Armed Forces Day 2025
Armed Forces Day Southport 2025
On Sunday, Southport celebrated Armed Forces Day, a day to show support not only to our countries Armed Services, but also to the greater Armed Forces Community, the Reservists, the Veterans, the Cadets and their families.
I have been working with The Royal British Legion Southport Branch on various projects over the last few years and had been asked to cover the Drumhead Service which would be held in front of The Atkinson Gallery on Lord Street. I had also been commissioned by The Atkinson to document their contribution to the event.
There would be plenty of overlap so it wouldn’t be a problem, besides the inability to be in two places at one time.
Once the Service had finished there would be a parade leading off from Chapel Street to Kings Gardens on The Promenade where there would be static displays and entertainment for the families and visitors.
To cover the service itself I had permission for all access around the Diana Gardens while the Service was in progress. However I still have to remember it is a religious service so discretion was required, so as to not upset any of the participants. It is a fine line in wanting to capture the event and being in the right place to treading on anyone’s sensibilities.
My camera kit for this would be my trusty Fujifilm XT3 and XT4. The T3 fitted with a standard zoom for the wide to medium images and the T4 fitted with my 50/140 mm telephoto with an extender for a bit more reach for those intimate close ups that are essential to capture the emotion of the event.
As a side note, I tend to wear subdued colours for these occasions, in this case all in black so as not to draw any unnecessary attention that a bright shirt my do.
As this was not my first time capturing an event such as this I had pre planned a shot list in my head so I knew where I to be and at what time in the proceedings I needed to be there.
Capture the moment and move to a different position, never remain static for too long or you just end up with the same image.
Once the service was over, the parade would lead off from Chapel Street and again I had in my head the image I wanted to capture, in front of the parade at a distance and zoomed in. This has the effect of compressing everything in the frame and would suit the environment of Chapel Street. Same goes for when the Pipes led off down London Road and onto Neville Street.
Just a matter of capturing the Service Salute on Neville Street, say some hellos and get back to The Atkinson for part two.
My shoot at the Atkinson would be varied, from getting some images of the outside static displays, the inside exhibitions, portraits of some of the participants and finishing off with a 40s fashion shoot.
I knew I would require my lighting kit for shooting in The Atkinson’s Studio space, no external lighting and all black walls.
I had been allowed to drop off my lights and stands the previous day and had gotten on site early to set them up and take some test shots to dial in my settings. Pre planning always works.
Working closely with The Atkinson’s staff was essential in making this go smoothly as there are places I just couldn’t use flash photography in and around the paintings. This is where you not only require knowing your camera kits capabilities but also have in mind your post capture workflow.
So Sunday was a long, hot day but very productive and I have had some nice comments back from service family members.
In a world were in the main we view images snapped on mobile phones it still seems to blow people, minds when they view a image taken on professional kit with correct lighting by someone who knows what to do with it.
To all at RBL Southport, The Atkinson and those that helped me on the day a massive thanks, it really is nice to work in a team with a common goal.
To everyone who agreed to stand in front of my camera, my deepest thanks. Yes there were vehicles and all the kit associated with events such as this but for me it’s always about the people.
Till next time...