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Now, I am not going to claim that my job is as tough as it must be to spend several rounds giving and receiving a bruising inside the ring!
But, when it comes to photography, my latest assignment was the most challenging I have done in a long time.
I was shooting the Amalgamated Boys Club Open Air Boxing - Guernsey Select v Manchester Select - at The Track.
Any photographer reading this blog will know that we simply record light!
Ok, we use various camera settings to make the best of what we see before us and we use our skills to compose and time the capture of any action. But we are still ruled by the quality of the light.

So it was with disappointment that I saw what I had to work with at the Open Air Boxing.
The ring had four yellow/orange toned lights (Sodium I think) high in the corners. There was also an element of natural light which was a completely different colour - changing from warm tones to cool as the night progressed. Having to shoot from a low level so I didn't obstruct the paying spectators meant shooting up into the lights most of the time!
The overall level of light was also quite low making capturing a sharp action pic that much more difficult.

There you have it. A challenge to say the least! I also found that no two pictures (even fractions of a second between them) recorded the same levels/colours.
The bottom line is that I have had MUCH more work to prepare my final pics than I would like. However there is a sense of satisfaction when I achieve reasonable results in such hard conditions. I could certainly do a better job with many of the pics if I spent even more time on them - but how long do you go on?

If anyone buys a picture I will do the final optimisation then.
This blog picture gives some idea of a before and after.... and this particular picture certainly wasn't the worst to start with!
A new Gallery of Boxing pics has been added here:
VIEW THE GUERNSEY SELECT v MANCHESTER SELECT BOXING PICTURES

Event organiser Stuart Butler headlined his post-event e-mail to all the racers and helpers with the line quoted above.
Now the 'fun' part can be applied to both the drivers and spectators!
I was amazed at the reactions from the many spectators. I was rather expecting the general level of excitement to be somewhat lower than that of a 'proper' Hill Climb.
But no, the assorted mix of vehicles together with the 'show-boating' by JJ Gallagher and the many burn-outs (including the biggest I can remember on the hill by Zef Eisenberg) kept the crowd entertained!
There was also a queue for the passenger rides in a real race car.
First reports reckon on topping £30,000 raised for the chosen Charities of Headway Guernsey and The Lions Club.
This amounts to a job well done. My guess is that it will be more of the same in twelve months time.
My picture galleries are now complete. Please take a look and press the 'FACEBOOK LIKE' button if you want to add a link to your picture.
All pictures can be purchased by pressing 'BUY NOW' beneath any pic and you will be shown the options.
25% of any sales is donated to the chosen Charities.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PROFESSIONAL PICS OF THE HERITAGE HILL CLIMB

*************** HERITAGE CHARITY HILL CLIMB PICTURE GALLERIES ***************

*********** 25% OF ALL PICTURE SALES DONATED TO SELECTED CHARITIES ***********

........A copy of the e-mail I sent to Stuart Butler and all the organising helpers - and of course the guy & girl racers!

Hi Stuart

Wow, that was a great success. You even arranged the weather!
The 'buzz' in the pits was fantastic and I think you now have another annual event on your hands.
I really enjoyed watching the racing from various corners on the hill and think I have quite a nice set of pics of each racer.
I will be adding a picture gallery to my web-site later today and would like to give 25% of any picture sales to the Heritage Charity Hill Climb's selected Charities. Hopefully this will raise a few more £'s as in the previous two years Charity Sprints.

The Galleries will have a link from this page:
VIEW THE HERITAGE CHARITY HILL CLIMB GALLERIES HERE LATER TODAY
Well done for organising such a successful day with great support from the local Motor Sport Clubs.

Kind regards,
Andrew Le Poidevin
MSA Accredited Motor Sport Photographer
07781 144525

The Kaiser Chiefs were the eagerly awaited headliners for the 2012 Guernsey Festival.
Their reputation as an anthemic festival band had gone before them... but would they disappoint?
Well, there never was a risk of that really. Other than the rumour that went around the festival site that they would not go on stage until the England v Italy game was over!
Of course they turned up and did their thing.
The band has a book full of 'sing-a-long' numbers to keep any crowd happy - and they loved it. The performance filled the stage, indeed the whole 'big top'!

So a fitting end to the second Guernsey Festival which, once again, bought many quality acts to our little island. Already the speculation has started about another in 2013.
Will it happpen? I hope so. But the twin brothers, Jon & Paul Stephen, will need our encouragement as it is a massive commitment for them.
Make your voices heard!
I have now updated the Guernsey Festival picture galleries with pics of Kaiser Chiefs, The Selecter, San'Jyla, Utah Saints, Maverick Sabre, Little Barrie, The Spindle Sect, Wrongdom meets Deemas J, Mt. Wolf and Festival hosts Janice Long & Wes Butters.
GUERNSEY FESTIVAL PICTURE GALLERIES

Jon & Paul Stephen once again pulled together a remarkable festival at 'The Warren' in Guernsey.
This was only the 2nd Guernsey Festival but already it was obvious that lessons learned from No. 1 had been acted on and improvements were made in the layout of the festival site, the facilities and many other details.
Once again the line-up of Bands was varied with great headliners. There were also Bands that were unknown to many of the festival goers before seeing them on the two main stages. I left with a list of music that I wanted to check-out in the next few weeks. This surely is a key part of the experience, fun and musical education of the festival format?
I have been reading the Facebook blogs of those that attended and there is overwhelming support for another festival in 2013.

However, it is clear that such a massive venture takes a big financial outlay and gives an emotional and stressful 'roller-coaster' to the two brothers. We must hope that when they have had time to sit back and count the cost - to their well being and pocket! - that they find the energy and resource to make a 2013 Guernsey Festival a reality.
Fingers crossed. Make your support known to them.
I was official festival photographer and was able to capture many of the perfomances.... great fun but long days with more long hours in the studio processing the pics ;-)
The first of many picture galleries have been added. More will follow.
Click the link to view the first pictures of Macy Gray, Hadouken, King Charles, The Spindle Sect, In Tyler we Trust, Delilah, Kassidy, Albert Lee, Josh Kumra and Kitten & The Hip.....
VIEW THE FIRST PICS OF THE 2012 GUERNSEY FESTIVAL

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

Last year saw the first Guernsey Festival. It was a great success and set the standard for this years version.
If you were one of the loyal festival goers for No.1 you will know that there was a great atmosphere in the 'big top' for the headliners and the supporting acts. The line-up ticked lots of boxes with a mix of acts to suit most tastes and a few 'hidden gems' that you would never have found if they weren't presented to you at a Festival.
This year it is more of the same - only bigger and better!
I have spent some time over the last few days on the Festival site and the new lay-out is a big improvement with everything more compact. The atmosphere will be brilliant.
I am official photographer for the Festival and will be uploading loads of pics as the event unfolds.
The amount of effort that has gone into establishing this new Festival deserves your support.... it can only get bigger and better each year.... if you buy a ticket ;-)
Go on, do it. Tickets are available on the day.
Check-out last years Galleries for a feel of this great event:
VIEW LAST YEARS GUERNSEY FESTIVAL

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

Well actually there was barely even standing room at the Thomas de la Rue for the Teaspoonriverneck Album launch!
Hot, sweaty and lively.... and that wasn't just the band. The 'Spoons' led the faithful masses in an energetic set that featured songs from 'Do it Again'. If closing time hadn't got in the way they still would be doing it!
I have often said that our little Island supports a live music scene that is way above what is 'the norm' for this size of community. When it comes together for a night of live entertainment like last weekend we are certainly spoilt.
Supporting Teaspoonriverneck was the prolific Crowman and 'new on the block' but becoming a favourite of mine, Lifejacket.
I took a few pics, but to be honest I was a bit distracted - we're all allowed a evening off now and then, aren't we?
Take a look at the 'Spoons' pics here:
TEASPOONRIVERNECK ALBUM LAUNCH

The 2012 Liberation Day celebrations in Guernsey came to an end with contrasting styles of music being performed in St Peter Port.
May the 9th sees the town front in St Peter Port being closed to traffic and a variety of entertainment is presented during the day.
Tradition has it that the day will end with music.

This year produced quite a contrast! 'Lib Rock' - as the name suggests is aimed at the 'rockier punters'. I was suprised how many people stayed late into the evening on the Albert Pier as the weather was wet and miserable. But, the music seemed to do the trick and there was a good, friendly atmosphere.
However it was much warmer and dryer in St James! Festiva performed to a lively crowd who enjoyed a Guernsey version of a mini Proms. I could have stayed all evening.... well it was warm and dry ;-)
In the end I jumped between the two events.
I photographed Sons of the Desert & The States at Lib Rock and Festiva at St James.
I have added a few pics here:
VIEW PICS OF THE LIBERATION DAY 2012 MUSICAL PERFORMANCES

Man , did I feel old at Rock of Ages-16!
With just three more birthday cakes to go before my 60th I guess that makes me at least two generations away from the guys in The Doomsday Project!
I have loved and supported live music since I was their age but never found the talent to play.
Oh yes, I've tried. I seem to remember owning a guitar, a keyboard.... oh, and there is still a harmonica in a draw somewhere. In the end I decided that the best part I could play was to be ''the audience''.
This pursuit has given me lots of memories from many, many gigs and festivals.
I say 'thank you' to all the real talent who take to the stages.
And this is why I enjoyed watching, listening and photographing the ''so young'' The Doomsday Project.
With new young, keen talent always waiting in the wings... LIVE MUSIC is in good hands :-)
A new Gallery of pics is now on-line.
UPDATE: New pics of Breaking the Silence have now been added to the RoA-16 Gallery.
VIEW THE ROCK OF AGES-16 GALLERY

Mark Guillou needs congratulations - and your support - for his epic Rock of Ages series of gigs. Although 'gigs' doesn't really do justice to these events. They always feature multiple bands with great sound and lighting.
Rock of Ages-16 has just taken place and Mark stayed true to form with his support for the younger bands. I only managed to attend the Saturday night of the 'double-header' but was pleased to see The Doomsday Project kick-off the proceedings. I think they were the youngest band yet but show great potential.
Added to the mix was a great UK based band. This was Evarane and they produced a performance that was a 'masterclass' in live performance for the younger bands.
Full of energy and movement Evarane showed how to take performance to a higher level. The band received the appreciation and support from a satisfied audience.
As a photographer I will always capture stronger images when a performer understands there should be more to their performance than just presenting their tunes. Evarane delivered.
Editing and optimising gig photography is a very time consuming pastime. Whilst the stunning lighting and colours offer the potential for strong, powerful pictures, this also means that many of the images need fine tuning to make the best of this. So far I have completed the shots of Everane and these have been added to a new Rock of Ages-16 picture Gallery. Other bands will follow....
VIEW ROCK OF AGES-16 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

Easter in Guernsey is always packed with Sporting events. 2012 is no different.
Over the weekend I'm pointing the lenses at some of the action. Number one on the list was the first Sand Racing meeting of the year at Vazon Beach - pics will follow.
After the racing I visited the Rohais headquarters of the Guernsey Badminton Association to photograph the Ladies Doubles Final and the Mixed Doubles Final of their Annual Easter Open Tournament. These pictures are the first to be added to the Gallery. There was also the Guernsey Lions football at Footes Lane.
Tomorrow Motor Sport features high on the list with the Karting and Autocross Championships.
Easter Monday features the Hill Climb at Les Val des Terres... stay tuned for all the updates...
GUERNSEY BADMINTON ASSOCIATION EASTER OPEN TOURNAMENT

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.

Photo Montages continue to be popular - both as a gift or as your own unique and individual record of a seasons racing or perhaps a live performance of your band.
I received a number of requests for Montages over the Christmas period. Off course they couldn't be added to the Gallery at the time as this would have spoilt the suprises!
So I have now uploaded a few more to the Montage Gallery for you to take a look... it might even tempt you into asking for your very own version!
The way this works is that you can select your favourite pictures - either from this web site or I can meet up with you and you can select the pics from my laptop database. The second option is the recommended one as I will probably have many more pics of you than the web site can display.
Once your choice is made I go ahead and make a design. This is then e-mailed to you for comment and approval before the final print is made using Professional quality pigment inks.
Sounds easy doesn't it... why not give it a try?
VIEW THE PHOTO MONTAGE GALLERY

Rock of Ages-15 introduced a new format with a Friday night devoted to 'unplugged' performances.
It was a 'step into the unknown' for Mark Guillou but the line-up worked really well. The whole thing was relaxed and laid back with plenty of friendly banter.
I'm sure Andy Duchemin could make a career as a stand-up comic if he tire's of the music! He certainly handled the hecklers better than Bill Connolly did ;-)
Once again Mark showcased a number of Guernsey's young musical talent - something this small Island seems to have in 'speakers full'!
Appearing on stage for the first (of many, I guess) unplugged Rock of Ages were Silas the Assassin aka. Andy Duchemin, Peter Mitchell, The Phantom Cosmonaut aka. Tom Girard, Key of G aka. Mark Smith-Jones, Elliott Crossan, Jack Heywood and From Bedrooms to Backseats.
Check-out a few pics here:
VIEW ROCK OF AGES-15 UNPLUGGED

Last weekend saw two farewell gigs by Chris Dean as he has decided to retire from the Guernsey music scene. Chris played with three of his old bands.
Since the early 70's Chris has been involved with more bands than I have room to list here! The one single 'theme' of all these bands was that they all commanded a large fan base of loyal followers.
Chris is a natural, versatile and charismatic front man and will be missed from the local scene... if he manages to stay away?
Whilst I'm sure he fully intends to hang up the guitars, I can't help but feel that he will miss the performing and we will see him on stage again sometime in the not too distant future.
Maybe this is just wishful thinking on my part? Time will tell.
So it is a big 'thank you' to Chris for the many great nights of music we have enjoyed.
I have added a couple of new picture Galleries featuring the farewell gigs...
VIEW THE TEMPUS GALLERY HERE
VIEW THE PULSE GALLERY HERE
VIEW THE DEVOTEES GALLERY HERE

For those guys 'n gals who attended Rock of Ages-14 it was simple.
Turn up, pay a couple of quid (a real bargain by the way), enjoy two great nights of music with a pint or two if you're old enough. Indeed, a fantastic way to spend a weekend!
So where do I go wrong? Well of course I always take my camera and 'shoot away'. Whilst I take very few pictures of each Band - once you multiply this by eight I end up with nearly a week of processing!
But, if you stick with it the job does get done and I'm really pleased to say that the Rock of Ages-14 Gallery is complete.
The final Bands added are Breaking the Silence, Inertia, Distant Shores and 2 Minutes 2 Late.
VIEW THE ROCK OF AGES-14 GALLERIES