Africa Entsha - Workshop and Performance at The Glasshouse

I've been lucky to cover a few events involving @67 and Wrexham Community Choir, and I was so thrilled when they asked me would I come and photograph a workshop they were involved with, at The Glasshouse, Cefn Mawr, with the absolutely amazing Africa Entsha  - and then, that evening, photograph Africa Entsha's performance -  following links put up on @67's page, I watched a couple of video's of this amazing a capella group, formally know as Soweta Entsha, and I knew this would be a fantastically enjoyable day .

However, I'll add here that for some reason, it was a day of technical failure, to a certain extent .The day started with my sat nav playing up and deciding to take me in completely the wrong direction - thankfully I still got to the Glasshouse in plenty of time .Then, a couple of days before, I'd been asked if I could find anyone to film this event, but sadly, hadn't managed to drum up any volunteers - however, when I arrived, a cam corder had been found, and I had a spare SD card, so I figured I'd have a go at both film and photography :)  I also eventually remembered that my camera has HD video - which turned out to be a blessing, because when I came to upload the video from the camcorder card, I found it was corrupted, and despite several hours of trying to correct it and salvage something, every thing I had filmed on that was lost - so I was very grateful and relieved that I had shot several sections of film footage on my canon !

Technical problems aside, I was right about it being a fantastic day . To start with, its always good to be involved with the choir - not just because I love the music these guys make, but also because they are so welcoming and really lovely people. It was nice to see Beryl and Penny from the Glasshouse again, too - I met with them several months ago when I photographed a 2 day Viking re-enactment  they had organised at Ty Mawr Country park :)

I was introduce briefly to Africa Entsha, and their publicist, Jo, before the first part of the day - the workshop - started .The group were, to a man, so friendly and obliging, and Jo too was a really nice lady - we arranged that after the workshop, and before the performance, I'd take the guys outside and we would get a few informal publicity type shots - Jo explained that they needed some images for the groups website that was being put together.

Then - the workshop . The Glasshouse is a lovely venue, but as always with galleries of any sort, lighting is a pain !  Bright sunlight that came through the windows, was absolutely dazzling for the participants, so it was partially closed curtains and overhead lights . I really didn't want to use flash, when people were trying to concentrate and enjoy taking part, so it was up with the ISO again - however, I was still pretty happy with the photographs I got .

And - thankfully - I'd also recorded some of the workshop using the HD video on my camera

The 'Technical Gremlins', incidentally, came out to play again with this particular clip ! Although it appeared to have been recorded in the same format as every other clip I had filmed with the camera, the editing software I was using absolutely refused to play it - and nor would it upload to youtube or any other hosting site I tried - though it played perfectly in VLC, so I knew it wasn't 'lost' - it was 4 HOURS solid work to finally discover software that resolved the issue - I owe thanks to good friend Mark, and my husband, Sean , because it was combination of their advice that finally enabled me to sort it - meanwhile, I remembered why I prefer photography to film !

The atmosphere during the workshop was fabulous - everyone was having such a good time, and it showed - I hope I managed to capture some of that, with both the pictures and the footage I got !  The guys in Africa Entsha were just so enthusiastic, as well as talented, and everyone one of the participants was clearly loving it .

And a treat at the end - so glad I recorded this on my camera -

After the workshop finished, we were treated to some absolutely lush African food -

- I didn't realise how hungry I was till I smelt that food - and then I tasted it, and it was fabulous :)

The Jo arranged for the boys to pose for the photographs we had discussed earlier

Later, when I sent Jo these images she said they were 'amazing informal shots' and she was 'very happy', and they are going to be used on the web site that is currently being built for the group :) So, I am very happy too !

The guys had travelled from London the night before, and had had a packed itinerary for days - they had recently played at the Edinburgh festival (where they had been nominated for an award) and had a lot more dates to follow this event - but they never stopped smiling, and were incredibly courteous and friendly with everyone, posing for pictures with fans, and so clearly enjoying themselves - consummate professionals, as well as talented .  They even had the energy for some fun, in between working :)

Then, the performance - I spoke to the boys manager beforehand, and he said the guys were fine with me using flash - thank goodness, because it was obviously darker during the actual performance .

And WHAT a performance ! These guys are so entertaining, again, their absolute pleasure and enjoyment was so evident - everyone watching was smiling !

And again - very glad I used my camera to film a couple of songs :)

A couple of days later, one of the images I took was used to produce advertising flyers  for the group .


It was a really enjoyable day - I know I spent most of the time with a big smile on my face, as did everyone else there.  Big Thank you to @67 and The Glasshouse, to the Wrexham Community Choir, to the workshop participants and of course, to the amazing Africa Entsha - if anyone reading this ever gets a chance to go these guys perform, please go - you really wouldn't regret it :)

Wrexham Community Choir Workshop

One of the nicest aspects of being asked to go along and cover a lot of events, for work experience, this Summer, has been finding out about how much goes on in the local area, and how its allowed me to meet so many really lovely and creative people.  The message I got from Steffan, The Arts Council Manager, asking me to go along and photograph this workshop, held in The Oriel Gallery, is a prime example of this . 

I'd met with the choir, once before, at the Olympic Torch Ceremony - and I was blown away then by the fantastic music that they make .  So off I went with camera - and my youngest daughter, who is very musical and has a 'voice', and who was keen to take part in the actual workshop, whilst I photographed it.

Yet again, the members of the choir who were attending made me very welcome - its not just that they make wonderful music, its the enjoyment that they all so clearly get from their involvement with the choir, and their enthusiasm, that makes photographing events connected with them such an absolute pleasure.

The workshop started with Carol, the choir leader, taking the group through a series of warm up exercises - both physical and vocal .

It was great to see even the very young joining in :)

This didn't just 'warm' everyone up - it had everyone laughing and was a great ice breaker :)

Then started the singing - within a very short time, they were split into 'top, middle and bottom' and started off on a version of 'Pick a Bale of Cotton' - under Carol's guidance, the harmonies just seemed to pull together effortlessly, and my feet were tapping and my head nodding, within minutes - it really sounded good :)

From a photography point of view, the usual problems with light - I prefer not to use flash, when photographing something like this - apart from anything else, its distracting for the participants . Test shots had shown that with the high ceilings and artificial light settings in the Oriel, AWB worked best - with an ISO of 800. Just as the music had my feet tapping, it also quite naturally, had the singers moving - 800 was the minimum I could use and not end up with blur, and as I moved around the room, I sometimes had to up it from that too !

I spotted a window from the second floor that overlooked the gallery, and asked could I go up there, to try and get some different perspectives on the workshop, and as ever, the Oriel staff were very obliging and it wasn't a problem - not knowing I needed the circular polariser (to cut reflections) for this shoot, I hadn't brought it with me, for the lens I was using, but I did manage to get some images where the reflection from the window I was shooting through didn't intrude too much .

Back down to the main Gallery, and I just kept snapping away

The workshop lasted over an hour, and the time just flew by - at the end, I gathered all the singers for a group shot or two . . .

Just to be completely predictable - we had to have a 'jazz hands' shot :)

I want to say a big Thank you to Steffan, firstly, for inviting me along to photograph this workshop, and secondly, to every member of the choir and all the participants that made me so welcome :)  Several members of the choir were later kind enough to visit my facebook page Moments - Photography By McGrane and leave some lovely comments, the choir also asked could they use the images on their web site and facebook pages, which I was more than happy to agree to.  Best of all, the choir in association with @67 have asked me to come along and photograph 2 more upcoming events - @sixtyseven presents Africa Entsha live at The Glasshouse, Cefn Mawr and Wrexham Bandstand Marathon - which I am really, really looking forward to .  More info on these events can be found on the above links .

I really appreciate all the opportunities I have had to gain photographic experience through doing all these events - big Thank You to all of those organisations and individuals who have invited me along to take part :)

When the Vikings Came to Ty Mawr

Myra, who is a good friend of my oldest daughter, contacted me a few weeks back, asking would I be prepared to come and take some photographs of a two day Viking re-enactment  event, happening at Ty Mawr Country Park .  It was being hosted by The Glasshouse, Cefn Mawr and Ty Mawr, and by Cwmwd Ial, The Welsh branch of The Vikings society.

Myra put me in touch with a lovely lady called Beryl Partridge, who is part of the Glasshouse, and The Dee Valley Community Partnership, and we agreed that I would attend the two day event, over the Jubilee weekend, and try and get as many images as I could, to document it, and capture the atmosphere.

So - The first day dawned - and typical of Wales, the heaven's had opened, and it was pouring down.  Nothing daunted, off I set with my 11 year old in tow, arriving at about 9.45 am.  I met up with Beryl, and Penny, who I believe is Chairwoman of The Glasshouse, and they both made me very welcome.  I was given a gillet to identify me as part of the 'team', and a stack of consent forms, to cover the use of any images of children that I took.  And then it was Off to meet the Vikings.  I met first Ian Grant, who leads the Welsh Branch of the Viking Society, Cwmwd Ial, who was quite happy for me to take photographs, though he also wanted to look over the images before they were published anywhere - it was clear that he puts a lot of time and effort into the society, and was very keen that any image taken reflects the work that goes into his, and the rest of the groups efforts at maintaining authenticity and realism.  Neither Beryl, Penny or myself had any problem with this, so it was time to get to work with the camera.

Two settlements had been erected at the park -one for the Welsh/Saxon families, and one for the Vikings.  Immediately apparent was the attention to detail - in the camps as a whole, in the clothes, in the utensils and tools, the weapons - and at this point, I need to thank the assorted Vikings, Saxons and Welsh participants, who without exception, were friendly, informative and were quite happy to have me wander round and point my camera at everything.

Incidentally, one of the many things I learnt was that its a myth that Vikings had horns on their helmets - that piece of information is down to a mistake made by early Victorian archaeologists - as is the belief that they had 'wings' on the side of the helmets!

In the foreground, the Viking encampment, and in the background, part of the Saxon/Welsh camp.

The camps gave such a fantastic insight into life during those times - as well as entertaining, everything about this was educational - but in an incredibly fun way !

 Then it was time for the first of two re-enactments - Ian introduces and explains to the audience.  As you can see, it was still raining - but this didn't stop the fun, and the following are a selection of images from the two battles that day.

And despite the pouring rain, the whole 'battle' was amazing . Due to the weather, the audience was small this first day - but they still seemed to really enjoy it.  As for me - I was in my element :) I soon ended up mud covered and I was completely soaked - but, if I will go and photograph outdoor events in Wales, that's just part and parcel of the whole experience, on occasion!

It was a little funny though, to see how many brave warriors 'died ' on their shields, rather than directly onto the wet grass

Sometime after 4pm, when the event ended for the day, I left, got home, wrung about 2 pints of rainwater from my underwear alone, enjoyed a hot bath, and selected 20 or so of the images to hand over the next day, as they were wanted as soon as possible, for press releases, by The Glasshouse and Ty Mawr.  And the next morning, I was up and ready to go again.

The difference in the weather was amazing - blue skies and sunshine, all day - which meant a lot more visitors, including a lot of youngsters who were obviously having a fantastic time:)

Wandering around the two camps, I was struck again at how 'authentic' it all was, and I was really happy with some of the images I got

Even the clothes of the tiniest Viking, Saxon and Welsh children were incredibly authentic

Then the first 'battle' of the day, and the crowds started to move towards the battle field

These staged battles were amazing - skilful and dramatic, fought with real weapons . . .

Time and again, Vikings, Saxon's and the Welsh met their 'deaths' - and then the 'Gods' would be called upon to bring them back to life, to fight again.

At the end of the main battle, it was one on one combat - turning to fight each other, one on one, until just one warrior was left standing - and in honour of the Jubilee, on this occasion, the winner was presented with a McDonalds Crown and a souvenir mug !

Then, it was back to the camps, where I grabbed some more shots

And then - a special event, for the children amongst the visitors.  They were invited to come and train as 'Young Vikings' .  The parents were promised that no matter how sweet and well behaved their children were, after training, they would get back completely hyped little savages instead - and that was so true !  The kids loved it - and it gave me some of my very favourite images of the two days .

I think that the enjoyment all the children got from this is so evident in the photographs !  And at this point, I have to thank all the marshal's, who stepped in and helped me get all the many necessary consent forms signed by the parents .

Then, a couple of  last snaps from the camps . . .

 Before the last battle of the event . . .

The Viking and Welsh leaders go head to head

True to history, just as some Vikings chose to abandon their shield in favour of a second sword, so did this warrior - and the skill with which he used the two swords was amazing !

 Judging by the smiles, I think the warriors all had a blast too !

Before I left, I grabbed a snap or two of some of the lovely people who had also contributed to the event

The Scouts did a great job of providing Burgers to the visitors

And these lovely ladies provided tea and (very welcome) coffee and cakes too!

Ian looked over the images from the previous day, that I had brought in as potential press releases, and said he was quite happy for them to be used - Penny and Beryl had already expressed that they were more than happy with them.

And that was my Viking adventure over - sadly. I really enjoyed it, and again, as well as it being an amazing learning experience, I had the pleasure of meeting some really nice people and hopefully, building a few more contacts too.

After editing, I had several hundred images that have been handed over to Penny and Beryl, and hopefully, some of them at least will feature in displays or exhibitions at The Glasshouse and Ty Mawr, and hopefully on web sites and pages.  Some were sent out as press releases, and both the Wrexham and Friday Leader printed them, with myself being credited as the photographer -

And I am currently waiting to hear if the Viking Society are going to perhaps use some of the images on their web site too - I'll update when I have confirmation and links .

Thank you to Penny and Beryl - and to Myra, for setting up the contact in the first place.  It was an absolutely brilliant experience !