Aylesbury Concert Band — Christmas Carols — St. Mary’s Church

A crisply cold afternoon in the warmth and welcoming atmosphere that pervades this Annual event hosted by the Town’s Mayor, Councillor Mike Smith, with the Reverend Douglas Zimmerman officiating.

The readings were given by the Town Mayor, followed by His Honour Judge Sheridan DL, Fran Bourgeois-Wheeler, CEO Youth Concern, Julia Upton, MBE, High Sherriff of Buckinghamshire, Group Captain Katherine Wilson, CO, RAF Halton, Alicia Foster, Thames Valley Police Cadets.

  The start of the afternoon’s ceremony was heralded by the Band playing the Pavane from Aylesbury Dances by Wiffin, which brought the general level of Audience conversations down as the local dignitaries filed in from the rear to take their designated seats at the front of the congregation, and the Rector of St. Mary’s welcomed all to the Season’s singing praises to God.

It was less easy than some years to cover the event, as I was shooting from a comparatively low viewpoint, and current etiquette requires avoidance of the young children, which is almost impossible, so I have tried to lessen the lighting on those in the forefront where possible. I hope however that I have still recorded the ambience of the event without causing offence.

Aylesbury Mayor’s Concert – Concert Band at St. Mary's Church

Although the need for a ‘Roadie’ for my daughter is hardly necessary now she is no longer playing Baritone Sax, I still enjoy the excuse of her Concerts to meet up and keep my hand in (read shutter finger!) covering her concerts — I enjoy the music, the company, and it gives me the chance to keep in touch with her and the children, on a reasonably frequent basis.

I travelled over to her house with my camera and lenses, and on this occasion we went to the venue in her car, as my longer wheelbase might have proven a tad tighter when taking the spiral in the Car Park she intended using, so on this occasion it was I who was the passenger. We made our way through the shoppers and arrived moderately early and though we arrived at the familiar church, both of us found that with the layout being reversed relative to the last time we visited it was unsettling. However, the shock over, it seemed a far better orientation. Another bonus was our visit was in daylight, and the sun was shining brightly, and the church was surprisingly warm too!

On the last occasion, not only was it dark, but I found it necessary to use a monopod for stability, on this occasion, I was able to use even my long lens handheld, and without resorting to high ISOs and the attendant noise. Nevertheless, I spent the freedom of movement that the rehearsal offered to capture as much of the informality to record the life of the Band’s natural interaction, and record some of the Band’s members who are normally less featured through being hidden behind the front rows, such as the percussion section, and the lone guitarist.

This church offers no high viewpoint, which could offer the chance of  capturing some of the less visible musicians, but rehearsal gives me the freedom to make amends, and since my shoes were clean and dry, I took the opportunity to gain some height by standing on a chair every so often. The Mayor arrived early and immediately busied himself shifting chairs into an ordered layout that put the front rows a tad further back, which meant the Band had space and the audience’s ears stood a chance of a reduced volume of sound to improve their appreciation of the music. The opportunity of  projecting a hardworking Mayor offering a helping hand was too good a chance to miss!

The beauty of taking photos at the rehearsal is in the capture of some of the lighter moments, as well as the chance of differing viewpoints, and although I am sometimes close to the action I am careful to keep a respectful distance and tread carefully, and silently. However it does mean that outer garments and various bags do make their presence apparent, and often the less formal dress does mean the images tend to be less useful from a Publicity standpoint, but they do provide a record of the fun and enjoyment of the participants. On a previous occasion, I separated the Rehearsal and Concert images, but on this occasion, I have provided one complete entity, and I hope this gives the true flavour of the event. One last point; Carl Quaif and Marie Biswell, who compèred and signed from the distant platform are seen in the gallery far better than could be seen by the audience, by my using a long lens to drag them closer. I hope this means that the blog audience can put a face to each of these two distant figures and a disembodied voice.

Fairford Leys Christmas Concert in the Centre

After a dash back to Marston Moretaine to change into clothes that were more suitable for the afternoon in the centre of Fairford Leys and to also offload the pictures taken at the lake of Windsurfing activity so there was no danger of their suffering any mishap before I was back to processing that afternoon’s images, I collected a group of lenses that I felt would be suitable for the inevitably low light levels I would encounter.

I gave myself a reasonable amount of leeway as I knew there would be a higher level of traffic as the route involved passing Milton Keynes, and to add further insult the A421 road now has a 40mph limit which actually simply backs up the traffic such that even that speed most of the day is an unfulfilled dream; it tends to be a series of 20mph spurts between 10 second standstills, I found it pays to hold back and keep a steady speed of around 18-22mph and save fuel, frustration and brake wear, and fortunately the driver behind seemed to agree as he did not come up and sit on my rear bumper – that was a pleasant surprise.

Although the traffic was still fairly heavy after the spell before the new sections, at least it moved at a fair pace, so I arrived in reasonable time such that my daughter and I were able to take a relaxed pace as she collected her music and most importantly some pegs to anchor it to the music stand, though she did find she was missing some of the necessary pieces she was due to play.

We arrived early and found a place to park with ease and headed for the centre, however, actually reaching the venue had still proved to be somewhat circuitous, as it was later to be repeated when leaving! As we took the saxophone and music bag from the car it dawned on me that my camera gear was still sitting in Quainton with Tim, Lizzy’s husband and the children – they were due to follow shortly, and when Lizzy broke the news to Tim, he had very fortunately not left the house! Acquiring the missing music sheets fortunately presented no problems and the afternoon went well, so whilst Lizzy got herself organised I simply stood around like a spare part, but was soon very relieved to see Tim with my camera bag (some Professional Photographer I turned out to be!) Tim very generously did not make a meal out of it.

I set up the most likely lens I would be shooting with; the 35mm f/1.4 and took a few shots and set ISO 3200˙ and found I could get by at:

Yes, ‘get by’! – if I needed more speed, I had a stop in hand but at least I could cope with the inherent grain at this speed – Thank Goodness for Image Stabilisation or what my friend Adam refers to as Anti-Shake, also when you have my level of unsteadiness I am grateful for the burst, because sometimes the second image can be usable if the first suffered from my tremble.

I think I did occasionally open up to f/2.8, and 1/8th of a second I think was my slowest shutter speed, so I am grateful for the technology jump from my earliest days when 400 ASA still meant I had to use auxiliary lighting and a tripod! Even in Brighter light levels!

Flash under the situation such as this was out of the question as it would have been extremely distracting to those who were playing as well as killing the ambiance of the scenes I captured.

Aylesbury Parklife Summer Concert

  

 

          Aylesbury Concert Band brave the drizzle, and are rewarded with an excellent concert that pleased the crowd that attended regardless of the conditions, and a wider audience on this occasion, as it was also streamed via Facebook. Headlining were the now married couple who have performed with the Band in previous years; Alison Langer and Lawrence Thackeray. 
          The Star for me, having earlier heard her perform at the rehearsal, was the highly accomplished fifteen year old on the violin playing the Tsardas by Monti, Shona Beacham. As can be seen from my picture of her whilst she played at rehearsal that I put in the headline image for that gallery, the two people in the background are obviously listening intently to her performance, in admiration.
          The violin is a notoriously difficult instrument to play, and she justly received a rapturous applause,  but to play that piece with such panâche, and at so a young an age is stunning. Keep an eye out for that name in the future. 
          I was really pleased that the rain which had drizzled throughout the entire rehearsal, began to stop soon after the concert itself started. The programme was packed with numerous pieces both enjoyable and familiar, which is always a challenge when my feet want to dance, and I am trying to hold my camera and often longish lens steady. The light level even before the light dimmed towards evening, meant that when the concert proper began, I was already shooting at ISO 2000° and at f/4! When the lights were really low I was at ISO 12,800° which is what I describe as ‘Unavailable Light Photography’ which is challenging when shooting handheld with hands as unsteady as mine! The Hit rate falls significantly, hence why I favour 32GB cards, and that can become an embarrassment when I do not have a spare empty card in my pocket. 
          In the Interval, I moved Stage left and took shots of the Drummers, which when their leader took to the grass to dance with another of their number, that was seriously tough to keep sharp!!
          I must apologise to anyone in the Band who has waited for these images to arrive on the blog, but life can sometimes supervene as I do have to do other mundane tasks, such as in this case, take my car for its MOT and wait four hours in the car showroom till it is complete, then shop for the mundanities of life such as food that was delayed due to filling the time taking the photos in the first place!
          However, here the images are, and I hope they give others as much pleasure as I enjoyed whilst listening and watching the show.

Aylesbury Mayor’s Carol Concert

Aylesbury Concert Band gather at St. Mary’s Church to celebrate the start of the 2017 Christmas Season with a Carol Concert put on by the Mayor, Councillor Tom Hunter-Watts. At this time of year all those involved are heavily involved with commitments of every conceivable description, and this can be family involvement with schools and the stresses of preparation for Christmas then you add in the English weather and road closures, that everyone can come together in a festive spirit at this time is a minor miracle. I came over from the Bedford area to bring a Baritone Saxophonist; my daughter to the venue, and guess what her two children have been ill and off school, and disrupted her plans for work, but we still made it by the skin of our teeth, and the good fortune to find a car park that had spaces free.

The church was full of various different groups rehearsing in separate areas of the church, as I found out in my journey to pay a comfort visit before I could concentrate on getting my camera gear up and ready. I took a wander around to decide on viewpoints and found these were severely limited due to the number of reserved seats, but settled on the end of a row of four seats in front of the sound engineers’ desk manned by Richard Watkins and a colleague from Taliesin Musicraft. Both were busily setting up mikes and lighting amidst the throngs of participants and early-arrival audience members and families of either the band members or the children participating in the event.

Amidst this there were church staff milling around, and the band were soon assembled and running through pieces that were to form part of the concert – well-organised chaos reigned, and I started taking shots of the musicians from whatever vantage points were possible, at least at this stage free to roam, whereas soon it would be time to sit down and be well-behaved.

Somehow the afternoon progressed from last minute rehearsal into performance, and I was not sure when the transition took place except for the arrival of the local dignitaries, and after a most enjoyable time spent shooting, chatting and singing with gusto, I then went in search of, and found a lady from the States who had spotted me working and asked could I take a shot of her with someone from the council. I was able to take a few shots slightly away from the hubbub, and hope she will be happy with the results. Lighting on this occasion was at the edge of possibility for good images, especially as I do not use flash on such occasions as I want to preserve the ambience of the occasion, and my hands are not the most steady!

The Aylesbury Concert Band, Fairford Leys 2017

It is that time of year again when the Aylesbury Concert Band play at the Fairford Leys Fête, right in the centre, with all the fun of the Fair, a Helter Skelter, Bungee Bouncing, Carousel, Cake Stalls, Hot Dogs, Candy Floss, and on the Bandstand, the headline event of the afternoon – The Aylesbury Concert Band to play bright and popular music.

I have been coming for the last three years and thoroughly enjoy the afternoon, listening to the music, and capturing the moment for the band which includes my younger daughter playing Bass Saxophone.

On this occasion I was using the 5D MkIII and the 24-70mm and the 100-400mm, it is one of those occasions when composition is not too easy, as it can sometimes be very difficult to avoid music sheets coming into frame when trying to feature the player and their instrument, or a pillar intruding, so very often I resort to framing in varying formats.

I hope the shots show how the Band enjoy playing at this venue – it is a very small bandstand and it cannot be easy playing in such a tight space, I for one thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon’s music and the challenge of recording the players.

Fairford Leys – Saxes En Q Saxophone Quartet

I had the good fortune that there was to be yet another musical event – a Saxophone Quartet, called ‘Saxes En Q’ whose venue was far more sociable, for it was inside, with for many, warming mulled wine, so sadly I could not partake as I had the daunting return trip to consider, and did not need dulled senses for that trip! They played beautifully, though to an audience that except for the very young were largely unattentive and unappreciative. Unlike the first time I listened to this quartet, there were fewer jazz numbers on this occasion. When the evening came to a close I had to find my car, but my ‘memorised’ route failed, even though I was really close, as my daughter spotted me and we drove round to where it was parked. Note to self: write down ‘exact directions and street names’!

Fairford Leys Christmas Celebrations

I travelled cross country through torrential rain to reach the venue, and the route was often both twisty and with numerous dips where water could lie in deep pools or wash across in streams. In darkness and no streetlighting, these hazards are difficult to spot, so I was relying on a strong sense of topography to anticipate where the greatest problems lay, but often it was still all too easy to be outwitted, despite my care and reduced speed – be too cautious and you find your rearview mirrors fill with bright, less-patient driver’s lights and a reduced safety margin from the vehicle behind. I was very grateful to arrive safely, but still frustrated by the poor signposting of the heart of the area.

It took me a while having abandoned the car to walk around and get my bearings from the sparse few who were out in the streets, before I got a true sense of where I was and how far I was away from my destination, such that I could re-park the close to where the Aylesbury Concert band were due to be playing. I thought I had taken enough note of landmarks for me to make the return trip with ease. I was able to start capturing the scenes just as the Band began playing.

I had been taking a few pictures before a young boy hugged me from behind and I turned to see my grandson’s beaming smile and warm greeting, and as I turned more fully around there was my even younger curly haired granddaughter smiling at me; finally I turned fully around to see my son-in-law beaming at me. I had not expected them to venture out in this weather, but the pull of seeing Mummy playing saxophone in the band had finally won the day!

Wrongly, both my son-in-law and I, failed to spot that there is no link between the covered area in front of the building and the building, so we learned the hard, wet way, that the rain was just as prevalent behind the band as in front, in the open air!

The signal for the arrival of Father Christmas and his sleigh; the playing of ‘Jingle Bells’ had to be performed several times due to inconsiderate parking which resulted in several ‘encores’!

Aylesbury Proms in the Park 2016

For last few years Aylesbury Town Council put on a Concert in the Park, close by the Swimming Pool and Gym complex, and it proves to be a very successful event that provides funds for Charity and a great family day out. Rarely could it have had such good weather for the event, and this was also reflected in the numbers attending the Concert by the Aylesbury Concert Band on the Bank Holiday Sunday.

I arrived with my daughter’s baritone saxophone in time for the start of the rehearsal and families and individuals were already settling down for the afternoon of music. I dropped off the sax and my daughter and parked the car up the road before returning to get out my cameras. Very early on I spotted the Soprano, Alexandra Lowe warming up solo out at the back of the marquee, so I asked whether she minded my capturing those moments to which I got an affirmative so I took a few shots and looked forward to the ones for real later.

As the rehearsal got under way, I looked around at the gathering audience and spotted some characters I had seen at earlier concerts, and the Council’s official photographer whom I remember, Russ Naylor came over to greet me and we chatted – he had been covering the whole holiday’s events, not just the concert. The Band ran through their programme and Alexandra joined James Liu on the stage for their pieces, and although I got shots of both performing at this point, I would be able to kid no one these shots were part of the concert, especially since Alexandra would be swapping spectacles for contact lenses and a very striking red dress for the main event. I also spotted a trumpet player around the back, also practising solo.

Carl Quaif opened the main event, introducing the Conductor Robert Wicks and part of the theme was a salute to our Rio Athletes and although clouds began to amass at this time, we were spared. During the rehearsal and the first part of the concert the audience kept swelling in numbers and I took the occasional shots to illustrate the progression as well as incidentals. There was only one incident that marred the proceedings as one recalcitrant male was escorted away.

I did my best to get shots of the musicians as they played, but without a cherry-picker to gain height the shots tend to look cluttered by the music stands, the banners and the individual mikes for the different sections, and also I do not like to disturb the concentration of the performers by being too close.

As the Finale approached and the daylight dwindled, I would keep increasing the ISO speed, though sometimes only after spotting that the sharpness of the shots was deteriorating! It is also hard to get steady shots when one’s feet are tapping to the rhythm of the music which I also came to hear and in some instances sing along to, when the the music was loud enough to provide cover. It was good to end with the solo singers looking upward to the fireworks and being lit from the front of the stage.

Aylesbury Dignitaries Grace St. Mary's Carol Concert

The Aylesbury Concert Band played before the Mayor and other Council Member's at the Annual Carol Concert at St.Mary's Church in the centre of Aylesbury Town. My daughter who plays a Baritone Saxophone in the Band needed transporting there, so I arrived as the rest of the Band were setting up, and on this occasion I was playing a very low profile with regards the taking of photographs by only taking a handful of shots during the preparations and main performance and in the more relaxed and informal period at the end whilst the assembled dignitaries handed out mince pies and mulled wine. The lighting was in the region I tend to describe as 'Unavailable Light Photography' – to be truthful with modern technology it might more truthfully be described as 'Barely Available' and I found myself shooting at 12,800 ISO at often full aperture. In my defence, I have not applied any noise reduction to these shots and would definitely need to do so were any needed for print reproduction at more meaningful sizes than in the gallery, and some might not pass muster even then.

The music and the singing was thoroughly enjoyable and the church was packed to capacity actually requiring more seating to be found, and I could still see a few standing. By not using flash and using a long lens I felt I was being very restrained and this allowed me to retain the atmosphere even though this resulted in several either blurred or unsharp images that never made it into the final gallery.

This was my second Carol Service of the weekend the first having been at Fairford Leys where I was also treated to hearing an intimate Saxophone Quartet playing giving my tapping feet an airing!

Aylesbury Proms in the Park Concert, 2015

I spent some time trying to consider the minimum amount of gear to take photographs of the Aylesbury Concert Band’s Proms in the Park event as I knew I would be some distance from the car, and I might encounter rain, so not only had I to consider overall weight, I had to also take account of bringing some form of protection against a probable downpour of rain, yet I knew I would want a long lens for shots of the musicians and singers and since there was to be a fireworks display to round off the evening I would need a fairly wideangle lens, I could not consider taking two camera bodies, and knowing the likely level of lighting, taking a tripod was sensible.

On the outward journey I had a bag over each shoulder and a seat and a brolly strapped with a bungee to the tripod bag, and felt impressed that I was travelling so light, nI also knew that the journey back to the car would not be so tidy!

I arrived early and trekked back to the park from the car park, and I thought I would be standing around before anything began, but rehearsal was still taking place and even after that had finished the stage was taken by a couple of singers who entertained the gathering crowd with medleys of songs from the fifties, already there were other photographers there to cover the activities. It was a wonderfully relaxed atmosphere with numerous family groups settled on the grass with children enjoying the warm afternoon either playing or relaxing on rugs; the air was full of laughter and chatter and the music from the stage was the backdrop.

Right from the start therefore there was an opportunity to capture the scene and even take a few shots of the band before rehearsal had finished. The gallery that results is therefore not simply of the band and their guest singers but coverage of the atmosphere that surrounded the stage. I was always conscious of trying not to obstruct the view of the audience, but it seemed no one particularly bothered and everyone was happy to let the four photographers wander across the front of the stage and various audience members did the same with their camera-phones, Russ whom I might describe as the official photographer even used his small steps to get a higher viewpoint from time to time and all of would occasionally take to the back of the stage to get shots. I am sure therefore that the shots of the event will reflect the laid-back nature of the whole event.

All the favourites from the ‘Last Night of the Proms’ were there and much appreciated with patriotic fervour, waving flags, glow sticks and dancing!

It did rain for a short period, but certainly not long enough to put a damper on the evening and did not prevent the launch of the fireworks at the end of the day.

Holy Trinity, Aylesbury Concert

Late Wednesday evening I receive a text that a Concert is scheduled for the Saturday at the Holy Trinity Church, Walton Street Aylesbury that my daughter Lizzy has just heard about, and was I interested. Under most circumstances I would always try to attend anyway, but the stress that has attended my forthcoming move from Caddington, the marital home to my own home in Marston Moretaine was even more appealing to allow the music to wash over me and restore calm.

I set my phone alarm to give me ample time to spruce myself up and gather my camera gear together for the venue. I had never been to this church, so I had no idea of the layout or lighting, though Lizzy had said it was not overly bright. Fortunately there is a car park nearby, though only as the crow flies, but for mere mortals it involves first walking away from the church to reach the crossing over the dual carriageway, then the same distance and more to reach the venue. That would have been a serious trek for Lizzy with her baritone saxophone, its case and music stand, for the preliminary rehearsal and concert the return trip would be even harder.

I parked the car and reaching the road I took a quick shot of building opposite, intending then to take a shot of the church, but then I get a call from a long term friend, whom I had left a message of the impending move, I chatted all the way to the church, then had to end the call as I got my ticket and promptly having explained, in the course of paying for it managed to completely forget I had been still connected, so once settled inside resumed the call and apologised and would have a longer call later. Thus I completely forgot to take a shot of the church!

Inside I tried to locate where Lizzy would be seated and found the least obstructed view of her position which was to the right of centre on the end. It was not as packed as some of the Aylesbury Community Band’s audiences, but they were enthusiastic and I was able to exercise my feet to the beat without affecting my handholding of the two cameras with the 70-200mm for the individual musicians and 24-105mm for the more inclusive shots.

After the interval, I moved to the right hand side wall for a change of viewpoint as well as a shift to my 100-400mm lens to get individual musicians on the far left and profiles of Rob Wicks, the Conductor. The music in some instances was familiar to me, but not all, though I would have had to have had a heart of stone not to be nticed into humming my way through the final piece – the Dambusters March, with this being the 70th Anniversary of VE Day.

The Gallery is less arranged due to time constraints, but hopefully captures at least some of the musicians I could see without too much lost to the plethora of very effective LED lamps over the scores; for those who did not feature, I apologise for my and the pillars’ positions.