Hammerhead, Newark

[Leon]

Who's been taking photos of me... 

Kelham Hall was bought up by someone who wants to turn it into a luxury spa / wedding venue type affair, so the wargames shows weren't attracting quite the right crowd for them...!  From talking to the other traders (we never did Partizan) the venue was a nightmare for them, no easy access, stairs everywhere, bad lighting, etc.  This new venue for Hammerhead is fantastic, with everything you need as a trader.

[Roy]

Cracking set of photos Roy.
Like the one that features a sign for a 'Bistro'!

I was stood at the end of the Hall, holding the camera above my head like a nutter to take that shot!

Who's been taking photos of me... 

Just delete it, if you like. 

[petercooman]

Those first 4 pictures make me think about an air combat game, i have the same water tiles 

Also the witch racing gamelooks fun 

[Roy]

Also the witch racing gamelooks fun 

It was very popular with the female children, full tables and always busy from what I saw. I had to come back a number of times to try and photograph the game, literally jumping-in between games.

I also had that problem with Black Pyramid's game (the Wargods of Aegyptus game with the Sphinx models). First attempt at photographing there was a father and son playing, second attempt a mother and daughter.

One of the games that I completely missed (I've only spotted it in the background of a photo) looks to have been popular with the male children, too. Big dinosaurs in the jungle, from what I can see. 

[petercooman]

I never bother to get pictures in at crisis, always too many peope strolling about the tables, and too little time to look around myself.

[Norm]

Roy, superb work on the photo's, thanks for doing all the work.

[skywalker]

Great work Roy 

[Roy]

 

Wargames Illustrated has some great photos up on their website, too.

Don't tell Leon, but... In one shot you can just see him in the background, behind the till on the Pendraken stand (well, you can see his body, at least).

[Westmarcher]

Terrific report, Roy. And a nice blog, too. Also a very good idea about blanking out the faces of the children (a practice I recommend everyone adopts). Unfortunately I once knew a wargamer who turned out to have a predilection for little girls - a complete surprise and immense disappointment to me and very awkward explaining my association with such a person to my wife and family. Needless to say I have nothing more to do with him.

[Ithoriel]

Great photos, thanks.

Personally I try to get shots of people playing the games at shows, after all that's what they're about. It does cause occasional confusion when people stand back to give a better view of the table and I'm asking them to carry on playing. A beautiful game with not a soul in sight, except the chap supposedly minding the shop who's engrossed in a book or eating lunch, is a desolate sight.

[Roy]

Thank you

Also a very good idea about blanking out the faces of the children (a practice I recommend everyone adopts).

There was a notice before entering the show about photography. Can't remember it exactly, but the gist of it was that if you remained inside the venue then you'd given consent to your image being used in photos, under such and such a British Law. As I say, I can't remember it exactly.

Personally I try to get shots of people playing the games at shows, after all that's what they're about. It does cause occasional confusion when people stand back to give a better view of the table and I'm asking them to carry on playing.

Yep, I had that. I even was telling them to not mind me, as I was the one interfering in their game. The chaps who won the best terrain (I think it was something like that) even offered to let me play around with setting up their Orcs and Dwarf WW2-type figures, so I could construct a battle scene to photograph. That's the chaps from this game









I've got to say that everyone I spoke to, while photographing, were really nice and very accommodating.

[Westmarcher]

Thank you

There was a notice before entering the show about photography. Can't remember it exactly, but the gist of it was that if you remained inside the venue then you'd given consent to your image being used in photos, under such and such a British Law. As I say, I can't remember it exactly.

Interesting, Roy. And here was I thinking the worst (and the best). The incident* I mentioned was before Facebook and obviously made such an impression on me that I sometimes shudder at how freely people post pictures of their kids on the internet nowadays. I'm probably over-reacting but it did shock me at the time. With regard to the notice, Contract Law perhaps (?) e.g., on the basis that children being under age, not having the capacity to enter into such a contract? Anyway, whatever the reason, please take care everyone.

* without going into detail, from what I read in the papers, involved 'pseudo' computer images.

[Roy]

Yeah, the notice wasn't specifically dictating photography around small children. I stood and read it just to make sure that I wasn't going to be doing anything wrong when I did begin taking photos - thinking, before reading, that it was telling not to capture images of children. Its all so tricky nowadays to know what to do.

Anyway, I took the decision to blank out the children's faces, and not take close ups of female gamers playing, since the photos would be displayed on my blog and associated with my name, as it would all, in-directly, link back to Colonel Bills. I thought, maybe, I'd receive a few comments asking why I'd chosen to blank out the faces, but since I've stated why I did everyone's, seemingly, been happy with it. I thought someone would tell me I'd ruined the images of a game etc.