German Tank Commander looks for sight of the enemy, The Victory Show 2013
This was my first visit to The Victory Show, which takes place just outside Cosby in Leicestershire. Now in its eighth year, the show took place on an extensive 100 acre site and promised a wide variety of WWII tanks and armoured vehicles, a large number of re-enactment groups and an impressive flying display of planes from the period.
Waiting for the battle to commence
The mix of static displays, living history encampments (including authentic looking trenches and other scenarios), together with set-piece battle re-enactments and a historic airshow meant that there was plenty to see and enjoy and lots of photographic opportunities.
American M3 Half-Track, part of the Italian front scenario, The Victory Show 2013
I actually missed the set-piece battle on the main field in the afternoon as I was at the opposite end of the site and somewhat distracted while talking to a lovely lady from one of the large re-enactment groups. However, I did manage to catch a little of the morning skirmish and most of the flying displays.
Soviet T34/85 MBT and Passengers salute the crowd, The Victory Show 2013
I enjoyed looking round the static displays very much and everyone I talked to was really friendly which for someone like me is a real bonus as I sometimes have trouble approaching people to engage with them.
A couple of familiar characters perhaps?, The Victory Show 2013
The highlight of the flying display for me was the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber. The sight and, just as important, the sound of this rare vintage plane flying low over the airstrip and then performing various manoeuvres to show off its capabilities was a real treat for everyone who was there.
North American B-25 Mitchell Bomber, The Victory Show 2013
If the B-25 was the highlight, the supporting cast wasn’t far behind. We were treated to a magnificent display of WWII fighter planes including the Carolyn Grace Spitfire…
The Carolyn Grace Spitfire, The Victory Show 2013
Hawker Hurricane…
Hawker Hurricane, The Victory Show 2013
P51 Mustang…
American P51 Mustang, The Victory Show 2013
and the Yakovlev Yak 11…
Yakovlev YAK-11, The Victory Show 2013
The Red Arrows display team also made a brief but memorable appearance…
The Red Arraws Flypast, The Victory Show 2013
I have included a few of my favourites from the day in this post, I hope you enjoyed them.
Call me a coward but in real life I will do almost anything to avoid conflict and confrontation. So why is it that I am regularly drawn to photograph these historic battle re-enactments, you might ask? A good question, one that I occasionally ask myself!
The answer of course is very simple. These are wonderful events to photograph, the sight and sound of men and women marching into battle, the sound and smell of the gunfire, the beauty of the horses, the vibrant colours of the uniforms, the clanking of the armour, the sound of metal on metal as the army’s engage in hand to hand combat – wonderful!
So it was I found myself at Bosworth Battlefield in Leicestershire for the anniversary battle re-enactment, one of my favourite events of the year. The Battle of Bosworth on 22nd August 1485 is where Richard III lost not only the battle but also his life. His Yorkist army was defeated by the Lancastrians led by Henry Tudor (Henry VII) and this defeat effectively ended the wars of the roses. Henry was the first of the Tudors and he ruled until his death in 1509, after which he was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII.
Of course there was much more to see at Bosworth than just the re-enactment battle itself, although that was the main set-piece event. A full timetable of events took place throughout the day including a re-enactment of the Battle of Tewkesbury in the morning.
Mounted Skills at Arms – Capturing the Ring – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
There was also a display of mounted skills at arms with riders, both men and women, pitting their skills against a variety of targets while on horseback.
Mounted Skills at Arms – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
A first for Bosworth and for me too was a display entitled “Battle of the Nations”. This comprised a number of skirmishes, in a makeshift arena, in which two or more heavily armoured men armed with swords and shields fought each other in a carefully controlled but brutal battle to put their opponent on the floor.
Battle of the Nations – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
The fighting was fast and furious in a gladiator style, the fighters laden down with all their heavy armour including heavily constructed helmets and visors.
Battle of the Nations – A Fighter takes a breather after losing his helmet – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
I can only imagine how incredibly hot and physically draining it must have been to take part in this type of battle but it certainly made for some entertaining action for the many spectators around the Bosworth main arena.
Battle of the Nations – No holds barred – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
Another popular attraction is the jousting tournament. This spectacular and occasionally dangerous pastime much loved by the knights of old is one of the highlights of the afternoon programme. The aim of the riders is to break your own lance on the shield of your opponent and points are scored for the accuracy of the hits and the amount of damage to your lance.
This year’s tournament ended in quite a spectacular but unexpected fashion when, on the very last pass of the day, the safety fence between the horses appeared to blow over as seen below. To the best of my knowledge, both horses and riders thankfully escaped without injury but I’m sure the event organisers will want to review what happened before next year’s event.
Jousting Tournament – just as the fence collapsed – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
There were also some impressive birds of prey demonstrations throughout the day but I will save those photos for a separate post. The main event was the anniversary battle re-enactment itself with Richard III leading his Yorkist army into battle for the last time against the Lancastrians led by Henry Tudor.
King Richard III addresses his troops one last time – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
A minute’s silence preceded the battle as always to remember all those who fought and died in the Wars of the Roses. Then the battle commenced and once more it didn’t disappoint.
Calm before the battle – Bosworth Battlefield Anniversary Re-enactment 2013
As mentioned earlier, for photographers like myself, these events have everything you could wish for – colour, action, movement, drama, scale, atmosphere, sometimes a little humour but always a real feeling of witnessing something rather special right in front of you.
Attempting to capture all these elements in still pictures is the challenge of course and it is not without difficulties. These battles are often unpredictable and the number of spectators dictates that you have to pick the spot where you are going to stand well in advance and stay they for the duration of the battle, come what may.
The problem comes when you find yourself in the wrong place, because the battle moved to the other end of the arena, or it passed you by quickly and left you looking only at the backs of everyone involved. This is a familiar scenario for me as this very thing happened to me only recently at Kelmarsh earlier this year during the Wars of the Roses battle. if you find yourself in the wrong place there’s very little you can do except hope that they come back to you!
Once again I had a brilliant day at Bosworth, credit must go to all the organisers and all the re-enactment groups who took part in the event for making it a day to remember.
Hopefully my photos managed to capture some of the drama and colour of the day, I know I’m reasonably happy with them. I realise these photos may not be “real life” enough for some people’s eyes but maybe that’s one of the big attractions to me of photographing this type of event – a little bit of escape from “real life”.
The rest of my photos from the day (over 400 of them) can be found on my website here.
Remember, whatever your chosen subject, enjoy your photography!
Those people who know me well would tell you that I am not a big fan of aeroplanes. In fact, the opposite is true. I have never been in an aeroplane myself and I have no plans to ever change that. Not only that, I don’t even like driving near airports in case a plane should suddenly fly low over the road and frighten the life out of me.
How is it then, that I recently decided to book a ticket to see my very first airshow? Well, one reason is that this particular air display promised to feature some of the oldest planes still flying in the world. The main reason, however, was because this event was to take place on a summer’s evening in July, and it was the prospect of photographing beautiful historic planes combined with the (hopefully) warm evening light that got my attention.
So it was that I set out on the relatively short journey from my house to the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden, near Biggleswade. This was another first for me as I had not been there before, although I did once go to the neighbouring Birds of Prey Centre with my good friend Barry.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying, Hawker Sea Hurricane
Although it was my first air display, I have photographed propeller driven aircraft in the past at various historic re-enactments, usually associated with WWII. Consequently, I was aware of the decision that all photographers taking this sort of subject have to take, namely how fast to set the shutter speed.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying, Deperdussin
On the one hand, a fast-moving plane demands a fast shutter speed in order to obtain a sharp image, especially when using a longer lens. On the other hand, a fast shutter will “freeze” the propeller and make the plane resemble a model aircraft, hanging by a thread from the bedroom ceiling. A slower speed is therefore needed in order to show the rotation of the propeller and give the picture a feeling of movement.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – Bristol Boxkite (Replica)
On the night, I tried a number of different shutter speeds including 1/200 second which gave good rotation of the prop but reduced my “keeper” rate somewhat due to camera shake (I was using an 80-200mm lens, mostly at the long end). I also tried 1/320 second which showed less propeller movement but gave me many more keepers in terms of sharpness. I also tried 1/250 second which was probably the best compromise, at least with this lens. I dare say that a lens with built-in image stabilizer (IS) would have given me more sharp images at the slower speeds but I don’t have one of those as yet.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – SE5A Fighter
So how did it go? Well, despite being a long way out of my comfort zone regarding my fear of planes, it was a brilliant event that I thoroughly enjoyed. The perfect weather conditions certainly helped, it was a clear blue sky for most of the day and very warm indeed, even for July. Add to that the beautiful planes, the great location and a well organised programme run by people who clearly have a love of all things flying and know how to run an event.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – SE5A Fighter
I must mention the arrival of the Hawker Sea Fury and Hawker Sea Hurricane. They arrived side-by-side from the right-hand side of the airfield and flew across the viewing area literally wing tip to wing tip. Luckily for me, my face was buried in the back of my camera with my finger welded to the shutter button as they flew by. If I hadn’t been taking photos I’m sure I would have run for cover as they were frighteningly close, as you can see from the sequence of photos below. I guess credit must go to the pilots for the outstanding skill they have in being able to fly so closely without colliding.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – Hawker Sea Fury and Sea Hurricane
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – Hawker Sea Fury and Sea Hurricane
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – Hawker Sea Fury and Sea Hurricane
The light got better as the evening progressed, with the best light being saved for the WWI and Edwardian planes at the end. If this Bristol Boxkite below looks familiar, you may have seen it staring in the hit movie “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines”.
Shuttleworth Evening Flying July 2013 – Bristol Boxkite (Replica)
Until next time, whatever your chosen subject, enjoy your photography!
Here’s just a few of my favourite photos from the 1940s event last weekend at the Great Central Railway in Leicestershire. As usual, I went with my good friend Barry on the Saturday, to be honest I was feeling a little tired after a long day at my sister-in-law’s wedding the day before.
As soon as we arrived we were immediately aware that it was going to be a busy day with lots of people having turned out to see the event. I had decided the night before to take just my longer lens, a Canon 80-200mm F/2.8 L (a.k.a. The Magic Drainpipe), and leave my standard zoom (28-70mm) at home. The longer zoom is perfect for head & shoulders portraits and I also had in mind the possibility of a fly-past at some point in the day but this turned out to be only on the Sunday.
The problem with taking only the longer lens, is that it requires a certain distance between the photographer and subject in order to get good framing and a little bit of variation in composition.
Now this is fine as long as there are not too many people and other photographers about but can be a bit tricky when there are lots of people around and lots of photographers with shorter lenses trying to get the same shot as me but from a closer range. On the positive side, the longer lens can be used to “isolate” the subject from the surroundings and can also provide a more diffused background than with a standard zoom.
One of my favourite events of the year is happening this weekend – 7th, 8th and 9th June 2013. The 1940s event at the Great Central Railway in 2007 was one of the very first re-enactment events that I ever went to and this event is still one of the highlights of my photography calendar.
I shall hopefully be posting photos from this year’s event in due course but before I do that I just wanted to show you the 2013 Great Central Railway Timetable and also the Wartime Weekend Flyer, both of which feature one of my photos on the front cover, the young soldier and the land army girl looking out of the railway carriage window.
Great Central Railway Timetable and Wartime Weekend Flyer 2013
I’m really pleased to see this photo taking pride of place on the front of these two brochures, I just hope I can take some photos of a similar quality over the coming weekend. This shot was the best of a series of similar shots that I took just as the train was arriving at Rothley Station.
Here’s the original in case you missed it before:
“Young Lovers In Wartime” A young soldier and land army girl in 1940s costume
***Update***Photos from the 2013 1940s event have been posted here
My photos from the GCR 1940s event in 2012 can still be seen here, and from the 2011 event here.
Photos from the first event I covered, back in 2007, can still be found here
Yet another event is cancelled due to the terrible wet summer we are having here in the UK. The Festival of History at Kelmarsh Hall in Northamptonshire, the flagship event in the English Heritage calendar, has suffered the same fate as so many other outdoor events this year.
“Wounded” Soldier, Festival of History, Kelmarsh Hall 2008
It all started in March with the announcement that there were to be hosepipe bans in many parts of the country due to water shortages and the reservoirs being at record lows. I know myself from visits to Rutland Water reservoir that water levels were indeed very low at that time. Little did anyone realise that almost from the moment the hosepipe ban was announced, it would rain almost daily for the next three months. June 2012 was the wettest June since records began in 1908 and July has carried on in much the same way.
Chariot Racing, Festival of History, Kelmarsh Hall 2009
It was ironic that last Sunday, the day I was planning to go to the Festival of History, turned out to be one of the best days so far in July with plenty of sunshine. Sadly the field where the festival was to take place was already under water by then and the event had reluctantly been cancelled after the downpours of Thursday and Friday nights added to the already wet conditions under foot.
Part of the WWII battle re-enactment, Festival of History, Kelmarsh Hall 2009
It’s a real shame, not just for me, but especially for the organisers and the re-enactment groups and living history groups who have no doubt been planning this event for many weeks and months in advance. I know of at least two other events that were cancelled on the same weekend. Only the Burton Latimer Annual Duck Race survived, it would appear that the current weather is absolutely perfect for ducks, even the yellow plastic variety!
One of Prince Malik’s Lancers, Festival of History, Kelmarsh Hall 2011
Oh well, I hope to have some new photos to share very soon, August is looking very busy with the Battle of Bosworth anniversary re-enactment and the Crich 1940s weekend already in my calendar. In the mean time, here is a link to my photos from some of the recent Festivals of History:
Before I talk about my visit to the Great Central Railway 1940s weekend, I want to share some good news about two photos that I took at this event in 2010. I recently entered these two image in the Great Central Railway Print section of the annual exhibition run by Leicester and Leicestershire Photographic Society.
This picture of an engine driver looking out of his cab was commended:
“Engine Driver British Railways” Great Central Railway 2010
This picture featuring a young soldier and a beautiful land army girl, which was a grab shot taken as a steam train was drawing into Rothley Station, was awarded second place in the same competition:
“Young Lovers In Wartime” Great Central Railway 2010
This year (2012) was the fifth time that my good friend Barry and I have photographed this event in the last 6 years. Not only is it a great event for photographers, but it is a great day out with plenty to see and enjoy, good food and interesting people to meet and share experiences.
Members of the Pitsford Home Guard Living History Unit at Quorn and Woodhouse Station, Great Central Railway 2012
The weather turned out so much better than expected with the forecast for Sunday being wet and windy. As it turned out, it was a beautiful day for re-enactors and visitors alike.
A British Spy attempts to escape by running along the railway track – Great Central Railway 2012
I don’t think there were quite as many period costume “characters” as there were last year but there was still plenty going on, certainly on the Sunday when we were there. The Das Heer re-enactment group were on patrol at Rothley Station as in previous years.
A member of Das Heer Living History Re-enactment Group fires a warning shot – Great Central Railway 2012
At Quorn and Loughborough Stations we encountered the Pitsford Home Guard Living History Group who carried out various exercises, parades and drills throughout the weekend. There was also a rarade featuring members of the Royal British Legion and guest dignitaries including Montgomery among others.
Members of the Pitsford Home Guard Living History Unit on patrol at Loughborough Station – Great Central Railway 2012
This was my first re-enactment of the year following a long lay-off due to my back problem earlier in the year. It was great to be out taking photos again and I hope to be able to cover more events through the remainder of the year now that my back is improving.
Standard Bearers of the Royal British Legion at Quorn and Woodhouse Station – Great Central Railway 2012
All the photos here were taken with my Canon EOS 5D (Classic) and EF 80-200mm F2.8L lens. All photos were shot in RAW format and processed using Lightroom Version 3.6. I’m still using Windows XP and so I am unable to upgrade to the latest version of Lightroom but to be honest it doesn’t concern me that much.
Loughborough Station in the 1940s – I love the shadow pattern being projected onto the carriages by the platform canopy – Great Central Railway 2012
As always, credit must go to the event organisers, especially everyone connected with the Great Central Railway, including all the volunteers.
A Well-Dressed Professional 1940s Style – Great Central Railway 2012
Also thanks to all the living history groups and re-enactors, both military and civilian, who make these events such a great photo opportunity for the many enthusiast photographers like myself.
Photographer Geoff Oliver 