Northern Roll Disco 25, Leeds, New Dock
A couple of months ago, I headed down to New Dock, Leeds, to photograph the Northern Roll Disco 25. This is a fab event, and it's a room full of some of the coolest people you could ever meet. This, however, is a photographer's nightmare.
Even with over 20 years of experience in photographing a wide range of subjects, this event poses a considerable challenge. The room is massive, full of hundreds of people rushing about in pitch darkness.
When I arrived, I noticed the other photographers heading home, as that's what sensible ones do, given the challenge of photographing. But I do love a challenge. The only way to create half-decent pictures is to use lighting (lots of it). As soon as I got there, I tried to work out where to put some lights that would:
Give me enough light to work with and control, and
Be safe.
I had lights at all corners of the room and also had a flash in my hand with a diffuser on, but even this was a challenge to get the amount of light I needed.
Once the lighting was set up, I risked heading into the arena to shoot the event. I'm always fascinated by these events, as they seem to be everywhere. In the centre, there are usually groups practising dance moves, while around the perimeter, everyone else is whizzing around. Most people would be a little worried about heading into the middle, but as a skateboarder for 20 years, I seem to have no fear of this.
These events are always full of surprises for a photographer. I had just got myself sorted, with lights firing everywhere, shutter speed good, and then all of a sudden, the DJ stops the music and gets everyone else to skate the other way around the arena. That always means more messing about with lighting. The other surprise is that all of a sudden, the whole arena is cleared, and it's time for speed skating. This is where everyone flies around as fast as they can. It starts with the fast beginners, but when it comes to the intermediates and the advanced group, they do go at incredible speeds. Photographing skaters at this speed in a dark arena is a big challenge.
The night was great, I saw loads of cool people everywhere, the music was pumping, and I enjoyed doing the shoot. I felt completely uncool but enjoyed the evening.
It's funny as I always thought the pictures would be best in colour, but I personally prefer them in black & white.
Here are a few of my favourite pictures.
If you have an event and would like some pictures, then please get in touch.
