News / Blog - Motorsport News

Last weekend was a busy one!
Guernsey hosted two massive events, and I photographed both of them.
Each shoot needed pics submitted before print deadlines and saw me working until 3am on a couple of days ;-)
This is no complaint though. It was great fun and when you capture a few pics that you are happy with it makes all the long hours worth while.
The first spectacle was the ACU British Sand Ace Championship followed by two days at the Guernsey Festival.
The best result for me has been having my ACU British Sand Ace pics published in Speedway Star Magazine. I have also had double page spreads of both events published in the Guernsey Press. There are also a couple of other National publications looking to publish pics, fingers crossed.
However, unfortunately, there is no short cut when it comes to editing and preparing a large amount of pictures.... so the answer is to take as few as you can! Less is more!
Even with this aim I have had to sort through many hundreds of images, and the job still has a way to go yet :-(
A few more long days (and nights) will get the job done.
So far I have completed the picture galleries for the Sand Ace Championship. Guernsey Live will follow shortly...
VIEW THE ACU CONDOR FERRIES SAND ACE GALLERIES

Congratulations go to Danny Warwick after he won the ACU Condor Ferries British Sand Ace Championship on the beach at Vazon Bay, Guernsey.
There was a good sized and high quality field of Solo riders out on the track. The racing was action packed and competitive and a large crowd of spectators lined the walls to enjoy their motor sport.
Supporting the 500cc Sliders were two heats of 1000cc Sidecars. There was an excited buzz around the track each time these guys raced.... they were fast and spectacular!
I have just added a few pics as a 'taster' to my Galleries. Full coverage will follow.
I have had an incredibly busy weekend as I was also official photographer for the Guernsey Music Festival.
This was another massive success. Guernsey rocked this weekend!!
Pics of the Guernsey Festival will also follow shortly....
VIEW A FEW 'TASTER SHOTS' FROM THE SAND ACE RACING

Down came the rain,
Again!
Was it wet?
You bet.

OK I'm clearly no poet... but you get the idea ;-)
What have the Motor Sport guys done to deserve the reliably wet racing that 2012 seems to provide them with?
Sunday morning at The Track provided a very wet outlook with 'wets' being the only option for tyre choice.
The conditions challenged the competitors and a smooth driving style combined with the nerve to grab any opportunity to squeeze past a fellow competitor if they left the door open paid rewards.
Photographically, a rainy race meeting is both good and bad.
The 'bad' is having to get wet (again)... the good is that it is possible to capture some great shots.
I have photographed Karting at The Track for many years so it is nice to grab some different pics. I can make use of the low light, the spray being thrown up by the tyres adds drama and if I take care in my positioning it is also possible to capture some great reflections on the wet track.
I hope you like the new pics (I suffered for my art!). Please remember that the pictures on this web site are VERY low resolution and do not give a true feel of the detail a print will show.
As always you are welcome to press the 'BUY NOW' button beneath any pic you fancy... spare a thought for a soggy photographer, thanks ;-)
View the new Gallery here:
PICS OF A VERY WET ROUND-4 OF THE SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP

Round-5 of the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club Sand Racing Championship was held yesterday on Vazon beach. This was the last meeting before the Condor Ferries British Sand Ace Championship and everything seemed to run smoothly.
The GMC&CC have worked hard to be permitted to run the first ACU British Sand Ace Championship for many years. The opportunity to race on the sand has attracted a top class field of ''''slider'''' riders. Their races are going to be supported by a group of Grass Track sidecar racers.
So everything is in place for an amazing spectacle... make a diary date for 23rd June at 2pm.
Round-5 pictures can be viewed here:
VIEW ROUND-5 SAND RACING PICTURES

Call me a pessimist but I carried a brolly all day at the latest Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Hill Climb.
I looked a bit of a wally by the end of the day as the weather seemed to improve as time passed. Perhaps it was the fact that too many local events - not just Motor Sport - have been spoilt by the weather so far this year.
With this fact in mind we all deserved a brighter day for a change. This includes the competitors, spectators and not forgeting the photographers ;-)
The hype before the latest Hill Climb was that there was a chance for multiple new record breakers. In the end there were only a couple of new targets established so maybe the hill hadn't reached its best condition yet?
This didn't hold back the enjoyment of DRY conditions, though. More of the same please!
There was a very large entry for this latest meeting so the picture galleries are extensive. Follow this link to check them out:
PICS OF A DRY GK&MC HILL CLIMB

Round-3 of the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Summer Karting Championship was raced in perfect Summer conditions, nice.
I took the opportunity to bring out one of my 'big guns' - the 400mm F2.8 Nikkor lens.

Sorry, I know that this is boring to the racers but us photogs get all excited about quality 'glass' in the same way that you guys get excited about new tyre compounds!

The 400mm F2.8 is one of the finest lenses made by Nikon... and Nikon are the best, aren't they? OK, I know I'm a Nikon 'Fanboy'!
The resulting pics have left me wondering why I don't shoot with this lens more often. The colour, contrast and clarity this lens produces is unbelievable and sets it in a completely different class even when comparing it to accomplished lenses like the new 70-200 F2.8 or the 200-400 F4. The penalty is the substantial weight - a monopod is almost essential - although a few of the pics in the Gallery were taken hand-held.

A new picture Gallery has been added featuring Round-3 of the Summer Championship. Let me know if you can see a difference from the use of the 400mm lens. It will help me to justify the 'work-out'.... oh those aching biceps ;-)

View the latest pics here:
ROUND-3 SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 400mm F2.8 LENS

Forgive the cliché....... but if I didn't use this picture of fireworks it would probably have been a 'cork and champagne bottle' shot ;-)

The celebration is to mark this web site flying past 2,000,000 viewings!

May I thank the thousands of people who have spent a few moments exploring the various Galleries and pages that form this TALLPICTURES & GUERNSEYMOTORSPORT web site.
I am fortunate to have many regular viewers who often offer feed-back on my latest pics. I'm always pleased to receive comments and ideas for the next 'shoot'.
It is also nice to see from Google Analytics that about 50% of visits come from new viewers.... the word must be getting out there ;-)

This latest milestone has been passed 7 months after the viewings broke the 1 Million mark. It took almost 12 months to reach that mark so the graph is showing continued upwards progress!
READ ABOUT THE FIRST MILLION VIEWS

So what is the next target? The obvious one is to try to reach 3,000,000 by the web site's second anniversary!
If that target is to be reached there's not going to be much time for me to do the gardening......
Don't tell the missus ;-)

Take a look at the picture Galleries here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE PICTURE GALLERIES

With just over a month to go until the British Sand Ace meeting at Vazon Bay, Guernsey, the expectation and anticipation is growing.
A large and strong field of riders are lined up to visit our shores and this promises to create one of the most spectacular and entertaining Motor Sport events to be seen in the Channel Islands for years.... if not ever!

If the racing was only going to showcase the ''Sliders'' it would be good enough - but the addition of the Sidecar riders will make an afternoon never to be forgoten.
You may be able to tell that I am more than a bit excited by this great event ;-) Mark June 23rd in your diary and pop along to Vazon Bay at 1pm to catch the action.
Whilst we wait for ''the big one'' the GMC&CC held Round-4 of their Sand Racing Championship today.
I was on the beach at Vazon to capture the action. Pics are now on-line:
ROUND-4 OF THE SAND RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

I must thank the Guernsey Power Boat Association and specifically Robin Ashworth, MD of Vapormatt, who allowed me to photograph from his boat during Race-2 of the 2012 Championship. It was very pleasant out on the Little Russell today.
This race was held in conditions that I can only call 'glorious'! Maybe I have been waiting for a day like this for too long (after all that rain) and the perception was exagegerated? I don't think so!

I did managed to remember that I was on the water to do a job and not to just 'chill out' and I made my cameras earn their keep ;-)
Shooting from an unstable platform, even in good conditions like this, is one of the hardest challenges for a photographer when using long lenses. I was using between 400mm and 600mm most of the time. But there is a sense of satisfaction when you get a few shots that record the best of the action that are pin sharp in focus and well composed.
I think I captured a few. Please take a look and see what you think:
RACE-2 OF THE 2012 POWER BOAT CHAMPIONSHIP

Anyone who follows this blog will know that too many of the recent Motor Sport events that I have photographed have 'featured' more than a drop of water!
In fact, even photographing the live music at the Albert Pier on Liberation Day had too much of the wet stuff.
Well, today there was even more water - I was surrounded by it! But this time the sun shone and the water was very well behaved and quite at home. It made the setting for the first round of the Guernsey Power Boat Association's 2012 Championship.

The first race was held over the Havelet Course which brought the field of thirteen boats close inshore and spectators enjoyed some good racing. There has been a fair bit of 'splashing the cash' over the winter break and there was some very flash new kit on show. This season should be the best Championship for years.
Make sure you try and catch a few of the races.
I have added a new Gallery featuring the racing:
VIEW ROUND-1 OF THE GUERNSEY POWER BOAT CHAMPIONSHIP

I don't think I have to explain any further!
How long do we have to wait before we are given perfect racing conditions?
The latest Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club Hill Climb at Le Val des Terres was another one spoilt by the wet and changable track conditions.
Frustratingly, there were only short periods when the road dried enough for some outstanding performances - but the 'wet stuff' soon returned and took the edge off all the competitors efforts.
Darren Warwick has to be congratulated for making the best of one of his timed runs when he lowered his own Class record in the Racing Cars 1601cc to 2000cc Class. This was a superb result which I witnessed in the 'esses' and was achieved when the road was in less than perfect condition. Well done that man..... awesome!
I have added pics of the Hill Climb to a new Gallery. Check it out here:
VIEW THE GMC&CC HILL CLIMB AT LES VAL DES TERRES

Yuk, yuk, yuk.
Got that off my chest then! One more for luck, yuk.
I was very wet on Vazon beach for Round-3 of the GMC&CC Sand Racing Championship. I can't say much more about it - other than the early weather forecast for Monday's Hill Climb is for more rain!
Yuk!
Pics of the Sand Racing are here:
A RAINY DAY ON VAZON BEACH

Today saw Round-2 of the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Summer Kart Championship at The Track... and it poured down. After the wet first Hill Climb of 2012 I don't get good vibes from this!
But, the year is long and surely the tarmac racers can hope for some dry racing... soon?
All is not wasted for a photographer, though. The wet conditions add a different element to a picture and getting a bit damp usually pays off with some good pics.
The conditions also lead to some challenging racing for the young Karters and they use the slippery track to hone their skills.
So you could say that it is a win, win!
I've dried off the kit and clothes, the discomfort is already forgotten. I'm ready for the next events... bring 'em on :-)
PICS OF THE WET KART RACING

I have often joked to people when I'm asked why I spend so much time photographing the things I do - 'well it beats gardening' I say!
It is probably 'the norm' in most marriages that if the husband loiters around the home for too long then a paint brush or spade will be placed in your hand and you won't get parole until after dark!
This is always a good motivation to get me out shooting more pics - 'gotta go to work love, bills to pay'! Try it, it might work for a while ;-)
So once again I found myself on the sands at Vazon shooting Round-2 of the GMC&CC Sand Racing Championship.
If you want to view the results of my lawn mowing avoidance click here:
SAND RACING 2012_ROUND-2

The weather was back 'just the way we like it' today for Round-10 of the GMC&CC Bike Trials.
This round was over the North sections and included an old seaside quarry at the northern end of L'Ancresse. This features a mix of loose stone and jagged rock. I managed to photograph many of the competitors and the pics can be viewed here:
ROUND-10 OF THE GMC&CC TRIALS

What a difference a day makes, only twenty-four hours....
Don't worry, I'm not going to sing to you!
But how come the weather in Guernsey went from dry to wet to dry again and it was the one in the middle that we had the hill climb?
So I enjoyed a soggy weekend along with the racers who turned up for a bit of slippery fun.
It is understandable, I guess, that some competitors will not bring their precious kit out in such aweful conditions. The same can be said for many photographers. Standing around in heavy rain trying to keep things dry is not nice.
However, it is also an opportunity to capture a different shot from the norm. Try it.
The low light levels help with slow shutter settings and of course the 'roosters' that the open wheeled cars throw up add some drama. It is also possible to make use of the reflections on the wet road.
The results of my discomfort are now online. If you like what you see don't forget you can click on the BUY NOW button. Your support is appreciated ;-)
VIEW THE HILL CLIMB PICTURE GALLERIES

Saturday saw the return of the Sand Racers to Vazon beach.
This was the first Sand Racing event in 2012 organised by the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club. The weather was fine and there was a reasonable turn-out of competitors.
This year will see the Club running a major championship race meeting on the beach at Vazon when the Condor Ferries sponsored 'British Sand Ace Championship' will be held on June 23rd.
I know that a top class group of riders (sliders) and sidecar crews are signed up to compete in this prestigeous race meeting.
We are all looking forward to that day.... bring it on!
My picture galleries have been updated with pics of the first race of 2012. Take a look here:
SAND RACING AT VAZON PICTURE GALLERY

Does this sound like a cracked record?
It does, doesn't it?
Well a dry and dusty track was what greeted the competitors and this photographer at yesterdays Motocross meeting in Guernsey. This was 'more of the same' as other recent mettings.
Parts of the track had been well watered before racing began which helped improve the conditions but it was always inevitable that I would return home with a 'sand tan'! The cameras didn't escape either.
It wasn't all bad though. I was able to position myself for some of the racing in places that captured the 'roosters of dust' that were being thrown into the air.
A new Gallery has been added. If you like what you see maybe you will consider pressing 'BUY NOW' beneath your favourite pic. There are various options for prints and canvases. You can even buy a digital file for Facebook.
By supporting your local photographer you will encourage me to maintain the commitment I give to local Motor Sport - end of the big sell ;-)
Pics online here: VIEW THE LATEST MOTOCROSS PICTURE GALLERY

I'm often asked by fellow photographers and clients about the 'kit' I use.
There is no doubt that for many photographers part of the enjoyment in taking a pic is the equipment they get to use. There is also no doubt that some photogs take the choice of their kit to an extreme level! They can become unreasonable, agressive and perhaps blinded in their allegiance to a favourite manufacturer.
Right at this moment there is a (sometimes heated) debate in progress about the two leading Professional brands - Nikon & Canon. Each Company has two 'top-of-the-range' bodies already available or due shortly. The Nikon D4 & D800 and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III & EOS-1DX.
I try and steer clear of this debate - I am heavily committed to the Nikon system (with a large collection of lenses, flashes etc) and don't really have a choice ;-)
  ....... but I do think that my choice of Nikon has been a good one over recent years. The D3 and D3s have been fantastic for my low light gig photography and have perhaps 'given me an edge' over the competition. Always handy, eh ;-)
The next few months will reveal if Canon have got closer in performance... the debate will continue.
  So perhaps it was inevitable (wasn't it?) that a Nikon D4 & D800 would be added to my kit! I am now in the process of getting to know them and they are VERY GOOD! I will bring a few updates on my findings during the next few weeks.
Having said all of the above, I think one of the most important pieces of kit is often overlooked by many photographers. This is their monitor. It is the interface between you and your finished work. It is where every judgement regarding colour and contast is made. However I have been amazed at some of the screens I have seen in use.
My advice to you if you are embarking on the pastime of photography is for you to allocate a decent part of your budget to a quality monitor. There are plenty of web sites offering helpful advice.
  This brings me to the real reason for this post. I have used a dual monitor set-up for many years and when one of them became difficult to calibrate I decided to buy a replacement. After looking at Eizo and NEC I decided to go with the NEC Spectraview REFERENCE 301. This is a 30" High Gamut monitor and it calibrates superbly with the X-rite i1 Display.
I am also loving the 2560 x 1600 pixels in 16:10 format which give plenty of space and an enlarged vertical compared to the more common 16:9 proportions. I highly recommend this superb monitor.
  My new desk layout is shown above... nice!
Whatever monitor you use it is normally possible to improve its colour and tone reproduction using the built-in utility or graphics card program on your system. Give it a try.
This graphic will help you judge if you have a reasonable calibration.

There was no argument in the pits when competitors were asked about the weather - only about the words used to describe it!
Brilliant, fantastic, unbelievable, superb, mega.... you get the idea!
The afternoon was as good as a summer's day and the conditions bought out a nice selection of new machinery and 'winter modifications'.
Needless to say a few Class records were broken and the tone was set for the rest of the seasons racing.
Undoubtedly we will see records lowered throughout the year... if we can have more brilliant, fantastic, unbelievable, superb & mega weather, please?
I have added a new Gallery of pics featuring the first GK&MC Sprint at Vazon:
GK&MC VAZON SPRINT PICS