14th October 2011 Well that's my motor racing season over and I am now looking forward to catching up on some projects I have started and the odd lie in or two. I do have an awards lunch and a wedding booked before the end of the year and I am sure that I will find lots of other things to do photographically wise. I would like to say a huge thank you to all the drivers, marshal's, Rescue crew, official's and photographers for their company this year. This year has seen me visiting lots of new venue's, taking on new challenges and as always learning something new every time I picked up my camera. I look forward to continuing in this way during the winter months. 7th October 2011 The weather at Prescott was amazing if not a little too warm at times. The highlight of the weekend was listening to the incredible The Lady and the Sax performing both days. Both Sam and Laura were in fine form despite being in direct sunshine all day in temperatures touching 30 degrees! I am just about to put up the photo's from both Loton Park and Prescott although the Prescott album wont have as many cars as normal as I was trying to hide from the sun most of the time. This weekend is the final meeting of the year for me and it takes me to Curborough for the final round of the HSA championship. Even though the weather forecast is slightly cooler than last weekend I am still looking forward to it. 26th September 2011 I seem to remember saying just over 2 years ago that I would never move again and over the past 2 weeks I have been reminded why I said that! We are all moved but still living among boxes and bags while we try to fit two houses in to one, not an easy task! The weekend gave us chance to escape the chaos for a couple of days while we enjoyed the final British round of the Hillclimb championship. Scott Moran had already secured his 3rd British title and his first Leaders Championship but he managed to end the season with a new hill record on the final run of the day. There were some fantastic drives throughout all of the classes and it was a fitting end to the season. This coming weekend is the Autumn Festival at Prescott and promises to be a spectacular event, especially with the weather that has been forecast. I have just managed to finish my photo's from the previous meeting and now I am about to start on this weekend's. If you have nothing planned this weekend Prescott is the place to be! 7th September 2011 I have had possibly the busiest few days ever recently what with photographing Steve and Michelle's wedding and then 2 days at Prescott not to mention the processing afterwards but I have finally finished. Having the privilege of photographing the wedding was both exhausting and rewarding and I hope they are as pleased with the photo's as I am. I am at Loton Park this coming weekend and then it will be a mad frantic week as I pack ready to move house the following weekend so I apologise in advance if I don't get the chance to update my site. Please feel free to email me if you wish to see any photo's from Loton Park before I get them up though :-) 29th August 2011 Last weekend saw me covering the Nippon Challenge at Rockingham for the Buddy Club and fortunately the weather turned out to be dry and sunny. It was my first visit to Rockingham and I really enjoyed it. A huge thanks to Paul, Paul and the rest of the guys from the Buddy Club who made me feel very welcome. I haven't uploaded the photo's from the Nippon Challenge yet as I am not sure which photo's will be published in Banzai magazine next month, but I have uploaded the photo's from the other races. This Friday I have the privilege of photographing the wedding of Steve and Michelle and I am very much looking forward to it. The weekend sees me at Prescott for a British round and I am looking forward to congratulating Scott Moran on securing his 3rd British title. I really hope that the next time he wins it he will wait for a meeting that I will be at so that I can photograph the celebrations. Tonight I am raising a glass in celebration of Scott's achievement and also to his wonderful family who have supported him in this quest. 13th August 2011 Last Saturday a very kind friend and brilliant photographer, Chris Daw, let me tag along as a second photographer at a wedding he was shooting in preparation for being the main photographer at a wedding in 3 weeks time. I cant thank him enough for this opportunity and I hope that I was a help on the day and also did him proud with the photographs that I took. It is a huge privilege to be invited along to photograph something as private and intimate as a wedding and I would like to thank Emma and Paul for allowing me along to witness their special day. The photo's have been uploaded and are in the gallery section. I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed taking them. 25th July 2011 Yesterday saw me at Prescott for this years Pugfest. What a wonderful event and there were some amazing cars both in the paddock and going up the hill. I was fortunate to be taken up by one very kind gentleman (rather remiss of me not to get his name) in his stunning Subaru Impreza and I have to say that I really didn't think that it was possible to get the back end out around every corner using the handbrake but oh my you can! What a blast that was! Once again I ended up taking almost 1700 photo's so it will be a couple of days before they are all ready to be uploaded but I am working as quickly as I can to do this. 11th July 2011 The weather was perfect this weekend for the Marcos Owners Club national rally which also featured the Prescott Revival on Sunday, not too hot and only one downpour on Saturday. When you are surrounded by enthusiasts you cant help but get caught up in the excitement and that is exactly what happened this weekend for me. I had the pleasure of going to this event and meeting some really nice people who are passionate about their cars. My daughter and I were treated on Sunday to some rides up the hill and for that we have to extend a huge thank you to those people. I am now slogging my way through about 1500 images but I hope to be finished tomorrow or Wednesday. This coming weekend I am going to the Cheltenham Show on Saturday, this time photographing one horse power instead of several hundred. Fingers crossed that the weather will continue to be kind to us. 4th July 2011 Again we had some lovely weather this weekend and 'Bottom Ess' at Shelsley Walsh provides some lovely photo opportunities with the sun shining through the tress on to the track. This always makes me want to use slow shutter speeds so I am afraid if you don't like those sorts of photo's then you wont like the set from Saturday. Sunday I spent the day at Batsford Arboretum with my Daughter and will spend today processing those images. It's nice to be able to enjoy sharing my hobby with my Daughter as she is not only good company and a very good photographer but a brilliant model as well. Next weekend I am at Prescott for the Marcos Owners Club event which I am very much looking forward to. Fingers crossed for nice weather again but I have a feeling that the good spell will come to an end quite soon. 28th June 2011 After spending the last month or so wearing waterproofs it made a change to be able to put sunblock on and enjoy some sunshine, although it was getting a little too much by the end of the day on Sunday. It was a wonderful weekend's racing with many class records falling and very few incidents. Again I have to express my admiration to the marshal's, Rescue Crew and officials who endured the heat for their love of this sport. I decided to have a bit of a rebellious weekend and used mainly quite slow shutter speeds but this is the sort of effect I love, although I appreciate it is not to everyone's taste. Next Saturday I am at Shelsley Walsh for the Reg Phillips meeting and then having Sunday off. I am hoping that the good weather will return so that my daughter and I can find somewhere to go and have a picnic and just chill out for the day. 23rd June 2011 Mallory Park was my destination last Saturday for the HSA Sprint in the morning and Classic Touring Cars in the afternoon. I hadn't been to Mallory since I was 20 so it was very exciting to be able to go trackside and photograph some beautiful cars and classic bikes. I managed to dodge the two downpours rather cleverly and just making it to the car for the hailstones! I am just making my way through the 1730 photo's from that meeting and an album should be up sometime tomorrow. Sunday saw me heading to Prescott to cover Tour Britannia which was just one of the stages over a course of 3 days. The weather was kind to us and whilst it was fast and furious with no time to take a breather it was immense fun. A report will be featured in the next edition of Speedscene. This weekend see's me heading to Prescott again, and having seen the entry list it promises to be a wonderful weekend. Prescott for me is like a comfort blanket and as soon as I get there I feel all warm inside. What is even nicer for me this weekend is that I have tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday off work so I will be able to knuckle down and get my processing done before the next event. The weather is also looking like it could be a repeat of last years scorcher on Sunday, so I must remember to re-pack my sunblock! 13th June 2011 The only thing that was missing from the weekend weather wise was snow and howling winds! Saturday started of bathed in glorious sunshine but the clouds soon appeared and we had a couple of showers but nothing too bad at all. Sunday was terrible! At 5.30am there were beautiful blue skies and despite being cold it was a pleasure to be up at the time. But... By 7.30 the clouds had arrived and then so did the rain! It never stopped all day and by midday I was soaked to the skin despite being dressed head to toe in hi-viz waterproofs. My camera cover had started to leak and the viewing screen was starting to mist up so that was my cue to pack my gear up and retreat to the car to try and dry out. I left about 2.30, just after the first run off but the marshal's, Rescue Crew, officials and drivers stuck it out until the final run off of the day, finishing about 5.30. Over the course of the weekend there were two big big incident's which thankfully only resulted in some bruising of pride and wallets but were dealt with professionally by the fantastic team of volunteer's that attend these meetings. Once again I have to express my admiration for these guys and girls for being out in such extreme weather conditions. I have a day off today so I am spending it processing my images. I am a little concerned that I seem to produce some of my best work in the rain! I think it's time to design a harness that will accommodate an umbrella in an attempt to stay a little dryer than of late. 5th June 2011 I went to my 2nd ever BTCC round today at Oulton Park and despite the weather being grey and showery it was a fabulous day. I went with a friend who had tickets as a guest of Tim Harvey's, such a lovely man, always smiling and very approachable. I have to extend a huge huge thanks to the pit crew of Tom Boardman, who looked after us and were happy to answer all my questions about set up's, the logging data and how they read it and other such questions. They are a fabulous bunch of people and despite not having the best of days were very charming. I now have over 1000 images to look at and process which should keep me occupied until next weekend when I am off to Loton Park. I also have to congratulate Alex Summers and Wallace Menzies who both won a British Championship round at Shelsley Walsh today. I am gutted I wasn't there to see them do it but so very happy for them both. 30th May 2011 Despite it being a cold weekend, La Vie en Bleu was a huge success. I finally gave in and became a guest can can girl for the weekend and my thanks got to Karen and the girls from http://www.ledburydancecompany.co.uk/ for looking after me and not laughing at my dreadful attempt's at dancing the can can. I cannot describe just how hard it is to do! The girls make it look so easy! I had a wonderful time and needless to say I didn't take many photo's of cars. I will however be putting up an album later. Next weekend I am having a weekend off, well sort of... I have a photo shoot on the Saturday morning and then I will be off to Oulton Park on Sunday to watch the BTCC with my friend. My camera will be with me as always but it will be nice to have a go at something different for a change. 24th May 2011 Well that has to be the windiest meeting I have ever been to! Loton Park has a tendency to have different weather in the paddock to the top of the hill and this weekend was no exception. I started at the top of the hill on Saturday morning but made my way down after about 45 minutes as I was so cold, and didn't venture back up again all weekend. I have so much admiration for all the marshal's that stood on the exposed posts, when you consider they are just volunteers you then realise that they really do do it "for the love of the sport!" This weekend is the La Vie en Bleu meeting at Prescott and whilst the weather forecast is up and down I have no doubt that it will be a wonderful event as always. The Veyron's will be there as will Karen and her dance troupe doing the can can. I am slowly getting to the end of the MIRA photo's but have decided to put some of them up and will updated the album when I have finished them all. 20th May 2011 It has been quite an exciting week for me as on Wednesday I went along to the Bacon Theatre in Cheltenham to photograph the guys and girls from the Severn Freewheelers who were to be benefiting from a charity raffle that was being held as part of Carl Fogarty and Jamie Whitham's UK tour. Every night they sold raffle tickets for people to win some amazing prizes and they chose a different charity to receive the money at each venue. The guys were absolutely fantastic, so funny and charming to boot. It's always a worry when you get to meet a hero that they wont be the wonderful person you imagine them to be. I have to say that both Carl and Jamie lived up to and exceeded any expectation I had and were wonderful to work with. The raffle raised £1058 for the Blood Bikes which will help to keep the bikes on the road and providing an essential (and free to the NHS I might add) service. These guys and girls are all volunteers and I have nothing but admiration for them. Here are a few of the photograph's I took during the evening and should anyone wish to purchase any of them all monies will go to the Blood Bikes.           15th May 2011 This weekend saw me photographing the HSA and Midland Speed round at MIRA on Saturday and despite being very windy it was a very enjoyable day. I was very lucky to be allowed the opportunity to photograph at MIRA as normally there are no photographers allowed and my thanks must go to Andy and Adam from the Control Tower for looking after me. Today I went and photographed some of my work colleagues who were cycling 40 miles for the British Heart Foundation charity bike ride around the Cotswold's. Having followed them around the course in my car I have nothing but respect for anyone that did it. There were some challenging hills and rough roads but the first 4 of the Britannia Construction team came in under 3 hours, Brendan Neal being the first home taking just 2 hours and 40 minutes. Well done to everyone who took part. 9th May 2011
Well the weather at Shelsley proved to be it's usual unpredictable self with huge downpours on Saturday morning and showers for the rest of the weekend. The sun did come out just before lunch time on Sunday however, and stayed for most of the rest of the day. As always it is a pleasure to see so many friends over the course of the weekend and despite getting very wet on Saturday I had a very enjoyable time. Needless to say I am absolutely shattered after suggesting (I cant believe I did either!) that we walk to Bottom Ess!
Henry has been for his MOT today and passed with just a few advisories but I expected those and they will be sorted over the coming months. Next Saturday I am scheduled to be photographing the next HSA round, I am just waiting to hear if it's possible but I do get Sunday off so I am very much looking forward to a lie in!
2nd May 2011
A stunning start to the British Hillclimb season with Scott Moran winning both rounds but hot on his tail was the incredible Lee Adams from Scotland in the formidable GWR Raptor. Martin Robbins smashed the bike record so a huge congratulations to him and my thanks go to him for the very interesting chats we had during the course of the weekend.
As it wasn't a HSA round I took the opportunity to be a little more creative and play about with some slow panning, the results of which I am very pleased with. My thanks go to my 'tog partner' for the weekend Richard Sloman who is not only an inspirational photographer but very good company.
Next weekend is Shelsley Walsh and I am hoping that the weather will continue to be as good as it has been for the past few weeks. I will also be joined on Sunday by two of my fellow 'togs' who have never been to Shelsley before. 'Ess Approach' here we come ;-)
28th April 2011
Another wonderful weekend where the sun shone and the company was fabulous. I took far too many photo's yet again but as it is the start of the season my enthusiasm gets the better of me somewhat. This weekend sees the first British round of the Hillclimbing season at Prescott and I am looking forward to catching up with people that I haven't seen since October. We are due to be invaded by the Scottish contingent again so I am sure there will be quite a few sore heads on the Sunday morning. Hopefully the weather will change it's mind from the rain that is forecast and the sun will show his face again.
Henry has been booked in for a service and MOT with the only man I would trust to touch my precious car, and that is the amazing Nick from H's Garage in Cheltenham. I cant recommend them enough for their service and willingness to go that little bit further to help, quite rare these days I have found.
I am currently working on my photograph's from Monday 25th April and will get them up as soon as I can but thankfully there aren't as many as there are from the Sunday. Then perhaps I can get back to processing the photograph's I took of th F2's from Silverstone!
22nd April 2011
Silverstone was a fantastic meeting made all the better by some beautiful weather. While I was photographing the British Sprint round on the Stowe circuit I also got to photograph the Formula 2's that were racing on the big circuit. That was a huge buzz and one I will remember for a very long time. I have just finished processing the images from the British Sprint/HSA meeting but as there are so many I will have to link them to a Picasa album.
I am off to Loton this weekend for the first Hillclimbing meeting of the season and it is also a HSA round on the Sunday. The weather looks as though it will be brilliant again which I am hoping is a sign of how the season is going to be.
14th April 2011
I have just about recovered from Sunday's Bike Festival which was an amazing event. I got to go up in a helicopter and shoot some aerial shots of the event and meet some of the celebrity riders who were charming and were obviously enjoying what was a carnival atmosphere. Next years event is already being planned and promises to be bigger and better than the last! And if Sam Lowes promises to come along next year, I promise to wear a can can girl outfit and dance with the can can girls... I may regret saying that but as it's for charity I am happy to make a fool of myself...
I am off to Silverstone this Sunday for the first round of the HSA Championship and the British Sprint Championship. Lets hope that the weather is kind to us but I am taking my waterproofs just in case...
23rd March 2011
I am getting really excited about the up coming Prescott Bike Festival as it promises to be a fantastic event! Have a look at the website to see who and what will be there http://www.prescottbikefestival.co.uk/
On Sunday I went to my first Autograss meeting and wow what a day!! I absolutely loved it and will be returning again several times during the year. It was a huge difference to Hillclimbing and a lot more challenging but hopefully I did it justice. I will be uploading a gallery in the next few days.
As for this wonderful weather, long may it continue!! I am so glad I bought Henry and we have been getting the top down every opportunity that we can, it really does enhance the driving experience!
20th February 2011
Wow such a long time since I updated my blog! Since my last blog I have been invited to cover several awards ceremonies, including the HSA and Midland Speed awards and I have done a photo shoot with last years HSA champion Tony Thomas and his new car for this season. I have finally got round to replacing Jemima Bubblebutt with a rather tasty Mazda mk2 MX5 called Henry who I fear may well get me in to a little bit of trouble if I am not careful... But I don't think I have ever enjoyed driving a car as much before as I have him.
My season starts on 10th April at Prescott with the Prescott Bike Festival which promises to be a fantastic event. From then until 9th October I am pretty much booked up every weekend apart from 6, so I expect I will be a little worn out by the time the season finishes. Having said that I know that come rain or shine I will enjoy every minute of it.
I will be embarking on something new in a few weeks time as I am venturing in to a studio to do a family shoot, something I have wanted to do since I took up photography. Needless to say I am very excited about it.
15th October 2010
It has been so long since I updated my blog and so much has happened... I ended up being too ill to go to Loton and missed what I have been told was a wonderful meeting. But the Autumn Classic at Prescott more than made up for it! That had to be the best meeting I have been to in my 15 years of following Hillclimbing! A huge well done to Ian and his team who excelled themselves.
Last Sunday I was invited to go to Curborough for the HSA final meeting of the year. It started a little murky but by the afternoon the sun had come out and it was a glorious day. I had a brilliant day and met so many lovely people so thank you again for inviting me to attend. A huge congratulations to Tony Thomas who is this years HSA Speed Champion and thank you for the glass of bubbly at the end of the day even though it was non-alcoholic :o)
This Sunday sees me at Prescott for the members day and then I 'think' that is the end of the season for me. I say 'think' as I thought that after the last Prescott and I am still 'togging' I am just hoping that the weather will be kind so we can get some lovely autumn colours :o)
21st September 2010
I had an enjoyable weekend at Shelsley Walsh although I seem to have managed to pick up a cold and a cough somewhere so I am not feeling too clever at the minute. Fortunately the weather was okay but with the sun making only a rare appearance I came home with many images that failed to wow me. I think I must be getting too fussy in my old age or just setting my standards higher these days.
Loton Park is the venue for the coming weekend and I am hoping that I am back to full health otherwise I could miss the last British round of the season, not to mention my friend Vicki's 40th Birthday bash and the pig roast in the village hall.
14th September 2010
Well Jemima is all fixed and running like a dream. It's a certain fact that I wont be going anywhere else from now on to get my car looked at apart from H's Garage as Nick is not only a damn good mechanic but a very nice bloke too. I cant thank him enough for fixing Jemima so quickly and saving me from the horror that is public transport.
Friday was a very enjoyable day and if anyone is thinking about doing the driving school at Prescott I would thoroughly recommend it. Aside form it being very informative it is a fun day and the instructors are the cream of the crop. A huge thanks goes to Steve Day who took me up the hill in his gorgeous Porsche at a rather quick pace. I loved it!
Sunday saw the sun come out and me head off to Prescott again for the Ferrari owners club day and a huge thanks to them for allowing myself and some of my fellow 'togs' to sign on and photograph to our hearts content. Out of professional courtesy to the official photographer, I wont be publishing any of the photo's I took that day but it was lovely to meet him and he was very good company. The sound and sight of some of the most beautiful Ferrari's was a joy to experience and the people ooze enthusiasm and warmth. It was all in all a wonderful day :o)
It's Shelsley Walsh this weekend for me and once again there will be an exhibition in the old restaurant of some of the photographers that sign on there. Out of the four of us, I will be the only one attending so I may well get a little lonesome at times. I can see me spending a lot of my time in the paddock and chatting to old friends. Let's hope that the weather is kind to us.
7th September 2010
Ok own up! Who made up the weather forecast for the weekend?? It said we were supposed to have a light shower on the Sunday morning so the last thing I expected to see was Noah sail by in his Ark.... And guess who had left her waterproofs in her car at home that day? Well I didn't get too wet but what it did make was for fabulous photographs and some amazing racing! A huge congratulations to Eynon Price on his first win, with his usual flair he made it look so easy yet exciting at the same time. Congratulations must go to Trevor Willis for his win in the afternoon run offs and another fabulous drive. It was a fantastic weekend for Robert Capper and Andy Tomkins as well who both won their classes. Well done boys and here's to many more wins...
It was a busy weekend for the Marshal's and Officials with quite a few incidents but as always the professionalism they showed was amazing.
The past few days have been very busy for me as my car Jemima Bubblebutt failed her MOT on Friday but thanks to Steve Broadhurst (who came to my rescue on Saturday and fixed the brakes) and the wonderful Nick from H's Garage in Cheltenham she will be all fixed by the weekend. Nick is also the guy who is responsible for ensuring that Robert Capper has his beautiful little Nemesis in tip top condition.
This Friday I am off to Prescott for the Autocar driving school day and it will be the first time I have been to one of the corporate days so I am very much looking forward to it. Then this weekend I intend having a well deserved lie in!
31st August 2010
Another busy weekend has passed me by with a trip to Gloucester Docks on Sunday and Slimbridge yesterday. I really enjoy having someone to photograph with and it makes it all the more special when it is my daughter with me. I have added a couple of photo's to my wildlife gallery as I took some of, what I consider to be, my best photographs of quackers. My friend Rich Danby has very kindly allowed me to borrow his "nifty fifty" lens and it is now definitely on my shopping list, although that list seems to be growing at a rapid rate recently!
This weekend sees me at Prescott Hillclimb for the British round, and as the fight for the title is very close it promises to be an exciting weekend. Let's hope that the weather is kind to us!
24th August 2010
Wow what a busy weekend! Firstly a massive thank you to Becca Parker for organising an exhibition that allowed myself and three other photographers to show off our work. I had never seen any of my images printed at A3 size before and they just took my breath away, I don't think I have ever been so proud of myself before as I was then. Having said that I had what has to be my worst weekend photographically wise for a very long time. A combination of lack of sleep and being on my poor feet for the whole of the weekend took it's toll.
As ever I have to mention the Marshal's and their dedication to the sport. They spend very long days on the bank for the love of the sport and I for one am in awe of them. Over the bank holiday weekend I will be having the pleasure of photographing my friend and her exquisite horse Jet. Then (fingers crossed for the weather) we will be jumping in my car and driving off to find some photographic delights to snap. 11th August 2010
Well the weather wasn't too bad at all. Just the one downpour on Saturday which I managed to shelter from just in time. Watching the "Candle" being erected at the Docks on Sunday was very impressive and I was very pleased with the results that I got. As it didn't take as long as I thought it would I managed to get back to Prescott for the lunch time break and enjoyed sitting and eating ice cream with my fellow togs in the sunshine.
Having looked at my finished photo's I think I must be having a "black and white period" but it's always nice to have a change. I don't have anything planned for this weekend but if the weather holds out I may pop to Slimbridge as I haven't been for a while. Hopefully the quackers will be strutting their stuff and provide me with some good photo opportunities. :o)
5th August 2010
It's off to Prescott I go this Saturday to the VSCC meeting which always has a carnival atmosphere. There are many characters that follow the vintage cars so I will be on the prowl during the day through the paddock looking to capture a candid or two. Unfortunately the weather doesn't promise to be perfect but let's hope there will be the odd sunny spell here and there.
Sunday the weather is forecast sunny skies and quite warm so I am now even more excited about going to the Docks.
28th July 2010
Wow where does the time go? It's now been three weeks since I started my new job and it is probably the most rewarding and enjoyable job I have ever had. The weekend was great fun and after a full days shopping on the Saturday and then the Lido on the Sunday I think my daughter enjoyed her Birthday. Best of all the weather was warm and dry :o)
My newest challenge photographically wise is to be architecture, or rather building sites. On 8th August I am off to Gloucester Docks to photograph a sculpture being erected which I think is somewhere in the region of 26 metres. It's very tall I know that much! I have my fingers crossed for some nice blue skies and the odd fluffy white cloud which will enhance the background but knowing the British weather it will just be grey and dull lol. Still it is an exciting project and one that I am really looking forward to.
20th July 2010
How time flies, it's already been two weeks since I updated my blog and I don't seem to have had a minute to myself. I had a wonderful day at Asthall Show with my daughter and she is already showing signs of how good she will become with a little more experience under her belt. I also went to Cheltenham Show on Sat and I will be uploading the photo's from that tomorrow.
Last week saw my biggest challenge to date photographically wise. My daughter was in a school production of Bugsy Malone and I took in excess of 900 photo's over the course of two evenings. As there was no flash photography allowed it gave me the chance to test my skills with low light photography and I got about 350 photo's that I was pleased with. I am going to seek permission of the people involved before posting some of the photo's as they are all under the age of 16 but hopefully they will allow me to do so as they gave a fantastic performance and they deserve some credit for it.
This weekend see's my daughter become a teenager so I am hoping to get the chance to do some photography to mark the occasion. Fingers crossed for good weather :o)
6th July 2010
I am very much looking forward to this weekend as it affords me the opportunity to photograph another of my life long passions, horses. I will be going to an equestrian event in Oxfordshire and taking my daughter with me so she can have a go with her new camera. It's actually my old camera but she is proving to be quite talented and learning the basics very quickly.
Tomorrow sees me starting a new job which I am very excited about as it is a varied and busy role which will suit me down to the ground.
5th July 2010
I have been a little slack in updating my blog these past few weeks but I have been quite busy and time just seems to fly by really quickly. Since my last update I have been to both Prescott and Shelsley Walsh, both of which were warm weekends but the Prescott weekend has to be the hottest I have ever had to shoot in before. My fellow "tog" Richard Sloman and myself took to seeking shade by the afternoon, preferably by the ice cream van, in a bid to escape the over bearing heat. I will be putting up the Prescott album up in the next couple of days but as I am in the middle of processing this weekend's Shelsley meeting that will come first.
Can I just say again how much respect I have for the marshal's who for the second weekend in a row stood in unbearable heat for very long days in a set of proban's which are very necessary but very thick and heavy. You are all amazing :o)
16th June 2010
Yet again we had a weekend of sunshine and showers but thankfully no thunderstorms this time! I love my new camera but it will take time to get to know it and what settings it likes the best for different lighting etc. As ever it's the people that make Hillclimbing what it is and this weekend was no exception. I am proud to say that I know most of the Marshal's and all of the Rescue Crew and they yet again proved that they are the best when they had to deal with several incidents in which thankfully no-one was seriously hurt. However, I would like to send all my best wishes and a get well soon message to Amy Tomlin and a big hug to Tom New.
There is no motor racing for me this weekend which means I can have a lie in on both days, something that I think I can remember but will relish none the less.
9th June 2010
How excited am I? My new camera arrives today and one of my photograph's is published in Autocar so I will be dashing to the shop before work to get a copy. Then tomorrow I will be probably be found running around Sainsburys screaming for joy when I go and buy a copy of Autosport and Motor Sport News as my images are being published in them.
Not content with that excitement, my very good friends Scott and Deb Moran are celebrating the arrival of their first child. Oliver Samuel was born yesterday at 5.35pm weighing in at 7lb 2oz and I think I can safely say that all of the Hillclimbing community are overjoyed at the news and offer their congratulations to the proud new parents. I am very much looking forward to being able to photograph the new arrival very soon :o)
7th June 2010
What a weekend! Saturday was a scorcher and while Sunday started off very nice, after lunch we had thunder storms and a fair bit of rain. It was my first experience of shooting in the rain, or a thunder storm come to think of it, and once the rain has passed over, my very kind friend Denize on the Rescue Unit leant me a spare pair of leggings and waterproof trousers to put on instead of my completely soaked jeans. You can guess what new item has been added on to my shopping list!
I am very glad my boss let me take today off work to recover from the weekend as I definitely needed it. On Saturday I was out for 13 hours and on Sunday it was 14 hours and all for the love of photography and motor sport! However I am certain that come Thursday I will consider it to have been all worthwhile when my photographs are published in 3 national magazines! Excited? You bet I am!
And if my week couldn't get any better I am also looking forward to getting a new camera. I have been wanting to upgrade my camera body for a very long time and now I am in a position to do it, so I took the plunge and I will be the proud owner of a lovely 40D by Wednesday :o) I cant wait to get to Loton Park this weekend to try it out so I do hope that all of the drivers will have washed their cars and brushed their hair, but no waving please ladies and gentlemen :o)
3rd June 2010
Well my lens arrived and I am really looking forward to using it this weekend at Shelsley Walsh where it is a British round. Derek Bell will be there on the Saturday so I look forward to capturing him as he really is very photogenic. Lee Adams will also be there with the Graeme Wight Jnr designed and built car the Raptor which is a beautiful car. It's always an exciting time when the "scottish contingent" arrive in England as they are quite a lively bunch.
I had some very exciting news today as I have had confirmation that one of my images is to be published in a national weekly car magazine next week. More news on Wednesday about that :o)
I am very excited as I have just found out that my new lens definitely arrives tomorrow so I will be taking my camera to work so I can have a play with it as soon as it arrives. I have also added two photo's to my About Me page which were taken by my good friend Richard Sloman and I would like to thank him for letting me use them. They show me in action at Prescott from the La Vie en Bleu event. 30th May 2010 What a weekend! It was a mixed bag weather wise with showers yesterday and glorious sunshine today, but the company made up for having numb fingers and getting wet yesterday. La Vie en Bleu is always a memorable event and this year was no exception with the beautiful can can girls, the adoreable Gendarme's and the ever entertaining waiter. But this year also saw Mr "would you like to lick my onions" Onion seller on his bike and the incredible guys on stilts who had us all in stitches. If any of you guys are reading this thank you for having us all in tears of laughter :o) A big congratulations to my friend Jon Beard who was competing today and was very impressive. He continues to improve all the time and all of his friends, marshal's and the Rescue Crew are very proud of him. Next week it is the British round at Shelsley Walsh so fingers crossed for a dry and sunny weekend. It will also be my first weekend with my new lens which I have wanted for a very long time so I cant wait until then! For now though it is back to the task of processing the 700 or so images I took over the weekend. 21st May 2010 Today found me photographing the offices that I work in so that they can be used for the company website. It's just a shame that none of the cars that were parked in front of the building have been washed but hopefully no-one will notice that as the photo's will be too small to pick it up. I am very excited about the coming week as that is when the MAC News is distributed and I have been told that some of my images are being used. It will be the first time any of my images will have been published so I think I may have a small drink to celebrate. I have been lucky enough this week to have been invited to go to Zolder in Belgium in August for my first circuit experiences. It will also be my first GT Endurance experience so I have been more excited than an excited thing. The weather for this weekend is forecast to be a bit of a warm one so my Daughter and her friends are dragging me to the local park with my camera and a picnic which I am looking forward to. I have no doubt that I will post a couple of photo's on my people page once I have processed them. Providing they all remember to put sunblock on that is, otherwise they will all start off white and end up looking like lobsters lol. 16th May 2010 We were so lucky with the weather this weekend. Slightly cloudy with quite a bit of sunshine and none of the rain showers that were forecast. It was a tiring but very enjoyable weekend and I was very pleased that I had the foresight to book today off work. I have just finished processing my photo's, now I just have to decide which one's out of the 169 I have kept, to put in the gallery. If you don't see yourself in there please contact me if you would like me to add you to the rogue's gallery. I have to thank all the Marshal's, Official's, Driver's and friends who made this weekend another one to remember. 13th May 2010 Wow my first entry in to my blog, this is exciting stuff for someone who has never had her own website before. This weekend I am looking forward to photographing at, what is probably my favourite Hillclimb venue for photography, Loton Park. While Prescott will always be top of my list for it's all round amenities, I love Loton Park for it's versatility and scope for creativity for a photographer. Oh and not to mention the unpredictability of the Deer. Check back on Monday when I am hoping to have my photo's from the weekend uploaded and ready for your viewing pleasure. |