Category Archives: Random Shots

Twenty years ago – Concorde’s last ever flight

It was 20 years ago today (November 26th, 2023) that Concorde made it’s last ever flight before being permanently retired from flying duties. That flight was a non-commercial flight which took it from London Heathrow airport to its final landing strip at Filton Airfield in Bristol.

Quite by chance I happened to be in London on October 24th, 2003 when Concorde made it’s last ever commercial flight, and permission had been granted for 3 of the aircraft to allow them circle at low altitude over London before landing for the final time at Heathrow airport. I was completely ill-equipped to take advantage of seeing the Concordes fly over Tower Bridge, having just a Canon EOS10D (6.3MP folks!) and a 24-70mm lens.

I did manage to get shots of all 3 of them, but I just can’t tell the difference other than the times that they flew over! This is definitely the last one though, which was Concorde call sign G-BOAG, piloted by Captain Mike Bannister.

Concorde, call sign G-BOAG, on it’s last ever commercial flight, doing a low altitude fly past over Tower Bridge, London. Photo by Douglas Kurn

Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey has a Concorde as part of its display of aircraft, and it is possible to book a simulated flight aboard the plane, with Captain Mike Bannister acting as the pilot for the flight. I managed to book a flight and discovered that it was capable of flying at Mach 2 or supersonic flight. There was a bit of shaking and bumping as we reached Mach 2 but it was great fun being there.

A sign inside Concorde saying that we are flying at Mach 2 at 56,500 feet, in a simulated flight at, Brooklands Museum, Weybridge. Photo by Douglas Kurn

On leaving the aircraft after “landing” back at Brooklands you can walk past the cockpit and see one of the reasons that the Concorde was retired, as it is based on a very analogue system of switches and dials.

The cockpit of the Concorde. Photo by Douglas Kurn

During my project to photograph the remains of the Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit at night, I was allowed onto the Brooklands Museum site and just had to take advantage of a lot of waiting around for long exposures to develop, by taking a “selfie” with Concorde!

Doug in front of Concorde, at Brooklands Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. Photo by Douglas Kurn

It’s sad to know that it will never fly again, although it feels exciting to have been around when it was flying. Even as kids growing up we would occasionally hear it fly overhead on one of its many flights, and look up eagerly at an amazing piece of technology, and as it turns out now, history.

:D

Festival Folk

I’m a music lover and an avid people watcher, and with the festival season well and truly upon us (does it actually ever end?) I was reminded that I took some time out last year at the BST Festival in Hyde Park, where we’d gone to watch primarily The Cure, and grabbed some candid shots of the festival goers.

The BST Festival at Hyde Park, 2018, featuring The Cure, Interpol, Editors, Ride, Goldfrapp and Slow Dive.
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Some “behind the scenes” stuff

There’s been all sorts of things going on lately, including some personal work using actors which I’ll be posting details of over the next few weeks. But I thought I would re-kindle (if that’s not a trade marked expression nowadays) my blogging spirit by posting some stuff and nonsense from a variety of my shoots.

Imagine the scene – you’re setting up on a shoot and the lights don’t fire, so you check that the camera’s on, that the radio slave is properly attached, and that it is on the same channel as the receiver, test the shutter release, and get a photo of…… an (out of focus) light stand:

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Once you’ve got the lights firing consistently it’s time to check the lighting, but in the absence of any subject you have to improvise and use…… your hand:

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When your subject shows up it’s important to help them relax with some of those Gretag Macbeth moments:

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“It’s no good hiding behind there, I can see you…”

“Who me?”

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“Perhaps it might help you to relax if you imagine you’re leaning against a bar?”

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“That’s a very high bar!”

“You’re expression is quite blank……..”

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“….. can you be a bit more pensive?”

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“That’s better.”

“You’re looking quite skinny – can you make yourself look bigger?”

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And that moment when the photographer says for the umpteenth time “Just one more shot…”

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Sign Of The Times

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Had a few days away and kept seeing signs that amused me. Here’s a selection:

Hosepipe Ban

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I was just sat planning a new project when there was this sudden mad splashing sound, and this Ladies and Gents is why we no longer have a hosepipe ban (the kerb confirms that it is the road!):

Sudden rain storm in Surrey, England July 2012

British Spirit

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The Association of Photographers (AOP) is hosting an online group exhibition of members work to show what Great Britain has to offer in the context of this summer’s Jubilee and Olympic celebrations. The AOP curator has chosen one of my images to be in the exhibition, which runs from July 19th to September 12th. Here are 2 images that didn’t make it in, and I’ll put up the one that did on the Opening Night.

Photography at Night – excuse the vanity!

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As  you may know I have been working on a project which involves night photography (more about this soon) and once everything is set-up (which takes a while in the dark), this usually involves very long exposure times. I am often asked what I do during these protracted periods of time. Well you can see below that I behave like a tourist and have my photo taken with attractions like Concorde:

And occasionally I hang around with fast cars:

Or just loiter hoping to be recognised:

Spider Awards

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I’ve just discovered that this photo was awarded Nominee status at this years Black and White Spider Awards – that’s the first time I’ve had success with the Spider Awards, although I have managed to get 3 other photographs nominated in their sister awards – The Photography Masters Cup.

Add Ink

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Saw this walking back from the bank, and couldn’t resist it! The tattoo shop only recently changed it’s name from something much more boring so thanks to them.

:DK