh and very fast!

Since my last post, the Dales Highway, I’ve been to an abandoned power station.

I photographed a few live music shows.

And more power station stuff.

BIG post! Pretty much caught up. I plan on adding more to flickr and subsequently posting more, concise posts!

As one of our walks every year, me and my Grandad walked The Dales Highway and also raised money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital Heart Unit (Details: Here). The walk takes 90 miles from Saltaire in West Yorkshire through the Yorkshire Dales to Appleby in Cumbria at the foot of the Pennines. The walk took us 7 days and took us through some great landscape. From the moors of Ilkly and Skipton, to Malham and the limestone country, to Pen-y-Ghent and Whernside along with the awe-inspiring Ribblehead viaduct, through the Howgill range and then to settle in the foot of the Pennines; a lot of the week was spent just simply admiring the view around us, which is the greatest pleasure along these walks.

The first day started early in Derby. Up at the crack of dawn to catch the train to Saltaire and start the weeks walk! Thankfully, 4:30 alarms for work make early mornings much more bearable. We had packed everything the day before, so it was a stress free morning of toast and tea! Outside, the sun was rising and the day was just about ready.

We arrived in a very wet Saltaire not really enjoying the prospect! This was after a strap on my bag had snapped while we were changing trains at Leeds, so a quick repair of this was done. We walked out of the train station and had a gaze at the mills of Saltaire, namely salts mill before joining the Leeds – Liverpool Canal, which has become infamous with me and the Grandfather.

We spent many days on the this canal during a walk from Leeds to Garsdale and also got lost and made life 10x harder for ourselves while walking the Pennine Way. Much to our relief, we only walked along for a mile or two before leaving and climbing up to Ilkly moor.

While the weather wasn’t “Wet” as such, there was a slight drizzle for a long while which didn’t make the walking nice because of have of having the hoods up and loosing the views. How ever, as we reached nearer Ilky, the weather started lifting off and we were met with great long views over Ilkly and the moors. We stopped off at a café, which true to our luck was closed. We settled for some cobs and a brew. It was a magnificent place though, real high over Ilkly.

From here on, the day went on rather pleasantly, dropping out of the moors and into a town called Addingham and we a pint of Ale with some fish and chips. Grandfather had been studying google maps a lot over the months leading up to the walk and had found a stream by a path a few miles out of Addingham and just short of Skipton, which looked like the perfect place for the first nights camp. We set off out of Addingham knowing we didn’t have a lot of daylight left. Walking as the light set, we knew we had had too much of a rest and ended up pitching the tent in the dark. The stream also was quite out of bounds so we settled for a cup of milk and a biscuit for the night!

The second day started off in glorious sunshine and a great morning mist. After clearing up camp we set off on down to the path for Skipton. The morning started with a great little forest path, of which we both agreed was the perfect start to the day. We headed down into Skipton town and found a great little café which provided some excellent tea and biscuits!

A steep climb led us out of Skipton behind the church. The sun was shining high and there was no shade about in the fields. The drizzley start of the walk was a real distant memory now as this lovely bit of farm walking led us a long a simple path through fields of relaxing sheep.

Our first big hill was a long here, it took it out of us quite a bit! It’s always a struggle at the start of a walk. But from here, we were on the back stretch to Malham…a place we had stopped at during the Pennine Way and I fell in love with; a beautiful little village in the center of limestone country. It was a long walk down to Malham, down a very steep road. It always feels as though you have to earn your way into Malham and we were definitely doing this! Once we dropped right down, we joined the beck at the famous Janet’s Foss waterfall. Apparently haunted, we were not greeted by any ghostly beings.

The walk followed the beck into Malham from here. The night would prove to be a restless and unsatisfying one, and a massive climb out in the morning but this was no problem to me because climbing over the limestone hills; the large hill named Pen-y-ghent came into view. We camped at the bottom of this on the Pennine Way and I totally fell in love with it. But between here and there was a fair few miles still to cover and go through the great little settlement of Settle! The path down to here led us through some great limestone scars.

We stopped in Settle at a pub we stopped at during our walk from Leeds to Garsdale. I was realising here now just how much of the Yorkshire Dales we have covered and all this crossing of paths was great! A bowl of soup (which no one actually seemed to know what is was) and a bitter shandy set us up for the afternoon. We walked out of Settle, around the sports fields and down along the side of the Ribble (A river of which I have been to the source of, and walked a lot of the Ribble way!) which during some more lovely afternoon sunshine, heads set down for Stainforth.

Our night is Stainforth was a good one! A great meal at a great little pub and had a good chat about tigers in the far east. Some heavy rain in the night bouncing off the tent but I slept through that and we awoke to a crisp morning and a breakfast of chicken noodle soup! I was excited today; our destination was the Station Inn. I knew it was great here, we stopped here during our Leeds to Garsdale walk! But more important than the digs was the amazing Ribblehead viaduct behind it. An amazing feat of man, 24 arches on a curve along undulating land…the last great work of the navvies. It was a rather uneventful day of walking, we we’re both not feeling too great so just got in with it looking forward to a room with a view.
We did stop of in Horton for lunch; another soup and bitter shandy at the foot of Pen-Y-Ghent. As we left, we headed up to walk along side the rail way; part of the infamous settle – Carlisle line and leading to Ribblehead.

Once we reached Ribblehead, the view of the viaduct and the pub sporting Timothy Taylor Landlord pumps improved our spirits massively. We had a pint or two at the bar before heading up to the room. After a quick relax I just had to run back out and have a wander about the viaduct. Unfortunately the afternoon sunlight was perfect for the photos I wanted to get but it was still immense just walking through the arches.

The morning was a great one. A massive gale in the night had broken the power supply to the pub (We we’re totally out in the sticks here) but at 8am luckily the power came back just in time to was before breakfast, which, impressively was on the tables for half 8! The weather in the morning was beautiful. A very cold wind, the hats and gloves were out! But it was dry and clear and the sunlight was on the other side of the viaduct which made me very happy!

It was a fairly tough days walk ahead along to Sedbergh at the foot of the howgill mountains, which was the thought to keep me going. The day led up the shoulder of Whernside where various groups of three peakers zoomed past us (Yes we were slow, backpacks full of a weeks supply of camping, cooking, food and clothing does that!). It was steady climbing, the biting wind keeping us fresh however and keeping us going…no one wants to stand still in that wind! A slight drizzle met us over the shoulder with views breaking of Dentdale. This made for a great array of rainbows and views over Dent.

We stopped off in dent for…SOUP AND BITTER SHANDY! Perfect fuel. We had a great chat with a man who (Claimed to have) worked with a Mr Alfred Wainwright, a very interesting, if sceptical discussion. The walk out of Dent and ontop Sedbergh via Millthrop was a steady one, walking down a rather nerve racking country lane until we joined a track which led round some hills and through some fields. We joined the Dales way path round into Sedbergh. As we rounded the hills, the amazing rolling hills of the Howgill Fells came into view; massive hills looming over us, tomorrows challenge calmly awaiting us. A great sight to behold!

A rather funny night was spent in Sedbergh. It slowly dawned on me and the Grandfather that we had stopped in the same digs and same room before on The Dales Way so we spent the evening discussing this. We also had a great meal, infact too great, some Rennie munching went on and we sat and watched thew news go by…it’s easy to lose touch! But while this happened, the lovely old landlady seem to spot me, the handsome young fellow and figure I must be able to use technology, and so I was dragged into setting up her new tv for her. It’s a nice feeling doing things like that.

A good nights sleep was had; they were some comfy beds! A hearty breakfast followed the next morning, my good deeds obviously being recognised. It was another gloriously warm and sunny morning. This was beginning to disappointing me. After my previous waterproofs failing slightly during the Pennine Way the year before, I have invested in some more quality gear and it was rather frustrating slightly that these investments weren’t being put to use!

We walked up out of Sedbergh in the sunshine and the climbing was steady, “we could do this all day!” we thought to ourselves. Once we crossed the gate, out of Sedbergh and into the Howgill Fells however; things instantly changed. These hills welcomed you with a brutal initiation. You climbed and you climbed fast. After just 30 mins of walking, Sedbergh was a small dot down below. This effort was worth it however, the height we had gained gave use views right back over to Pen-y-ghent and Whernside which was a great time to stop for a bite of chocolate and swill of water (No pubs up here unfortunately!). We walked on up for the summit of The Calf and came across a view, of which totally stunned me. Apparently a rare, clear glimpse of the Lake District stretched across the horizon; my favourite place of all this country. It really was a spirit lifter seeing such a view. This walk was really making itself know, every day pretty much, I had been in awe of the landscape.

The day sadly petered out as we walked down a valley. Now, I do enjoy all the walking but we walked down this narrow valley for 5 or 6 miles and it does become very tedious which does upset me after a while! We walked on down the valley, through the farmers’ land and down the road into Ravenstonedale where setup camp in a farmers field. There was a slight buzz between us both because this was our last night, just one day of walking remained. There’s a mixture of excitement of getting home along with sadness the walk is coming to an end; you get used to the nomad lifestyle and worry free days of just wandering around the great countryside we have.

We enjoyed a meal at a pub about 15 minute walk away. It was a bit of a posh deal. I hadn’t shaved all week, needed a haircut and there’s no styling facilities in the tent and felt like a right oddball there! It was, however, on of the best pints of black sheep I’ve ever had a great fish and chips! We got chatting to a local couple who were very interesting people and they gave us a lift back to camp in their lovely Jaguar.

The last day started very slowly. We didn’t have massive mileage to cover and we didn’t want to rush ourselves. A good walk through Asby, Hoff and onto Appleby for the last day. It was a largly uneventful day really, we arrived at Asby in good time and settled in a pub next to a lovely coal fire and had soup and bitter shandy! The afternoons walking dragged a little. We walked along the river Eden for a large amount which, while nice, the views of the past few days were missing. This was until the last mile or two when the North Pennines shot into view. We spent these miles trying to work out where we had walked last year along the Pennine Way. This was until came over the brow of a hill and were greeted the spectacular sight of High Cup and then it all fell into place. From here, we simply followed a path into Appleby and found our way to our final digs, a very smart B&B and a good nights rest and a weeks reflection over a Chinese and a few beers.

Streetlight Manifesto have been such a massive band for me since I started listening to them (well, Catch 22) quite a few years ago now. The musical genius of Tomas Kalnoky really does blow my mind. Spent hours listening to track after track. So when I heard they that they were coming to Derby and playing The Old Bell (Which is such an awesome venue), I was straight there for the gig!

Another Major interest for me was the performance of Random Hand. I had seen them for the first time many many years ago at the vic, bought their album and listened to it a fair bit. They have an awesome fusion of ska and metal with a bit of trombone thrown in too!

James Warner Prophecies opened the night. I had never heard these before, but they played a good set. Some fun ska tracks and with a flute! But afterwards, the crowd gathered to the front of the stage and waiting for Random Hand who exploded onto the stage. They played a powerful set and were fairly awesome. The crowed were loving it; I had a few mates with me who hadn’t heard them before, but were jumping around like lifelong fans by the end of the set! Perfect setup for the music to follow…

After a slightly extended wait and after lots of chanting, Streetlight finally burst onto the stage. I have seen them before, Once and Nottingham Rock City and once at what was the Sheffield Carling Academy but here, in The Old Bell, I was practically getting kicked in the face by Tom! So up close and such amazing presence, they really played the place like was a massive arena! I will be honest, I cannot remember the playlist…too many beers had been sunk by this time! But they played so perfectly, amazing improv’s and just generally having great fun on the stage. Unfortunately with it being a small venue, Tom was finding my camera flash very distracting. One of the bands roadies gave me a tap on the shoulder and a beer to apologise. This cut short my photography but enhanced the night for me. My favourite band had bought me a beer to apologise! Rest of the night was spent bouncing about skanking my heart out! Would love for them to return to Derby!

During the month of June 2010, I met together with the people from theracingline.net and we headed off on a road trip to the greatest of all motorsport events. The 78th running of the 24 Heures du mans promised to be as greater race as ever. The diesel battle continued with Peugeot running their aged, but proven winner of a car, the 908 HDi FAP and Audi bringing a new car, the R15 plus TDI to fight for the overall win. Peugeot also have a car running with the Oreca Matmut team which was looking like a possible outsider. Back to the petrol cars, the Lola – Aston Martin trio were always favourites for the petrol ’sub-class’, but just how close were they to the power of the diesel cars? Drayson and Rebellion were also entering in the LMP1 class to bring a challenge to the power of the Lola- Aston Martin cars. Another big thing we had to look foward to; mainly for the Brits, was the Beechdean Mansell car entering with veteran driver Nigel Mansell entering with his promising sons Greg and Leo.

More big news this year was that it would be the last running of the LMGT1 class. Old GT favourites Corvette racing now had their ZR1 cars running in GT2, leaving the GT1 class filled by private teams. Luc Alphand entered his Corvette C6.R’s as always and also Labre Compétition had a Saleen S7R, Matech had two Ford GT’s (with one car being piloted by three women), Aston Martin Young Driver Scheme had a DB9 entered, Marc VDS racing had a Ford GT also and lastly fan favourites JLOC had one of their famous Murcielagos. Some big cars in the class, which promised to be a powerful send off!

So Wednesday evening came. After settling into French campsite life; visiting the legendary Carrefour hypermarket, bbq sausages and staring at lots of dream cars, we headed in the village and straight for the grandstand. It is always such a breath taking feeling when you get into the grandstand above the pit garages and the cars come screaming down the straight with the sound echoing about everywhere. Year after year you just find yourself standing for a second thinking ‘wow’. The evening was slightly damp throughout so we didn’t see the cars going at full pelt, but they were still amazing.

For the second part of the nights running, we headed up to tetre rouge. This is a massively important corner because it leads onto the mega long Mulsanne Straight and so a fast exit speed is essential for the fast lap time. This was excellent in the dark, seeing the cars blasting through the corner, hitting the apex at maximum speed and flooring it out onto the straight.

Thursday was a good day, both weather and running wise. There was some considerable rain during the night, but the day got sunnier and sunnier, with the heat quickly rising through the day; perfect weather for enjoying a beer. For both sessions, we took to the roof of the garages of the Alain Prost Karting Track. This was the first time we had been up here to view and we were surprised at the view. The wall was the perfect height to lean on or to sit on the chair and watch the cars speed away. Towards the night, I took advantage to get my tripod up there and take a few night shots which was lots of fun.

On the Friday, there is no running so not a lot was left to do in the sunshine, where the temperature was now in the high 20’s. We had another trip to the shop and grabbed more BBQ food and lots of beer. We also had a small walk of the Porsche curves and down the pit lane during the day. The evening consisted of sitting, chatting and drinking before heading into the village for the France vs Uruguay match in the World Cup. I have to cut my memories of Friday short because after drinking some Vodka + Orange with some French people, and telling them how Wayne Rooney is going to light the world cup up ( I am never going to be a football pundit), I don’t actually remember anything until I woke up in my tent. Apparently it involved me starting a small riot with some French people, before sitting down and watching security pull everyone else away and also me and an Australian charging at each other and ending up on the floor.

Long awaited, Saturday arrived. I didn’t really come round until 2pm so I dragged myself back up to the karting garage roofs once again and rested back in my chair and waited for the race to start and trying to get as much oxygen back into my body as I could. Finally, the sound of a massive range of engines could be heard coming from the Porsche curves and then the slow train of 54 of the best sports cars in the world came past. Weaving, revving and waiting. We all watched the cars go past and onto the ford chicanes. There’s a unique feeling when these cars drive past at this time. This is the beginning…24 hours lie ahead. 24 hours of constant racing; the best you will get in Sports car, if not (arguably), in any motorsports series.

Finally, the leaders get onto the start/finish straight, under the Rolex clock and floor it up to the Dunlop Bridge. Even from where we were, the roar and scream of the engines could be heard (Well, of any petrol vehicle at least). Even in my terribly hung over state, a mass of excitement was rushing through my body. So we waited about 3 and a half minutes for the field to roar past in anger, and we weren’t disappointed. Astons screaming, Corvettes roaring, Ford’s rattling and Diesels whispering by.

We spent a few hours here, hooked up to Radio Le Mans and also watching Kangaroo TV. The first shock was the Beechdean Mansell entry going, a puncture putting Nigel Mansell into the wall. Many a joke was made about this; but it is rather sad that sons, Greg and Leo, missed their chance to prove themselves alongside their father. As the race went on, it was clear Peugeot had the speed advantage; but could they last? Audi went on keeping their speed steady in a confident manner. It was also fun to see the GT2 works Corvettes were giving the GT1 cars a run for their money; down a class, but the ZR1 proving the corvette is still as powerful as ever!

After a while, we then made our way up to the outside of the esses for a while. During this time, my personal favourite car (probably along with most Le Mans fans that aren’t French), the Audi number 7 crashed while trying to lap a GT2 BMW M3. Luckily the car managed to get its way back to the pits and with us waiting with baited breath, the Audi mechanics jumped on the car like crazy men. It was a nice place to view from here, it’s always amazing to see the cars come flying from under the Dunlop Bridge and then dip down into the esses. The change in direction over the small bump on the first apex of the esses is amazing, so much grip while on the power.

Then it was time, for 90 mins, we allowed ourselves to forget we were at one sporting event and head to the big screen and immerse ourselves in another. It was the second day of the world cup and England were playing USA and the lovely ACO people put a screen up showing the match. This gave a massive glimpse into the English love of Le Mans. The whole section was crammed by flags, caps, wigs and all sorts of other such things. It was a relatively poor match, a nice goal from Steven Gerrard and THAT mistake from Rob Green.

I won’t dwell too much on the football. After the match we headed back to the campsite, got some food and stocked up with some red bull and coke. We lounged around for a bit as the dark set in. After a while, we headed up to the start finish straight. There is no Grandstand access for us general ticket monkeys but even being on the peasant steps has a great atmosphere in itself. Unfortunately we got split up here in the crowed, the top of my tripod got caught on someone’s coat and I got dragged away. Once I got to the viewing area, I just decided to settle down and enjoy the atmosphere; along with my massive bottle of cherry coke. That stuff always keeps me going at Le Mans! The sound was magnificent, even the diesels made their sound and echoed it around the pits. It was great to see the mechanics totally on the ball, even into the night. Glowing brightly, the pits were always a hive of action somewhere or other, most fascinating to watch.

I decided to walk on up a bit and ended in something that was totally random; but also what I love about Le Mans. There is always a live stage normally playing something not that interesting when you have a 24 hour symphony running around you. But this was different, it was like a rave! I took the chance to take some pictures of the well lit up stage. The rapper dude then asked everyone to wave something in the air and get jumping about. I decided I had to use my tripod and started going looney, it was amazing! I wasn’t drunk but I fitted in well! Though after a while, I got bored and wonderd back to the esses, again staring at tail lights zipping around the corners. I met up with some mates again here and we decided to get back to the campsite, munchies were setting in.

Back to the karting garages with cookies and more coke, the famous Ferris wheel glowed and went round in the background and several parties around the campsites were glowing…again the magic of Le Mans is all around. At this point in the race, Anthony Davidson had burst out of the pits in the number 1 Peugeot 908 and set a blistering time. This was quickly picked up by all and then followed by several slower times, more like what all the Peugeot’s were doing. Audi had picked up on this and seemed to think that the more power Peugeot seemed not to be able to keep up the power. So the ever reliable Germans pushed their R15 plus’ and forced the Peugeot’s to go racing…and we weren’t even half way through the race!

Around 3 or 4am we headed up to the Porsche curves. This place is a magical viewing area at night; the cars come flying through at an incredible speed and on the throttle. At one point, a GT2 BMW M3 went off, though our tiredness, which was starting to set in, actually had us doubting ourselves until the car bouncing past us on the edge of the track. The Audi’s were still pushing the Peugeot’s and the number 7 Audi was out of the pits and pushing back up through the pack.

Dawn started to appear. Another special time of Le Mans. The cars appear from the darkness, all dirty from the nights running, now around 15 hours of racing had passed and they were showing it! We headed back up to the esses, this time near the end of the complex. The sun was rising to our left and there was an awesome orange glow about the place. We were snapping away when BOOM! A big cheer goes around as the number 1 Peugeot’s turbo blows up and the car comes past with flames coming from its rear! This was amazing. The race was already at a tense level and now the Peugeot was showing its weakness! Just one works Peugeot and Oreca one left in the race now. The Audis were on it and wanted victory.

The rest of the race went with Audi’s pushing for the victory, keeping the last Peugeots pushing to keep the pace. With just hours left of the race, the last two Peugeot cars suffered the same engine failure that plagued the number one car. With the Peugeot’s out of contention, then the race was Audi’s for the taking. The team set themselves to aim for the end of the race now and bask in the glory. Unfortunately, the petrol favourites and touted possible Diesel contenders Aston Martin Racing suffered with mechanical problems in the race, with the 009 not finishing, yet completing more laps than the 007 that did make it to the end. The Aston Martin powered 008 car also failed to finish the race.

Audi won the race with the number 9 car 1st, number 8 2nd and number 7 fighting back to finish 3d. The highest petrol finishing car was, somewhat ironically, was the Team Oreca AIM car in 4th place. In LMP2, Honda, or HPD, powered, all British Strakka Racing finished 1st with OAK Racing 2nd and RML 3rd. In the final GT1 class, Larbre Compétition won with their Saleen S7, ahead of the Luc Alphand Corvette and Aston Martin. 2010 was a great year in GT2 with the works Corvette team entering their new ZR1 for the first time. Team Felbermayr-Proton won with their Porsche 997, Hancook racing were 2nd with their F430 BMS Scuderia Italia grabbed 3rd. A great battle happened through the day between the ZR1’s and the Risi Competizione Ferrari. This ended however with one of the corvettes suffering reliability issues in the night and the second ZR1 was hit by a flying Anthony Davidson. This lost the car lots of time and it ended up with an engine failure not too far from the end of the race.

All in all, the 24 Heures Du Mans 2010 was an excellent race and I had a wonderful week. Congratulations to Audi, Stakka, Larbre Compétition and Team Felbermayr for their respective wins.

May 30th and I was at another awesome Derby DIY show; this one I was well and truly stoked for. I’ve been listening to Cobra Skulls’ great style of punk and also Mike TV’s classic pop punk stylé for a while and was really buzzing for the show. I wasn’t disappointed, even from the start; Pure Graft and Bangers started the night with a bang, Dirty Tactics brought over some great heavier punk and some amazing riffs before Mike TV took over the stage. Front man and bass player ‘Domb Thumb’ did a great show along with the ever enthusiastic, two tone afro’d ‘Pickled John’, the band bringing back classic Green day-esque songs; they really got the crowd going. Last on were headliners Cobra Skulls. Rocking a ‘mexicana’ punk rock style all the from America; they played heavy and fast and really got the ever growing crowd jumping about. Both Devin on bass and Adam on guitar did amazing jobs on the vocals as well as some awesome riffs from their respective instruments.

All in all a great show and well done to Rob and Dean from Derby DIY for an epic gig!

Also, one of my pictures from here got featured in an interview with Cobra Skulls bassist Devin at Distorted Magazine!

Formed in 1976 from influences such as The Sex Pistols and The Buzzcocks, Joy Division conisted of Stephen Morris, Peter Hook, Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner. Their mellow sound fitted into the post punk era but with their own unique sound. An over distored guitar played at full volume, bass lines pumped up on the high frets, a passive drum beat and rather ‘baritone’ vocals gave them a very unique sound, somewhat of an acquired taste. Rising to fame with a dedicated following, the band were dogged by lead singer Ian Curtis’ ill health with epilepsy. Struggling during tours with Joy Division, Ian often suffered heavy seizures both off and on stage which caused rising depression.

In May 1980, Joy Division were due to go on a tour of North America where they had grown a strong following. But suffereing from heavy depression, and with his marriage failing, Ian Curtis sadly hung himself in the kitchen of his home in Huddersfield.

18th May 2010, 30 years on from this event, I go along to Barton Street in Macclesfield, the home of Ian Curtis and also his grave in Macclesfield Cemetery. Before this I had no real interest in the man or the band, but this visit on this day has really got me listening to Joy Division and appreciating the music.

Another one of my sets from a Derby DIY. This was a specially unique gig, to me. The venue was Bar One in Derby, which has a great outdoor setup for it’s gigs. The line up for this was a great blend of acoustic punk and folk. Some Sort of threat, Joe Atom, El Morgan and Austin Lucas all the way from the USA.

After a while, it became evident that there were some issues with the PA system. After these were failed to be resolved, El Morgan and then Austin Lucas decided to just come off the stage and into the crowd to play their set. It provided an awesome, close personal atmosphere and ended in a really enjoyable gig! Again, I urge people to check out the Derby DIY website and The Derby DIY Facebook group for future Punk Rock shows!

I have always wanted to get into the Urbex scene, and when I was invited to explore here, I couldn’t resist! Willington was a relatively small power station which was closed after privatisation in the 90’s. Today, only the relay station still lives on with the cooling towers in the background. These are left here because of rare falcons nesting in them. Some parts of workings still lie about, being left to the elements and pits of the foundations from the buildings lie full of water. A wonderful first time, and I cant wait to build on it!

A fairly nice day, a good reason to take the dogs out for walkies! Two friends of mine have a Jack Russell puppy called Bobby, and her mum has a grandfather Jack Russell called Jiggy. Two great contrasts of a dogs life. One dog running, jumping, exploring while the other gracefully enjoys it’s walk. The location; Branston waterpark. Haunt of the runners, joggers, power walkers and doggy walkers alike. It’s the first real chance I’ve had to photograph dogs and to be honest, I made a few mistakes, namely using too small an aperture. But oh well, I have and learn from my mistakes!