News / Blog - Events News

Last week saw the roadshow that makes up the Avon Tyres British National Hill Climb Championship reach our shores again.
This event is always a highlight of the Channel Islands Motor Sport year.
Tradition has it that the first stop is Jersey for the race up Bouley Bay on thursday. I made the trip over to sample this unique spectacle. Where else can you enjoy a beer literaly right on the start line!
The weather behaved itself - about time too - so the racing was held in near perfect conditions. Indeed they were good enough for Jos Goodyear to lower the outright record for Bouley Bay driving his very impressive G.W.R. Raptor Extreme.
I've added a new picture gallery for the Jersey Rounds of the MSA National Hill Climb Championship.
VIEW THE JERSEY MSA NATIONAL HILL CLIMB PICTURES

The Greenman MCC Chaos Festival is a bike Festival - with loads of music.
So it would be a suprise if there were no burnouts, wouldn't it?
If you visited the cliff-top site looking for the smell of burning rubber you were not disappointed :)
After the presentation of the prizes for the best bike catagories it was the turn of the tyre shredders.
The star, by quite a margin , was Neil 'Chopper' Looijenga. Lets just say that there was NO chance of him riding that bike home!
I have added new pictures to the Gallery showing the bike winners and burnouts. New Band pictures include Grant Sharkey & Pirate Party Brigade.
VIEW THE CHAOS 8 BURNOUTS

I have been working in Jersey this week completing some Commercial assignments and then covering the Jersey rounds of the Avon MSA British Hill Climb Championship.
This has delayed my selection and preparation of the pics I took at last weeks Greenman MCC Chaos 8 Festival on the cliffs at Pleinmont.
I have already commented in my previous Blog that once again Chaos presented all the ingredients for fun and chilling out.
The Festivals unique position on the cliffs might leave it prone to whatever weather rolls off the sea - but what a view from the mens loos! You won't get that anywhere else in the world. Sorry girls, it's a boys only thing :-)
The live peformances showcased many great acts on three complimentary stages.
Guernsey Gigs have made a fantastic video which really captures the atmosphere
TAKE A LOOK AT THE GUERNSEY GIGS VIDEO

I have now begun to catch up with the Gallery updates. They will still take quite a few days as there were so many Bands playing.
I am also completing a couple of important Commercial jobs which take priority - they pay the bills, unfortunately gig/motor sport photography doesn't!
I will also be adding pictures of the Jersey MSA Hill Climb (Guernsey this weekend) and a Power Boat Championship Race to their own new picture Galleries later next week.
Busy times then, love it!
The first Greenman MCC Chaos 8 Galleries are here (more updates will be added later).
First Bands include: Distant Shores, Deadwing, Big Machine, 2 Minutes 2 Late, Lydia Pugh, Robert J Hunter, Stone Em All, Skid Rue & Peppered Ant Legs.
VIEW THE FIRST GREENMAN MCC CHAOS 8 GALLERIES HERE

The Guernsey Greenman MCC have once again set themselves an even higher standard to reach.... next year will have to be awesome:)
The 2012 Greenman Chaos 8 topped them all in my view.
The gentle 'tweaks' to the established formula included a bigger beer tent. Never a bad idea!
There was an extended cover for the Discharge Stage with a superb lighting set-up, nice (for photogs).
The Peace tent 'did what was on the tin' and offered a refuge - particulaly from the wind! I think there was also a wider variety of music eminating from the small stage. I spent more time in this friendly space this year.

Perhaps it was a disappointment that all three days 'enjoyed' a persistant breeze - OK STRONG WIND - straight off the sea. But those guys 'n' gals who like their music, bikes and entertainment don't get put off easily.
The reward was a superb line-up of Bands and time spent meeting old friends.
For me, there were several highlights, but for now I will say that I was seriously blown away by the performance of Elmer Henley - truly memorable. Please guys.... don't make it the last.
I was obviously taking pics (loads). Today I have been committed to my Commercial photography so the first Galleries will arrive tomorrow.

In the meantime you really MUST take a look at this great short film put together by the guys at Guernsey Gigs. If you visited Chaos 8 you will have a 'memory trip' - it really captures the atmosphere.
If you didn't go then this video will convince you that you missed a good 'un.
VIEW A FANTASTIC VIDEO OF CHAOS 8 BY GUERNSEY GIGS

The Guernsey Full Boar Motorcycle Club should be given great praise for organising such a big event so well - no small feat!
This was the first Lock-in Cage Fighting evening in Guernsey. When the idea was first hatched it was going to be quite a small affair. As time passed the plans grew bigger and the end result was a sell-out with a very satisfied crowd of over 800 at Beau Sejour.
The planning had been immaculate and this paid off with a night that the many visiting fighters and officials rated as one of the best they had ever attended! Truly great praise.

I was ring-side and photographed all the Bouts and am now a convert to this sport:-)
I was left in no doubt (whilst standing at the top of a fifteen foot high ladder hanging my camera over the top of the cage) that this is one of the toughest arenas that you can step into.
Well done to all the fighters. Winner or loser... you all put on a brave and entertaining show.
I have started to add pictures to my Galleries. All Bouts will follow....
Check-out the first pics here:
VIEW THE FIRST PICTURES OF THE LOCK-IN CAGE FIGHTING

It is simply a coincidence that for two weekends following I will be photographing different (and violent) action sports.
These sports are for real men!
I guess that for many of you (just like me) your experience of Boxing or any form of fighting and Martial Arts has been via the TV. How very comfortable :-)
Only in the live environment do you get a true experience of the energy and power that these athletes exert during a fight. When you have access to the ring-side to take pics you are left in no doubt that it takes a brave man to step forward into the ring.
I'm fortunate to be asked to photograph many different events and the special access enables me to capture some of the dynamics of each sport. I'm there to do a job and these new challenges are what keeps my interest in photography alive.

As you will see from this Blog, last weekend it was the Amalgamated Boys Club Open Air Boxing. This weekend it will be the Full Boar Motorcycle Club's Lock-in Cage Fighting at Beau Sejour. The event is sold out with 800 eager followers wanting to experience the first Cage Fight promoted on Guernsey.
I will be ring-side taking pics of the action. The new challenges of shooting through a wire mesh and standing at the top of a 15 foot ladder leaning against the shaking cage are exactly the things that keep my photography exciting!
Never a boring moment, eh?
Check back next week to see how I managed.

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