News / Blog

A very quick Blog just to inform you the pics of the Guernsey FC v Ashford United football game a Footes Lane have been added to the Sports Gallery.

Follow this link to view the pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OG GUERNSEY FC v ASHFORD UNITED

It was all reverse again for the 2018 Guernsey Motor Cycle and Car Club's Vale Castle Sprint as the track ran from St Sampsons harbour towards Bordeaux harbour this year.

I chatted to quite a few competitors and there seemed to be a general feeling that they enjoyed the track when raced the other way. However swapping things around offers more variety... and that's a good thing isn't it?

As a photographer I think I prefer the opposite direction too, but it's still to have the variety.

There were a couple of breaks in today's racing for crashes but things were sorted very professionally. However it was clear that bikers and cars don't come out as the winners when they 'do battle' with Guernsey granite walls!

My pics of the racing are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW VALE CASTLE SPRINT PICS

This is another of my assignments that needs a supply of ear-plugs.

Some of the others are gig photography - where it often seems the best shots come whilst resting a ear on the speaker cabinets. There's also a need for a bit of aural protection whilst photographing Motorsport.

If you haven't had the chance to experience standing a couple of feet away from a full-bore rifle being fired you would probably be surprised, even shocked by the ear-drum piercing crack as the trigger is pulled. I assure you that a cowboy film on TV does little to prepare you!

However the sport is enjoyable to photograph.

The link below takes you to a gallery featuring some of the competitors taking part and the atmosphere at the 2018 Guernsey Full-bore Island Championship held at Fort Le Marchant.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 ISLAND FULL-BORE CHAMPIONSHIP

The School of Popular Music's Summer Party at The Fermain Tavern brings a week of intensive music tuition and practice to a fitting climax as the students get to show off their new skills to friends and family.

They are given the chance to perform on the famous Fermain Tavern stage... just like Elton John did, and they get to enjoy having professional technicians working the sound desk and lighting rig... and I pop along to capture their performances and the atmosphere.

The SoPM Summer Party gig has become one of my favorites of the year... and I photograph a LOT of bands!

The enthusiasm shown by the students and tutors is infectious. Everyone involved puts every effort into creating memorable performances.

It is fantastic that no judgments are made on any performers - they are just enjoyed for the simple pleasure that live music brings to the world.

Whilst for some students this adventure into playing an instrument and singing will be a short experience before they move on to explore other interests. However I'm certain that for many the foundation is put in place for a lifetime's involvement in music. What a great start in life!

This gallery displays pics of the nine bands that were formed by students for the 2018 SoPM Summer Party. There is also a Gallery featuring Last of the Light Brigade who headlined the night giving students an idea of what the SoPM tutors can do....
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE SoPM SUMMER PARTY GIG

Well actually it was a glorious day for many things last Saturday in Guernsey.

This summer just carries on giving us dry hot sunny days.

Now there could be a whole debate on whether the dry spell has gone on too long. Without doubt there are some 'casulties' but for the purpose of this Blog I'm going to reflect of the benefits.

The Rocquaine Regatta drew bigger crowds than normal and that was even with 'competition' from many other events including the 'Historic Harvesting' demonstrations. Then there were the obvious things like Cobo beach and Herm.

I spent the first part of the day at the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Hillclimb up Le Val des Terres.

The racers enjoyed the conditions and three new records were recorded. It was also fantastic to see a new name feature on the FTD records as Tim Tulie drove his Empire 00 Evo to the top in 29.09sec which was also a new Class record. Well done Tim.

I've added the days pics to a new Gallery:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE GK&MC HILLCLIMB

A very pleasant morning was spent in Talbot Valley photographing the Guernsey Velo Club MTB Downhill Series Round-3.

It was another scorching day (mustn't complain) but it was nice to spend my time in the shade of the wooded valley.

The low light under the trees also helped me in balancing the ambient light with a flash and low shutter speed to add a bit of movement and drama to my pics.

You can check the pics out here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND-3 OF THE DOWNHILL MTB SERIES

A picture can't always tell the whole story.

Today, down on the Vazon Bay sands, I was capturing pics of Round-6 of the GMC&CC Sandracing Championship.

Take a look at the pics and you will see that it was yet another bright and sunny day... we've been spoilt by many of them this summer :-)

What my pics don't tell you is how windy it was on the beach. I even had to tie my hat on after it threatened to take to the skies!

But it was a warm wind and actually quite a pleasant change from the recent baking weather.

Whilst on the beach I took a photograph of the young riders who are about to travel to the mainland to partake in special training sessions helping them to develop the racing technique and confidence on their bikes. This investment in the youth of the Club should ensue that Sandracing in Guernsey is in safe hands.

You can view the pics of Round-6 by following this link:
TAKE A LOOK AT PICS OF ROUND-6 OF THE SANDRACING

I only had about fifteen minutes to spend photographing the OSA All Terrain Challenge on Thursday evening at Footes Lane where a Steeplechase run featured in the ATC.

This meant that I only captured action from the first of the races... Division 1... before I had to dash off to my next job.

This was a shame as a water-jump is always entertaining for spectators and photographers alike.

I also guess there was more of a chance of one of the lower division racers getting the leap wrong and maybe falling flat into the water... making a great action shot!

Not that I want to be seen as 'preying' on anyone's misfortune ;-)

The pics that I managed to capture are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE OSA ATC STEEPLECHASE

The 2018 edition of the Guernsey Motorsport Seafront Sunday Festival was even more popular than the previous year!

Once again the St Peter Port seafront was closed to traffic allowing a huge display of all types of vehicles.

The entertainment spread along to the North Beach car park where a full day of motorsport action took place.

The weather played its part by encouraging thousands of people into town and the day provided a fantastic end to the 2018 MSA National Hillclimb weekend.

This gallery features some of the displays and entertainment...
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 MOTORSPORT SEAFRONT SUNDAY

That's another gallery update finished :-)

This time it features another two Rounds of the The Avon Tyres/Wynn Developments 2018 MSA British Hillclimb Championship.

Following my trip to Jersey to capture the action at the Bouley Bay rounds I headed home to capture the action at my local Rounds.... No's 21 and 22 at Le Val des Terres, Guernsey.

Once again local drivers split the pack of regular National competitors in the Top Twelve Run-Off. We certainly have a bunch of fast talent in Guernsey and always manage a couple of qualifiers.

This year was no exception and had a thrilling highlight when the (now legendary?) Darren Warwick took top spot on the podium in Round 21.

This was an incredible feat given that Darren uses such an old car compared to the cutting edge machinery on show.

However Darran's Moore Stephens Dallara F399 is clearly fast enough to take FTD when he drives it! Well done to him and all the other local racers.

My pics of the Guernsey National Rounds are now online here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 GUERNSEY NATIONAL HILLCLIMB

Maybe you just had to be there?

That's the thing about any form of live performances. Nothing can quite capture what it was actually like to be 'in the room'. No video can put you there. No photograph will replace the experience!

This is how things are with the recent Japanese Punk Invasion at The Fermain Tavern. You really had to be there... to bad if you missed it!

I've seen many great comments by those who managed to get to the gig... people have been enthused by the night and the two visiting bands.

The general opinion is the the Morlleyheads and PUNiK smashed it. I have to agree. The night enters onto my list of legendary Fermain Tavern gigs.

If you occasionally pop along to this website you will know that I rarely make comment or critique on what I photograph... I just take the pics!

However there is someone who does a great job and he is known by almost everyone on the Guernsey music scene. If you want to read a 'proper' report of the Japanese Invasion gig I recommend reading Tom Girard's regular Blog.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW TOM GIRARD'S REGULAR BLOG

So, having already stated that no picture can reproduce the experience of a live performance I still managed to capture a few pics of the bands. If you where one of the audience the pics might help you recall the vibe....
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF PUNiK
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF MORLLYHEADS

I love July... that's the month, not the girl!

July is always such a busy month and this week is a fine example.

I've spent an entertaining couple of days in Jersey photographing their two rounds of the Avon Tyres/Wynn Developments MSA British Hillclimb Championship held at Bouley Bay.

The racing was as close as ever and us Channel Islanders should be proud of the success of our local racers.

Now I'm back in the office its been full speed ahead to complete the edit of my pics before the road-show takes to Le Val des Terres for the Guernsey rounds of the championship.

So the first of the pics are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 JERSEY ROUNDS OF THE NATIONAL HILLCLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP

Everyone enjoyed a fantastic Guernsey summer's eve at the KGV on Saturday where 16 bouts of White Collar Boxing were held under the headline of 'King of the Ring'. The action was organized in association with CL Fitness.

The action was truly non-stop and the atmosphere was brilliant.

I survived (just) when one of the Super Heavyweight fighters was knocked clean out of the ring... giving me a knock on the head along the way and removing my specs at the same time! I ended up with a KO'd boxers head nearly in my lap.

My camera also took a tumble but being a Nikon it was fine!

Both camera and spectacles were recovered from under the KO'd boxer when he came to!

Talk about getting as close to the action as possible, eh. I've often commented in my Blogs that when trying to capture action you need to get as close as you think it is safe... then take one step closer! This time I might have overdone it!

However I lived to complete the full program of sixteen bouts and the edit is now complete. It was another big one (like the Chaos Festival - see previous Blogs) but there was no comparison in difficulty. The Boxing shoot was so easy as the light was consistent... in fact the edit was a real pleasure.

Who'd of guessed that I'd change opinion so quickly!

I've added pics of the Bouts to a new picture Gallery:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE KING OF THE RING BOXING

The final updates have been added to the massive 2018 Greenman Chaos Festival gallery.

Amongst the new pics are full coverage of the Sound Guernsey Battle of the Bands which was held on the Main Stage giving the young performers an early taste of what it feels like to play whilst backed by great sound and lighting.... surely they can only want to repeat the experience!

Then there are new Galleries featuring the silly games, the burnouts (essential at a bikers festival) and another Gallery featuring the Atmosphere.

So lots more to look at. Follow this link to view the pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COMPLETED 2018 GREENMAN CHAOS FESTIVAL

As I near the end of a marathon edit of the Greenman Chaos Festival photographs I’ve had a lot of time to mull over my photographic life.

I am indeed very lucky. I work for myself. I’m busy enough to enable me to be a bit selective of the jobs that I take. I’m also able to fit a large chunk of ‘personal assignments’ into a year’s work.

My personal work mostly comes under the headlines of Music and Motorsport. These two subjects (I think) are really good fun and at times challenging to capture.

But, whilst spending many hours sorting, editing, uploading and linking the Chaos pics I’ve started to question what I do and why!

The thing is that it has taken a working week to capture, edit and upload my Chaos pics. Bear in mind that my working day is usually 12+ hours and a working week is six days long… that’s an underestimate!

I’ll let you do the maths.

What makes my previous comments worthy of consideration is that (referring back to my first line) my (only) job is as a photographer and as it’s my work I should be trying to make an income from it.

This is where things start to go wrong.

I know from conversations, the Internet and the viewing stats for my website that there is a fantastic interest in my pics. But ‘likes’ don’t pay bills!

So after a boring week editing pics (it’s only the taking that is exciting) I’m questioning why I should continue giving major coverage of these events. Can I justify taking the pics when it costs me so much in time for no gain?

It would be nice for good coverage of local events to continue…. But should it be by me?

The bottom line is that my interest in these events is sure to continue so I’m certain to still attend them and I fancy I’d find it hard NOT to take a few pics! But maybe it would be nice to leave the exit knowing that the job was done?

I’ve got a lot to think about.

So getting back to the important stuff. My Greenman Chaos edit is nearing the end and there is a massive Gallery of pics to look at…. Maybe you’ll even be tempted to buy a couple to help me justify the time and work?

Follow this link to view my pics:
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2018 GREENMAN CHAOS FESTIVAL PICS

You'd almost think that I've been on my hols when I tell you that I've spent the last two weekends beside the sea.

However I'm sorry to say that it was no holiday for me... but I'm certainly the lucky one as I get to spend time out in the sun, by the sea... and I get to call it 'WORK'!

This weekend it was time for the first two races in the Guernsey Powerboat Association's 2018 Series.

It was a shame (from a Photographers and Spectators point of view) that the first two races were 'doing what is says on the tin' - that is racing offshore! This meant seeing and photographing the action was quite limited as the course didn't come very close to shore.

Luckily, I'm told that other race weekends will use the more accessible Havelet and North Beach courses. That should help us follow the racing.

Whilst the first races were limiting in what I could capture it was still good to have this sport back on the agenda.

You can view my pics by looking at the new picture gallery:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE FIRST POWERBOAT RACES OF 2018

There was a huge entry for the 2018 Guernsey Milk Half Marathon.

I popped down to the start line for a few pics then I headed off to the finish... the journey was a lot easier for me than for the runners ;-)

But this assignment was only the first on a busy day that included the Classic Vehicle Show, Picnic in the Park, Live Jazz music at Candie Gardens and a World Dance team photo-shoot.

Follow this link to view the Guernsey Milk Half Marathon:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 GUERNSEY MILK HALF MARATHON
Follow this link to view pics of the World Dance Team Guernsey:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE WORLD DANCE TEAM

When the 2018 British Sand Ace Championship had to be cancelled due to problems with the Ferry timetable the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club decided that they wouldn't give up on the idea of holding a special event on Vazon Beach.

The Club organized a full program of racing to replace the Sand Ace and still managed to attract a good entry of visiting competitors for the 2018 event which was titled as the 'Battle of the Beach'.

Sadly the Club failed to sort out a sunny afternoon and there was a heavy drizzle and wind for most of the meeting... but we still had fun and it was well worth all their efforts.

Whilst the reigning British Sand Ace Champion was unable to defend his title Paul Cooper still made the journey over to Guernsey for this special meeting and I fancy he would have been right at the front challenging for the 2018 title as he was on top form winning every race he entered.

Hopefully the Sand Ace will return in 2019 bigger and better than ever!

I've added a large Gallery of pictures featuring the 2018 Battle of the Beach. Follow this link to view the pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2018 BATTLE OF THE BEACH

It's taken a while but I think I've finally understood what the sport of Golf is all about.

The enlightenment happened whilst I was following play at the inaugural Matt Le Tissier Golf Day at St Pierre Park Hotel Golf Club.

I was walking the course with the Guernsey Press Sports Editor Rob Batiste. It was a truly glorious morning with the sun beating down. Dragonflies were skipping over the water features. There was an atmosphere of peace, calm and pleasure.

I got the feeling that the cosseted atmosphere hadn't been missed by the golfers as they wandered down the fairways.

So what did I finally 'get' about the game of golf? What amazing fact had I missed for all these years?

Well, a round of Golf definitely beats a day stuck in the office doing a days 'proper' work! I was the unlucky one as I was the one working!

Now that I've seen the light I might consider taking up the sport but for today I had to work whilst the guys enjoyed the sun... and a day away from the grindstone!

To prove that I wasn't completely distracted I've added a gallery featuring a few of my pics:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE MATT LE TISSIER GOLF DAY

It's taken a day to get there but the job is done.

My weekend was busy chasing around the Island completing a list of photo-shoots.

Once again the fun and enjoyment came from the variety of the work.

The shoots included the GK&MC Sprint meeting at Vazon coast road. A Bowls competition (The Sarnia Shield) Vale Rec v Guernsey Bowls Club at the Corbet Field. Saturday ended with too many beers at the Sound in the Market gig... followed by a bus trip and walk home. Yes, I slept well after a busy day (maybe it was the beer?) :-)

Sunday started too early for my hang-over with the Triathlon Super Sprint at Grande Rocque. After a quick edit of the previous work to meet the submission deadline I was off to the Vale Earth Fair fundraising Record Fair. Finally there was a chance to enjoy the fresh air (I needed it) whilst photographing the Living Streets walk in St Peters.

So ended another packed weekend...

These links take you to some of the Galleries:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF SOUND AT THE MARKET
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE VAZON SPRINT
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE TRIATHLON SUPER SPRINT
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE BOWLS SARNIA SHIELD