Sandwiches, booze and 6000 litres of diesel (a day)

Fran and I recently had a day taking photographs for the new St Helena Guidebook.

First off was Sally's Sandwich Bar, one of the most nutritious and tasty eateries on the island.  Busy Sally is super-friendly, and loves talking with her customers and makes some of the tastiest sandwiches anywhere. She is also a god-send for yachties deprived of fresh greens during their long crossing. The aim was to get a photograph of Sally's with its friendly and clean atmosphere. I didn't want to use a flash as that might put off her paying customers! (However, if I was doing a promo shoot for Sally's I would have used multiple flashes and directed people to places and poses needed). Light was mainly streaming through a big window from camera-right and most shots were hand-held.

Sally (centre) catching up with the news at the same time as preparing sandwiches

Sally greeting another customer

Nice light makes for a great portrait opportunity - even with someone washing dishes!

Next up was Paul's distillery (http://www.tungi.co.sh/) which produces some very distinctive local brews - a spiced rum, gin, coffee liqueur, and a very distinctive strong little number called Tungi brewed from the fruit of the prickly pear cactus. Paul was in the middle of brewing one of his spiced rums and so the shot became one of Paul in action. For this shot I used three flashes: two camera left and one behind the desk to light up the gorgeous copper stills. Then it was just a case of getting Paul in action. Poor guy - every time he moved a flash went off

A man, a still, some fruit, lots of water, and more than a little sugar (check out the bags in the foreground) = some tasty spirits

I couldn't resist this photo - the lovely copper stills - with mountain bike!

Last was a visit to the islands generators in the power station which supply the whole island. The guys there were fantastic at accommodating me just turning up - even if they were a bit camera shy! The 6 generators here go through an amazing 4000 - 8000 litres of diesel a day. The shots were a mix of hidden flashes (thank you Clive (http://clivecopemanphotography.com/)  for his training in this technique!) and using the overhead fluorescents. I couldn't resist including a bit of a quirk in a couple of photos.

Six generators make a lot of noise and we were grateful for the earmuffs - even if it meant most of my directions to photographic assistant were in sign language!

The switching board - including the troublesome Breaker 2 which keeps tripping and cutting the power to our place!

The Switch Room

 Unfortunately, photographing the fish factory had to be postponed - they had no fish!