Remembrance Service – Aylesbury Concert Band - St. Mary's Church

I drove to Quainton to pick up my daughter to collect her and the far less weighty Tenor Sax and head for the car park in Aylesbury Town Centre where she would be playing with The Aylesbury Concert Band to celebrate the Mayor's Centenary Remembrance Service in Commemoration and Thanks for those who gave their lives in service of their country in The Great War from 1914 to 1918.
I was joining her for the Rehearsal, and I soon learned I was going to be some considerable distance from the Band, so began shooting early whilst I was still able to wander quietly around to be able to obtain less obstructed views of the Band Members, I also realised that with the low level of lighting I was going to find it hard to get the quality of shots I wanted without something to give me extra support, so I soon headed back to the car to collect my monopod as a tripod would not be feasible.
It was definitely a good move, because I found my self shooting at speeds of 1/20th of a second if I wanted to keep a low ISO and the noise level to a minimum, which meant I was often over-shooting to ensure the success rate was good. The Conductor, Rob Wicks's, baton was certainly going to often be a blur even when I had managed to hold my camera and lens steady! Almost all of the shots in the Concert proper were taken at full aperture, and I still often had to resort to setting an ISO speed as high as 6400˚. During rehearsal, I should have pushed the speed higher as I was in the low light in the left aisle whilst Alison Langer was practising her piece, and I really needed the extra speed to capture the pianist's hands at the keyboard.
The Concert was full of Music that was familiar and often rousing, and there is always a great chance of me singing with gusto, especially when the audience can cover any mistakes I might make in my exuberance. The congregation were amused by the presiding Minister's request we sing Jerusalem through a second time to allow enough time for the Collection! I was more than happy to oblige.
Altogether another enjoyable evening, the only slight sadness was that the length of the event meant that on my return I spent very little time with my young grandchildren before they went up to bed.

Aylesbury Concert Band – Proms in the Park

I always enjoy the Aylesbury Concert Band’s playing and this Sunday was no exception, the weather was exceedingly hot and with no hint of rain, nor sadly on this occasion, not a whisper of wind, absolutely ideal weather for taking the sky in a hot air balloon, as the chances of travelling too far were somewhat limited, and above the Park in Aylesbury one slowly passed overhead, but their timing was poor if they wished to listen to the playing, as they came over too early!

My daughter plays Baritone Saxophone with the band, and she must have  carefully ensured her placing was such that she was obscured from my lens no matter what viewpoint I might choose. So except when not playing, she was to all intents not there!

The local council have other photographers covering the event, and I joined them as it meant that our gear was eminently safe as there was always one of us nearby, giving each of us the freedom to wander without a constant nagging about the safety of our kit.

We were there for the rehearsal as well as the concert proper which is always useful to capture some of the other activities and watch some of the energetic youngsters doing cartwheels and handstands and generally keeping their parents occupied reining them in when they strayed too far. The event is very much family-oriented and even during the rehearsal the public were listening to the concert band and a smaller jazz ensemble nearby, which judging from a loud bang later, we sensed was terminal for their operations, as thereafter they began packing up!

The atmosphere was relaxed and the music was definitely appreciated even during the rehearsal, the Mayor mingled with the crowd and obviously enjoys leading from the front, in that he was even to be spotted with a plastic sack and litter-picker in the hope others would follow his example. His patriotic credentials displayed in the task he set himself of taping the Union Flag to the front of the main stage, he did not confine himself to being part of a civic entourage; he seemed at ease wandering around the crowd and mingling, but wearing his regalia of office around his neck sporting a cream suit, and a pair of very natty brown shoes which I felt should be featured in the gallery of images of the day – had the forecast been for inclement weather, I doubt very much that they would have been his footwear of choice!

I hope that the gallery of images from the day is an enjoyable review of the event and especially of the Band’s Players who provided such evocative music ending with patriotic fervour from the voices of the record crowd, led by guest singers Alison Langer and Lawrence Thackery who had earlier announced from the stage that they were soon to be married which was appreciated by the audience who were finally treated to a firework display.

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.