Ginger DJ Rob

After the major disappointment of failing to get Olympics tickets, Kerry found an alternative to get our bike sports fix. London Prepares was the organiser's way of testing out the newly built venues for next year's Olympics (and perhaps making a little money on the side). As well as basketball at the weekend, the Olympic Park was to host the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup . It was a two day event across a Friday and Saturday. Saturday's ticket instantly sold out so we had to buy Friday seats. Unfortunately, though annoyingly not known at the time of purchase, there would be no actual racing but just the riders doing their time trials for qualification. Getting there was a simple tube train along the Jubilee line to Stratford. After that there was about a 5 minute walk around the new Westfield shopping centre being built. Before getting on the Olympics site bus, we had to have our bags scanned and walk through a metal detector. The site itself also had a airport feel wi...

I've only blogged about this Fringe event as it was organised by my employer and I helped out with the social media promotion and event photography. As a public event I was expecting some off-the-street nutters but they didn't really turn up. For a slightly academic debate we had an excellent turn-out with the Friends Meeting House caretaker having to put on extra chairs. Slightly random woman asking me who the speakers were but I let her off for being partially sighted. We had the Telepgraph foreign affairs editor and a Guardian journalist attending/speaking (pictured). At the end we had a Brighton Fringe rep turn up and requested a copy of my photos! The next day they were on the Facebook page - result! All the photos can be seen on Flickr .

Tried the hotel's French toast for breakfast, good attempt but coffee burnt. Found out that Cambodians use English language for texting and their contacts on their Mobilephones instead of Sanskrit . First destination was the further temple of Srei by car. Driver went about 40mph. Temple was beautiful with detailed carvings but really busy with tourists. On the way back we stopped at the land mine museum where local orphans got adopted and a local hero diffused mines. Also stopped for scarecrow photo opportunities and to see palm sugar being made. So tasty we bought some. Two more temples also visited: a tall sandstone one and the other where many Buddha statues had been found buried. We amused our rep swapping methods of wolf whistling - he grabbed his bottom lip to do it. He was also amused by my anger which I explained about the Incredible Hulk as he'd only been exposed to Eastern culture. We learnt that his uncle had stepped on a landmine and although survived turned to...

So last night was the end of waiting for my 15 minutes of fame. I'd been boring friends about my appearance on the final episode of 'How to take stunning pictures' on Channel Five since July. With all the nerves and a slight sick feeling of dread in my stomach, I think I came off okay even if it was weird to see myself. The first bit with Suzi Perry came off well but the shot ended with myself looking a bit narky and possibly a little like Karl Pilkington . That was because Suzi made the blunder of wearing the wrong outfit and us having to film again for the sake of continuity (I might have mentally said for f*sake). The cafe scene had been cut in half as we both had to show a photo we were happy with and one (shown) we were not. The bit cut out was Martin dissing my better photo or rather me challenging him on the content. Couldn't have that banter on TV I can tell you as I almost had Martin 'climb down' from his comment. There was so much filming on the...

Apologies first. I've been so busy with work having to launch my employer's new website. Plus, there's been stag/hen nights to party to, their respective weddings to attend, a new mobile phone to play with and perhaps a little less enthusiasm to blog. How to take stunning pictures Its finally here, Five broadcasted its first episode last night of 'How to take stunning pictures' which I took part in. Its a six part programme and the Travel programme will be sixth and final featuring myself. Five now have a special programme website which lists myself as a contributor . By the way, I didn't supply that exact text as obviously there's another bigger love in my life! Susie Harrison, who appeared with me in the programme (and now has a lovely new website ) sent me a scan of the Sunday Times ' TV Choice section featuring the programme seen below: Not exactly the best of reviews but I thought it was a good start. Naively, I didn't think Panasonic woul...

I was getting used to this TV production lark so it was slightly depressing to know it would be the last day. Pub du Vin was our last shoot location and they'd picked a great function room with a multi-tiered, drinking glass chandelier. Martin had already done his intro bit so we had to flick through our photos from our assignment and comment on them whilst being filmed. Despite using the Panasonic camera provided (which I bitched about on Monday) the photos ranged from ok to brilliant. The director had already picked his favourite dozen which I couldn't argue with. A few 'noddy' shots again from behind and the side before we met Martin again. Slideshow The second scene was to show Martin our selected photos in front of a huge Panasonic plasma TV (can you guess who sponsored this programme). Behind the telly was a guy pressing the laptop key to go show the next photo. The feedback was fair with a few constructive improvements suggested but a few more compliments ...

Sleep eluded me from a combination of worry and the stuffy, warm conditions. 8am was supposed to be the start time. Met the crew at Jury's Inn hotel and the day did not bode well as Toby, the director admitted he woke up feeling for the first time in the 4 week shoot he felt genuinely unmotivated for the day. Great, no pressure then. Kensington Gardens   I had originally in mind to take photos around St. James Street, Kemptown with the chance to see some colourful gay characters but wanted to capture a particular Brighton character. I had a hunch I'd see him and it paid off. Thank god 'Spyke' appeared as my first subject around 9:30am. I thought he'd only brought his pug dog but thankfully his white rat was inside his zip-up top. It was a rare day for him not to cycle with his rabbit in the basket. Lovely guy to meet who loved his animals. Shops were still mainly closed at this point and not much else was going on so we stopped for a coffee. As we headed for...

Monday morning was the start of the 3 day filming in Brighton for 'How to take stunning pictures'. The meeting point was a cafe called I Gigi on Western Road where Susie, myself and Martin Parr would be filmed. It was a typical yummy-mummy Hove cafe and shop for kitchen and interior design. My first impressions of Martin Parr were that he could have doubled as a strict headmaster having a very distinctive and assertive voice. The director/cameraman, Toby (or Tony as Martin called him for the rest of the day) set up the scene that we'd met Martin to show our favourite travel photo and one that we were disappointed with. We had no idea of which would be chosen as we'd submitted 3 of each. Here's an exclusive: Favourite shown and the one I was disappointed with . I'm not sure if it was favouritism or the difference in mine and Susie's photos but I got a bit more criticism than I expected. He said that my missus, in the background of the NZ mushroom fiel...

Blink Films, the producer of 'How to take stunning pictures' was located slap bang in the middle of Shoreditch with plenty of Nathan Barley types looking very cool (naturally I felt at home). Got to meet the other photographer, Suzanne who will join me and Martin Parr in Brighton on Monday. Suzanne has a great blog called some things we did and seems to be better at photography than me. Also met another photographer who had done his stint with his assigned expert having been down in Eastbourne. Found out later he does Parkour. One slightly annoying change was that we wouldn't be able to use our own cameras. Instead we'd be loaned some Panasonic Lumix shooters. Product placement perhaps? After a chat with the researchers a slightly stressed 16 year old work experience girl (who will be doing Latin and 3 other A levels) walked us over to the warehouse-like flat studio where we'd film the very short intro of ourselves in the company of the Queen of Channel 5, Suz...

If you'd been following my Twitter or Facebook status updates then you'd know about the amazing opportunity I've been given. Thanks to Twitter I found out about a potential Channel 5 TV programme on photography and its researcher was looking for people who love travel and photography and are Brighton-based. With an application and interview later, I received the good news last Friday. The basic concept is that I'll spend a day in the company of a famous professional photographer around Brighton learning tips and tricks along the way. Then I get two days on my own to snap my best shots with my much improved technique. According to the TV researcher, the programme is a series of six each dealing with two amateurs in different types of photography. Travel being my show (with another amateur) where others are action, portrait, nature, wedding and maybe another. So, who will be my mentor? Pictured below, Martin Parr 's recent work has focused on more closer travels s...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr I needed a break from my blog after May's daily spew of Fringe reviews. Luckily I have Twitter to remind me of my past happenings. Chelsea Flower Show With Kerry's RHS membership, we avoided the hoi polloi to visit the Chelsea Flower Show on a members day. We took a half-day off work and arrived about 3:30pm. First impression was how stupidly busy it still was. Seeing any of the show gardens meant shedding your manners and elbowing your way in. Anyone saying that the youth are rude obviously hadn't visited this place. There were one or two gardens that really impressed me including the Australian one with bar/pool. After about 3-4 hours we were pretty well much done with the place including a glass of Pimms at £5 and Kerry buying the most expensive but stylish Hunter wellies ever .   Xpress2, Maxxi Soundsystem 3 May's bank holiday weekend was mainly to celebrate Paul's birthday night though started without him as I warmed u...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr The lack of real blog entries lately has been down to being either really busy on things that aren't that exciting or small things that only deserve a Twitter shout. I blame it on the Winter Olympics and decorating. First off, something I forgot to mention that a friend who works for Brighton council said that my photo (right) had made their 'media briefing'. Not quite sure what this means but being a secret council informer/spy excites me slightly.  Kev, Karol, Sarah and James all celebrated their birthday at the end of February/start of March. After some pre-drinks at K and K's we bundled round to the Disco Dungeon and started the proper party. Since updating to Windows 7 and Virtual DJ 6 I'd hoped for a stress-free set. The only thing that went wrong was the time codes where the sound quality using the virtual vinyl was a watery-muffled sound. As soon as I switched to just using the laptop all was good and had another blinding...

Image by Ginger DJ via Flickr Thanks to my Twitter sources I found out about this art meets landmark meets silent rave event and drove down to the West Pier armed with camera. According to the Brighton Argus it was to celebrate the Chinese new year of the Tiger as a Tiger beer promotion. They could have at least given out free promotional beer as I didn't see any connection until I read the paper. More photos on my Flickr site . Argus article: Brighton's West Pier lit up by green lasers

The above sight rounded off quite an easy going weekend. Friday night we went to Audio for their charity night. Not a bad night though, disappointedly, I missed a dance-floor punch-up and the DJs were ok. It seemed like a 30 minute slot schedule until the last hour when they played one on, one off descending into despair with donk and really old 90's 'dance' music. Time to go. We dragged ourselves out of bed to look at some double-glazing showroom. We'd been visited by two salesmen in the week with Everest quoting stupid money and a local guy giving us an honest opinion. The showroom visit was a waste of time and after a bit of TV recovery we returned to stripping the horrid lime green paintwork from the upstairs woodwork. The evening was a mixture of watching Spaced series 1 repeats on Dave (is it fair to say Series 2 is never watched again as much as the first?) and downloading some demos and games on the PS3. The demo of Mini-Ninjas was cute at first but made its...

What a night at Soulwaxmas! First of all I must thank my amazing missus, Kerry for getting me some excellent gifts this year. I must be one of the most difficult people to buy for but she's done it again and again. Presents awarded this year were: Charlie Brooker 's new book, The hell of it all; Star Trek on Blu-Ray ; a B+W kasemann polarizing filter (an inspired idea) and Nikon SB900 flash (thanks Kev for the technical advice). I'm a lucky, lucky boy. I tired the filter down at the seafront taking some photos, and although it was raining I was rewarded with a rainbow behind me. The evening started with a quick buffet and friends (thanks again Kerry) before the mini-bus up to Brixton Academy . An 8 seater with a return journey worked out at £250 (about £35 with 7 of us). So much better than the thought of waiting on a cold platform and multi-taxis. Shame we had to put up with some dull Radio 2 sounds. Amazingly, even after turning up 15 minutes late we arrive in Brixto...

Wow! What a night! With some costume headaches and worries throughout the week everyone turned up at Riki Tiks looking the part. Kerry's side-parting, facial twirl and Louise Brooks look won me over (and a few others). Julian and Sukey were a pair of dapper gangster bosses, Clare transformed herself into a living Bonnie Parker , Charlotte looked amazing in her Flapper outfit whilst I went for a more blue collar look, a black-shirted fascist Andy Capp . Go-Bang DJs were playing the house sounds in the bar and sat just behind the decks was my boss which was interesting... A couple of drinks later and we went down to the venue, the Old Music Library opposite the Brighton Dome , which from the front window looked like an old funeral parlour complete with coffin and flowers. We were a little bit miffed at having to queue even though we had tickets but once in we were impressed by building's atmosphere and décor. The ground floor had a few clothes rails for the cloakroom (which...

The last early morning for this holiday though I wouldn't say we really needed it. We bused it over to Paracas for our Ballestas Island boat excursion for an 8am start. It seemed a bit unorganised and our rep didn't quite seem to keep on top of it (like yesterday and compared to the rest of the holiday). It looked like two other tourists were being looked after by our rep who were late and didn't arrive with us. This just added to the wasted time - you can tell we were getting grumpy by now. The 30 minute boat ride to the islands was ok (apart from the gloomy grey skies) thanks to our sea sickness pills but the side effects were drowiness so could have missed the whole trip through nodding off. We saw an ancient landmarking along the way called the 'Candilabre'. After that it was boobies, sea lions, penguins, turkey vultures and more boobies. No wonder they used to collect the crap for fertilizer! Seeing the hundreds of sealions was the highlight as they congreg...

Half the month has just slipped away and I think most of it is deciding which HD television to buy! And here it is, the Sony Bravia 40" LCD KDL-40Z4500 which has a 200hz refresh, the first of its kind. I'm using Delicious to tag all the shopping websites and monitoring their downward price - have a look at my Delicious feed on the right. Since I started looking, some retailers have reduced the prices from an average of £1500 to £1300 in the space on a 3 weeks. January is supposed to be a quiet month to conserve the cash but we've braved the big freeze for a few treats along the way. To celebrate Sarah's last day of her old feet (before her feet operation that is) we went treated ourselves to the best tapas in Hove at Latino . It was an opposite experience the evening after trudging round Ikea with only meatballs and their chocolate biscuits a result. Downloaded the highly addictive GTi Club+ on the PS3 . This was a favourite of mine in the arcades where you race a ...