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On Sunday I decided to have a change... it's as good as a rest they say :-)

It's been a while since I have managed to get along to the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club's Sunday morning Trials.

Normally I photograph the Senior riders in the afternoon but the mornings are saved for the Youth, Sportsman and Pre 65 riders. So it was off to the Dos D'Ane on Sunday morning for me.

The atmosphere was great... busy and friendly.

The sections were close together as everything has to be fitted within the steep slope at Dos D'Ane as the junior riders aren't licensed to ride on the road. I had to have eyes in the back of my head to make sure I didn't wander into the tight sections. The juniors really enjoy the riding and I think many more youngsters would love the chance to take up the sport.

Then, in the afternoon, I made another rare visit to a Motorsport event.

The GMC&CC Autotests are very low-key. They 'pop up' in various car parks around the island. This time it was at Ronez quarry.

An Autotest meeting takes the form of a few mates driving near-wrecks of cars around tight circuits marked simply by traffic cones. The layout is changed several times and involves lots of tight turns, reversing, hard stops in the 'gates'... and lots of tyre smoking.

This is Motorspor fun on a budget. Yeah, it's a boys thing!

I've updated the Galleries here:
VIEW PICS OF THE JUNIOR TRIALS
VIEW PICS OF THE AUTOTEST

Every season comes to an end.

In the case of summertime the final days are marked by the colours of Autumn taking charge.

When a Motorsport season ends it happens in the only way that racers know.... with smoke, burn-outs, speed and noise!

That was exactly how the Guernsey Kart and Motor Club said adieu to the 2015 Hillclimb and Sprint seasons... until they return again in 2016.

It has been a busy year of Motorsport in Guernsey. Maybe the additional new events have satisfied some of the racers 'need for speed' as the entry was quite small for the Vazon Sprint?

But every cloud has a silver lining. In this case it allowed loads of runs for those who had signed in.

That should keep 'em satisfied until the racing starts again in 2016!

I've updated the Gallery with todays racing:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE FINAL SPRINT OF 2015

I hope you haven't been counting, but it is several days since the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's 2-Day Motocross meeting :-)

As you might note from that statement I'm not someone who likes to exaggerate. Quite the opposite I think!

I'll leave it up to you to check how many 'several' days it has been since the 2-Day event.

Or you might just like to look at the pics now that they have arrived on-line?

It's your choice :-)
VIEW PICS OF THE MOTOCROSS 2-DAY MEETING

Another one from the weekend...

This time it is Motocross racing at Pleinmont... and it was very nice up there on the cliffs :-)

The track looked in fantastic condition. However I did manage to place myself in the firing line of mud thrown up by one of the racers. Yes, I was totally 'filled-in' together with my two cameras.

I've now made a mental note to check-out the muddy spots before leaning over the track for the best angle!

Thankfully everything is now clean and the kit is ready for the next muddy encounter.

The pics are now online:
VIEW THE LATEST MOTO-X PICS

Whilst making the Guernsey Press edit I've gone all the way and finished the Autocross Gallery for today's racing.

This was Race 2 of the new Winter Championship. There seemed a shortage of roll-overs today but that didn't spoil some really close racing.

Things look good for the rest of the season :-)

The pics are now on-line here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST AUTOCROSS PICS

Everyone must know the the name of the famous French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Renoir spent time in and enjoyed our beautiful Channel Island of Guernsey and painted the pretty beach situated below the southern cliffs of Guernsey named Petit Bot.

Indeed Petit Bot bay is a wonderful place to be... and I have Renoir on my side when I state this.

Renoir's paintings of Petit Bot will stand the test of time and promote this lovely corner of our small isle to many people for decades to come.

I'm guessing that my own contribution to the Petit Bot area won't remain as quite such an important 'work of art'... but I have done my (little) bit too!

In my case it is a photographic record of the place. Or maybe I should add that it is a photographic record of the Motorsport of the place!

Whatever the distinction, I've added to the history of Petit Bot by making a record of the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's annual Hillclimbs.

My pics are now on-line... hopefully they add another small chapter to the story of this historic bay nestling below the Guernsey cliffs :-)

My pics can now be viewed online:
VIEW PICS OF THE 2015 PETIT BOT HILLCLIMB

Whilst I had todays folder of pics open I thought that it might be a good idea to clear the days work. At least it ticks another of those digital boxes:-)

Now that I've added a Gallery featuring the GMC&CC Twisty Sprint at The Track I can say it's 'job done' as far as today goes Motorsport events go.

Tomorrow the catch-up begins :-(
VIEW PICS OT THE TWISTY SPRINT AT THE TRACK

The last couple of weeks have left me with a load of pics to edit and upload!

So where to start?

Well it has to be the smallest photoshoot, doesn't it?

That way I get to knock one job off the list... just like that :-)

As I only spent about twenty minutes right at the end of todays GMC&CC Trials meeting I only saw about ten riders. So that's an easy update.

Job done!
VIEW PICS OF THE TRIALS MEETING

I've said it before but it's worth repeating.

Guernsey offers an incredible array of Motorsport for those who like to partake or be a spectator. Or photograph, in my case :-)

Last weekend I only managed to get to two events. Actually that isn't quite true as the third one on my list (Trials) had just finished by the time I arrived after photographing a Rugby game for the Guernsey Press.

However I did get to photograph two Motorsports. The GK&MC Summer Kart Championship at The Track and the continuation of the Autocross Championship at Chouet after their summer break.

So I had my regular Motorsport 'fix' :-)

I've now completed the edit and the pics are on-line:
VIEW PICS OF THE SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP
VIEW PICS OF THE AUTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Just a quick update to give you links to the finished Alderney '3-Event' Motorsport Galleries.

I reckon that everyone's 'Alderney Flu' has passed (at least until next year) so maybe you will be ready to take a look at your racing from the three days.

My final updates are for the 'headline' event which is the Hillclimb at Fort Tourgis. This is the days racing that makes the effort and expense worth while in most racers minds.

It's also a great event to photograph!

I love Alderney and enjoy it as much as the visiting racers, however (as you all know) it is a very expensive few days and your support by buying a couple of pics will ensure that I return to the northern isle to capture the action next year!

Go on, you know you want to :-)

These are the links to the three days Galleries:
VIEW PICS OF THE NEW ALDERNEY SPRINT
VIEW PICS OF THE ALDERNEY AIRPORT SPEED EVENT
VIEW PICS OF THE ALDERNEY HILLCLIMB

Another day, another update.

I'm now two-thirds through the Alderney edit after completing the first two events of the trilogy.

Tradition has it that the first event of the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's Alderney weekend takes place near Fort Corblets in the north of the Island.

So it was straight off to the racing as soon as I disembarked the 7.30am Aurigny flight on Thursday. This allowed me time to grab a bacon & sausage bap for breakfast before helping Dale Crowsley to lay out his Forest Road Garage, Mazda and Kia banners.

Dale is a committed supporter/sponsor of the Club enabling it to put on so many different events. The banners also help me photographically by making the public road look a bit more like a race track :-)

I've now added the Alderney Sprint pics to my Galleries:
VIEW PICS OF THE ALDERNEY SPRINT 2015

Maybe it's because I put an imaginary electronic pin into the digital pile?

Or perhaps I wasn't over the 'Alderney Jet Lag' yet?

Whatever the reason, I seem to have started the editing of three days worth of Alderney Motorsport photography in the middle!

It may be that I quite like a couple of the photographic 'viewpoints' that are offered to me on the Alderney Airport Speed Events track.

Unlike most of the motorsport events I photograph, there is an opportunity to add something extra to the pics captured in Alderney. What I mean by that is that I'm able to 'describe' where the racing takes place by carefully positioning the background scene to ensure that everyone knows precisely where the action took place. For example I love the view that places the Airport Control Tower as a backdrop.

Another viewpoint offers an unusual angle, where, (in complete contradiction) the background shows nothing more than sky! That angle is really tidy without distractions.

But, hopefully, I didn't get too distracted by the backgrounds and didn't forget to capture some action too!

You will be able to make up your own mind as the Galleries fill up with the three days pics.

So far you can view the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's (Airport) Speed Event at Le Grande Val, Alderney. Day 1 and 3 will follow:
VIEW SCENIC PICS OF THE ALDERNEY AIRPORT SPEED EVENT

It's been two weeks since the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club's last Hillclimb... but I hadn't forgotten it :-)

At the moment I have quite a back-log of work to sort through... and it is just about to increase as I will be in Alderney for three full days of Motorsport!

The silver lining in this 'back-logged cloud' is that the next few weeks should ease up on the work-load and everything should get back on track.

In an effort to get things moving I've added a new Gallery featuring the latest GMC&CC Hillclimb.

Follow this link to view the pics:
VIEW THE LATEST GMC&CC HILLCLIMB PICS

TEN MILLION has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

How nice it would be to have that many Pounds in the Bank.... even Dollars would be OK for me!

However the chances of a professional photographer ever making that sort of money are pretty unlikely :-(

So when TEN MILLION features anywhere in my working life it will always feel a bit special... and that number has just shown up.

I've been running this web-site since 24th October 2010. It replaced what is now my very dated original web-site (still on-line for nostalgia only).

This means that it's still a couple of months short of five years since www.guernseymotorsport.com went live.

I'm incredibly proud to say that (since the start) this web-site has been viewed an amazing TEN MILLION times!!

The first MILLION views took one year - almost to the day. This current year will see over THREE MILLION views and I am thinking that this is probably where the level will settle... but who knows?

My decision to work full-time as a photographer came about ten years ago when I was 50 years old after I sold a business.

I tried retirement but that was horrible! It might sound like a good idea but I'm someone who has to be creative and challenged. So I turned a hobby into a job... and it has certainly been challenging!

However I have loved nearly every single hour of it... and there are many more hours put into photography than I ever gave to my old 'proper job'. How did that happen?

It must also be said that in the decade that I have relied on photography for my income the whole industry has been shaken up and changed beyond recognition. It now seems that everyone who has a DSLR and a Facebook page is a 'Photographer'.

But I've never regretted the decision to give it a try and I've now established a loyal following and a good sized base of regular Commercial customers for TALLPICTURES.com.

My thirty-five years spent as a retailer have stood me in good stead to respond to competition and (after a short period when I questioned the future viability) I now realise that it isn't what other people are doing, it is about what you do for yourself that either 'makes or breaks' a business.

There's also lots of room in the marketplace for every-one.

I'm now privileged to make an income out of my passion and I genuinely thank all the visitors to this web-site and the many customers who buy pictures.

So that now brings me to the future.

Well I have a couple of very exciting new developments on the way. More about those later :-)

I currently have a very full diary... mostly involving my Commercial Photography, so things seem to be going very well.

I also have a few new Commercial ideas in development. More information will follow :-)

What all that means is I'm struggling to keep the regular Galleries up-to-date.

Or when the Galleries are updated I've been slow to add a message and link in this Blog for the new pics.

Luckily I have a missus who keeps me away from too many distractions!

However she has failed this week as I've been putting together the spec for a new 'every bell & whistle' PC. This will be so powerful that NASA have already been in touch to see if I can take on some of their processing load!!

My choice of supplier/Custom builder will once again be Mesh Computers. I will keep you informed of progress in future Blogs.

But back to the Gallery updates.

I actually added the latest pics of the final Powerboat races of the season to the Gallery a couple of days ago... this is the delayed link:
VIEW PICS OF THE FINAL POWERBOAT RACES

My previous Blog commented on my busy weekend of Motorsport photography that included a Sandracing Championship meeting and the second running of the Vale Castle Sprint.

Of course, once the event photography has been captured the job is only half-finished for the photogs!

We then have to complete the edit :-(

This can be a chore at the best of times but when the sun is shining it really needs discipline to keep the nose to the monitor.

However it does help to have a missus standing behind you ensuring that you don't get distracted (too much) by the research you want to make about the new photo-editing computer on your wish-list!

Thankfully the missus can't hang around my office all day ;-)

I've just about managed to maintain the concentration on editing and the job is now complete.

The Vale Castle Sprint pics are now on-line. Hurray!

Check 'em out here:
VIEW PICS OF THE VALE CASTLE SPRINT

This weekend there was no rest for the organisers who put in all the work behind the scenes at the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club.

The Club offered two days of Motorsport to its members with another round of their Sandracing Championship on Saturday followed by an impressive Sprint meeting at Vale Castle on Sunday which gave the racers more runs than I could count!

Both events enjoyed dry conditions, but it was the Vale Castle Sprint that really brought out the crowds who enjoyed some fantastic racing.

The fastest man along the very twisty Sprint course was Darren Warwick in his Moore Stephens Dallara. The speed and commitment that Darren showed was incredible. He was timed through the speed trap at over 100 mph! WOW!

This event has already established itself after just two years and is a great example of how hard the local Motorsport Clubs work to offer members so much varied competition.

Well done to all those involved.

I've just added pics of the Sandracing to my Galleries. The Vale Castle Sprint will follow:
VIEW PICS OF ROUND-7 OF THE SANDRACING CHAMPIONSHIP

If you judge the quality of a Hillclimb by the amount of records broken then the latest Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Hillclimb at Les Val des Terres was a great success.

I'll find the time to go through the final results to collect the official number of new records... there were certainly quite a few.

These included new records from Darren Warwick, Zef Eisenberg, Jordan Caradeuc, Chris Guille, Tony Simon and Andy Digard.

But it wasn't just the number of new records... it was the size of the chunk of time removed from some Class times.

That was another memorable day of Guernsey Motorsport :-)

I've been tied up with a couple Elevated photoshoots all day today so the Hillclimb pics have only just been edited. I've still got to edit the Karting pics.

But, for now, I've sorted the Car and Bike Classes and uploaded them to a new gallery.

*UPDATE*: The Karting pics have now been added to the Gallery.

Take a look at the first pics by clicking this link:
VIEW THE LATEST GK&MC HILLCLIMB PICS

I had a brief chat with Clint Blondel between bouts at the Open Air Boxing.

We had both had a bit of rush to get down to The Track in time for the early start of the fighting.

This was due to the fact that we'd both just left Vazon beach after the latest round of the Sandracing Championship.

However I was the lucky one as after a quick wipe of my cameras and lenses I was ready to rumble :-)

Clint, on the other hand, had to transport his Sidecar outfit and his Grasstrack car back home... and then give them a clean.

But he made it to ringside in time to see all the action.

I complimented Clint and Ross Young on their improving 'style' riding the Sidecar. They really are looking like they are ready to 'mix it' with the big names. The team have just been over to the mainland to race a couple of Grasstrack meetings and the extra track-time really shows! Well done guys.

Saturday saw three sidecar outfits on the beach. They are fast and exciting to watch. We must hope that a few more will take part in the 2016 season.

I've added a new Gallery of pics here:
VIEW PICS OF THE SANDRACING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-6

Guernsey Kart & Motor Club decided to bring Round 5 of their Summer Kart Championship one day forward to Saturday afternoon and make it a social event as well.

What a good move...

I say this on Sunday morning (the usual race day) whilst uploading a few pics of the racing to my Galleries... and it is pouring down outside! Whatever happened to the Summer?

Unfortunately, due to family commitments, I couldn't hang around for the social after the racing. But I'm sure it was fun and I know it definitely benefited from the sunny Saturday!

I've added a few pics to the gallery including some taken with my wonderful Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens. Every time I use it I tell myself that it should be taken out of its hard case more often. Shame it is such a monster to hand-hold.

Photographers who look at the gallery wont need to be told which pics were taken with the 400mm :-)
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND-5 OF THE SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP