Welcome back to Part Four of The 50 Pack: A five-part miniseries, picking out my 50 best/favourites from August '23 to February '24.
This is a special one.
Whilst the other four parts in total had 40 of my favourite photos in recent months, these last 10 are my outright favourites. They're my biggest bangers of the past months where I've been unable to continue posting whenever I want.
And now that I'm back in business, it's time to share!
January 19th.
If you have frequented on my Photography journey, you know three things:
And the best version of both of these can be found in what I call The Sanctuary. (My local woods.)
Case in point, this beautiful picture I got whilst walking the dog, mostly to celebrate getting a lifetime license on my photo editing software. Little did I know I got the Golden Hour in perfect time.
Hold Onto This.
D & Mary make an appearance once more with this moment of light fun. The context being D asking Mary to hold onto his roll up for a moment but you could easily think she took it.
Regardless of how you want to look at it, it’s a photo I enjoy looking at.
I Took This Because I was Jealous.
Back to Notting Hill Carnival, this was during one of those drab moments where you’re basically in a conveyer belt of people and you’re just trying to find a place where you can at least move freely.
And then we come to the picture which I love objectively because it reminds me of those old archive photos you see of Carnival’s past. I also love it because there’s a freedom to it.
A freedom I wanted because sitting on a wall could’ve made for some boss photography. But alas…
Everyone Welcome.
So much going on in this photo. You can look at it for 10 minutes and find some interesting detail on it. To the facial expressions, to the Photographer posted up on the left.
It’s another archive-y vibe, punched home with me making this Black & White in post which I rarely do but this picture was screaming for B&W in my eyes.
No Laundry.
Sticking with Black & White for a bit. I love how deserted this laundrette looks. Now to spoil it, this was taken late at night, but there’s something about the open doors, the big light up to; the damn mannequins in the window reflection and those weird ass coins for eyes!
Whilst I know this is a photo that can be easily replicated, I love it regardless. There’s an uncomfortable nature to it and that fascinates me.
Bless The 24hr Corner Shop.
A late night walk home one time began with looking at this 24 hour Costcutter with my camera in hand. 24 hour corner shops are the most clutch places in life and this picture I think helps bring that home.
As one leaves the Costcutter on their bike, another one comes in from the dark to grab something right quick, as we’ve all done if you’re lucky enough to live within 10-15 minutes of a 24hr local.
So. Time for the Top 4! This hasn’t been a Top 10 ranking by the way but these four photos definitely stand above the rest for me.
The Gaffer
There is something unique about this photo, different from every single photo I have published on this site.
This is a JPEG, Straight Out Of Camera. (Or SOOC as the ‘content creators’ say.)
The main reason for this is because I uploaded this to my phone and forgot to upload the RAW file onto my laptop. So this is an unedited JPEG and its so boss, I went ahead and put it in The 50 Pack.
Taken in the South Bank with the London Eye in the background, I got pops to stand in front of it with some lighting coming from the side. I couldn’t be happier with the end result. Big “Football Manager during a night game” vibes.
Waiting In The Wings
This absolute banger of a photo – one of my favourite music photos I’ve ever taken, one of my favourites period – came from the 2nd night of the Orii Weekender @ SouthBank Centre during DoomCannon’s set.
This is Kaidi Akinnibi, a top tier Saxophonist who you’ll see in another post coming soon.
During the show when he wasn’t involved, he backed up into the lights on the side of the stage. And it provided one hell of a photo. Standing tall, ready for the exact moment to jump back in.
The way his face is partially lit, the overall haziness; the way he dominates the frame even though the lights factually cover more; just a mesmeric sight.
The Quick Glance.
There’s these rare moments where you see an area or a spot and once you sus it out for a moment, a particular photo in your head appears. You immediately doubt, saying “I’ll try to catch it, but I’m not expecting to nail it nail it.” Because to really nail it, you have to time it within a fraction of a second…
You can ask D, I told him about 30 seconds before I found my frame “I want someone to come through and hopefully I can get them within the middle of these bars.” I even badgered him to try and look ahead but because of the angle and size of the bars, he couldn’t help.
I finally had that rare moment. And not only did I catch someone walking by as we were milling about in the smoking area of The Amersham Arms. I caught them LOOKING TOWARDS MY GENERAL DIRECTION. To catch the woman’s face in the light behind me. I literally jumped when I saw this on my camera.
Couldn’t believe my luck.
The DoomCannon Moment.
Whilst the prior photo was my favourite in terms of circumstance and getting the best possible version of what I saw in my head, this one took me a few shots to frame it up just right.
I was with the homie Ben (from my other Pod "Diggin' In The Digits) for the DoomCannon show I mentioned earlier and this is that perfect duo.
Technically I adore this photo and as a moment, with a spotlight square on him for this boss piano solo he was banging out. I can't tell you enough how fire I find this photo.
If I was that kind of guy to make phone wallpapers out of life moments, this would be a sure-fire contender.
It’s one of my favourite photos ever and the best that The 50 Pack has to offer.
This post and the four prior indicate a new dedication to the art for me so if you’re reading this, I appreciate your time. Peep parts 1-4 if you haven’t and maybe go further back in my journey so far!
Either way, Imma keep cooking.
And hopefully I won’t have to create another 50 Pack!
Charlie Taylor
chillicharlie.taylor@gmail.com
Born in Camden, North London.
Bred in Leigh-On-Sea, Essex.
Screenwriter/Podcaster/Photographer/
Hip-Hop Student.