Yes, yes, I’m still alive and back from the dead… :p
It’s that time of year when the 4Togs (well, the 3 least-hairy 4Togs, anyway) like to pack up their bags and head for pastures new.
So, whilst Mark is chained to his desk (which he quite enjoys, apparently), the rest of us are upping sticks and heading to Newquay for some sun, sea, surf and shandies. You can expect a variety of daftness over the course of the next week as we share our adventures with you all.
We welcome audience participation, as always, so if you have any suggestions on where to go, what (or who) to see, or adventures to have – please let us have them. So far, all I’ve managed to come up with is a day out as the Pyrites of Penzance 
Watch this space… The frolics start Sunday!
Three of the 4Togs have shown extreme concern over the whereabouts of Monty, he was last seen a long time ago following a can of lager on a string, and has not been seen since. If you know where he is, or have a lead that may help us find him; please do not hesitate to contact any of the three remaining 4Togs.
His return is important to us, as without Monty, the 4Togs are one quarter less awesome than before…
One of the compromises you have to make on beery holidays is the time you can spend with the camera – you can’t hold up your mates indefinitely whilst you wait for the right light, so you have to be pretty instinctive and reactive with your photography.
I had such a weekend in Jersey where I shot about 400 shots of random stuff in 4 days, mainly in boozers or walking between them. Getting anything that’s meaningful from that is more of a challenge than any dedicated weekend in the lakes with your kit bag and 20 hours a day. All I had was a 5D, 24-105, 3stop ND Grad and a lensbaby with the pinhole adaptor fitted (by accident, thought it had the normal optic in – arse!).
I think you need to try to tell a story where possible, avoid posing everone, look for moments to arise naturally rather than force them into action and gradually people will just accept that you’re taking shots and act naturally. Avoid flashes too, just attracts attention and blinds people, may even set off a fit if you’re not careful.
So I got the shots back and just cropped and used some actions that I happened up on once – one grainy mono, one Grunge Rock – no more, not much point in doing too much processing as I was story telling, not trying to get an award in some photo magazine or anything…
Here’s a few I quite like anyway
We may enjoy the odd shandy or two at 4Togs Towers, but we want you to know that we are concerned for the environment as well. Therefore we always recycle the empties!
p.s. We still have more to empty yet…
Just before I start to rush around like a crazy thing, here’s one of mine from the weekend, of Mark relaxing at Stalybridge station:
Just to let you all know, the Twitography project is very nearly ready for the off. Please keep an eye on here, and on your inboxes, for more details coming soon!
A busy weekend ahead for the 4 Togs… Leeds Beer Festival this evening, followed tomorrow by a 4 Togs recreation of Oz & James’ Beer Train Adventure. Cameras will be very much in evidence, but we can give no assurances on quality!
In addition to that, we have an article on Boudoir photography from Newcastle-based Mandy Charlton, the second in a series of articles from David A. Williams and news of a very interesting photography project that is going to be open to absolutely everyone.
Please keep checking back for more information, or follow us on Twitter: @4togsblog
…Look a little something like this*:
*Please drink sensibly folks… I would never dream of drinking all of this on my own. That’s why Matt’s coming to visit this weekend.
Research by the department of Anthropology at the university of Burton On Trent has revealed that many heavy drinkers have had their habits disrupted by the introduction of digital photography.
Dr. Jones said today that “many subjects in the study, who regularly spent whole weekends in smokey hostelries in drunken stupour, now feel the need to spend their hard earned ‘beer money’ on expensive pieces of glass and carry them to Malham at 4AM”.
He added, “Another side effect was that, like alcoholics, they constantly felt the need to buy more ‘kit’, such as the latest models of camera which they plainly don’t need”.
Concerns have been raised by the Campaign For Real Ale (CAMRA) who have seen sales of the guest ales they support plummet since Digital Photography got in the way of “all day binge drinking”, which is seen as perfectly acceptable when quaffing real ale.
To counter this movement away from liver damage and scirosis, we at 4togsblog have managed to combine our love of the amber stuff with image creation, ensuring that our smaller breweries stay open by taking cameras on “all day drinking binges” and drinking “well into the teens” of pints as often as possible.
Ade, one of the 4togs, said “I found myself driving to places like Whitby for the day, but once there and stood outside the pub, I’d realise that I had to drive back and could not have a pint. This really got in the way of my drinking habit and it was touch and go – the camera was about to be abandoned, but now we’ve discovered “pissed photography” I feel I can go on with both pastimes. It’s such a releif!”
