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There seemed to be a firearms theme at the Fermain Tavern for two recent gigs. At least that is the conclusion you good make from the bands names.

Jersey based band 'Bulletproof' was one, and Ray and the Guns were the other!

So I guess a full-on assault was to be expected and both bands delivered. It was a disappointment that the turn-out wasn't better but we are now into the months when there are lots of events (and the sun, if we're lucky) all claiming their own attention.

I usually manage to not be distracted too much by other things and find the time almost every weekend to catch at least one gig.

The last couple of weeks have been very busy for me so these latest updates are a bit late... and I still have a pile to get through. Make this page a regular visit and you will be kept up-to-date with all the changes.
VIEW PICS OF BULLETPROOF

VIEW PICS OF RAY AND THE GUNS

Whoever is in charge of these things managed to keep the sun under cover until the Guernsey Powerboat Association's own race on Sunday ;-)

It would have been nice if they had shared a bit with the Venture Cup Ocean Powerboaters as this would have helped my pics look a lot more interesting!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the conditions for the Venture Cup races were far from ideal in both light and closeness of access. If you wonder just how this affects a picture take a look in the two Galleries... the difference is HUGE!

Race five of the GPA's Championship was held over the Havelet Course... in sun as previously stated... and this offered much better, vibrant colours together with the ability to capture close crops of the action.

Let's have more of this please, especially when the Venture Cup returns in 2014!

Pics of the GPA's Powerboat race are now online:
VIEW PICS OF THE GPA's CHAMPIONSHIP - RACE-5

It must be about a decade since a race featuring Ocean going Powerboats was held in local waters so it was a pleasure to welcome them back last weekend.

The event was titled as 'The Venture Cup - Ocean Class Powerboat Racing - The Prologue' and the Guernsey Powerboat Association played a big part in helping the organisers arrange the logistics for their stay in St Peter Port and also had teams working in Race Control and up on Castle Cornet to ensure everything went smoothly.

This was just a 'warm-up' race to check on all the logistics ahead of the main race in 2014 when competitors will race from London all the way to the Med, a distance of 2,400 miles!

I was out and about for the various races in local waters and was impressed by the larger boats taking part. Actually, it was probably even more impressive that the smaller Ribs had completed the run across the English Channel... there wasn't much protection from the elements in those!

Unfortunately the weather really wasn't very helpful for us photographers as it was generally dull and grey. It was also a great shame that no dedicated Media boat was available as this greatly compromised the pics I could capture. I was actually out on a boat positioned at the finish line for the arrival of the racers but as the line was about three-quarters of a mile wide I was frustrated when nearly all of them crossed on the distant side :-(

Having said this, it was still nice to see this premier class of racing benefiting and enjoying our fantastic coastal waters... bring on 2014.
VIEW A GALLERY OF PICTURES FEATURING THE VENTURE CUP POWERBOATS

I'd like to ask you a question. If you don't go to gigs, theatre or any live stage performances this probably won't mean much to you ;-)

What I would like to know is, what do you think the most important aspects are that improve your enjoyment and memory of any show or performance?

I ask this as I have an opinion of my own.

If we were to make a list in the order of importance obviously the performers will have to be top the pile. After all, that is probably why you even bought a ticket in the first place.

Without trying to fill-in all the other ingredients that make a great show I will cut to my point.

My guess is that most of you don't really consider the lighting. The subtle changes. The not so subtle changes. The colour. The intensity and direction. I suppose if you were engrossed in the performance the lighting somehow 'disappeared' into the background. Maybe this is the success of great lighting?

My own enjoyment of any performance, however, is greatly affected by the lighting. This is because I am usually 'at work' trying to capture everything in pictures... and all I can capture is the light!

This blog was inspired whilst I developed my pictures of The Recks recent gig at the Fermain Tavern.

The gig was lit by Lloyd Hellyeah and he did a great job. This makes my job sooooo much easier and reduces the time I have to spend tweaking colours and tones. When the lighting is well controlled and responsive to a performance it raises it to a higher level.

But have you ever noticed this? Or is it something that only a photographer can see? I'd love to know what you think.

If you would like to make your own opinion about the lighting at The Recks gig my pics are now on-line:
TAKE A LOOK AT THE RECKS GIG... AND THE LIGHTING!

One of the hardest things about my job is the repetition.

OK, I'll concede that this is probably true of just about anybody's work. It is almost inevitable that 'an average week' will include quite any element of routine.

The difficulties presented to us photographers... who consider ourselves to be some of the 'creatives' in this world (NOTE TO SELF: Andrew, you're beginning to sound a bit pretentious!) is that we are always trying to find different and new ways of capturing whatever genre of photography we pursue.

This is, in a nutshell, exactly what makes my continued coverage of Motor Sport sometimes difficult to keep enthusiastic about.

Whilst there is an amazing amount of Motor Sport organised in the Channel Islands, after many years of shooting mainly the same competitors at the same venues - usually in the same racing cars/karts/bikes... you get the idea. It often feels like I have already 'got that shot' in my database of pics!

However, whilst sometimes I struggle to motivate myself out of the door for another event I still do get a real buzz from being close to the action and also being part of the Motor Sport scene.

The other challenge to keeping me interested in returning to another event is the knowledge that sales of my pics will be minimal :-(

It would be great if you racers helped me to justify the time and money spent on photographing your racing. It is quite a frustration knowing how many pics are simply copied off my web site - horrible watermark and all - when for just a couple of quid you can get a properly optimised version, without the watermark and at a bigger size than my web site displays.

I apologise for the lecture but it's of my chest..... for now :-)

Getting back to the challenge of keeping interested in taking action pics.

I was really pleased with last weekends Karting shots. The Track has a very small number of successful shooting positions so I really enjoyed using a new position that has only just become available since some conifers had to be felled after getting damaged in the heavy snowfall.

This new spot allows an angle of view that offers a chance to capture what I call a 'stacked' shot of Karts in line. I like the results. Please take a look and see what you think:
VIEW KARTING PICS AT THE TRACK FROM A NEW ANGLE

I love it when I can tick the box that says 'Job done'.

And I have just marked the 'update Hill Climb Galleries' box after finishing my uploads featuring the Guernsey Kart & Motor Clubs Bank Holiday event.

As I mentioned in the last Blog, the weather was fantastic and quite a number of new records were made.

I also made a little sales pitch to try and encourage you to buy a picture or two. What about it, eh?

Go on, you know you wanna ;-)

So the new picture Galleries give coverage to the Bikers and Karters. Check the action here:
VIEW THE HILL CLIMB BIKER & KART GALLERIES

Wow, that was a special Hill Climb at the Val des Terres....

Our local competitors continued to lower the records on a hill that was presented in perfect weather. We keep our fingers crossed that all the other events this summer have the same dry days.

I have had a quick check through the results and I think this is the list of record-breakers. Please let me know if I have missed someone or made an error.

The names taking their place in the Club records are: Lee Corbet, Zef Eisenberg, Angus Torode, Scott Rayson, Paul Priaulx, Brin Harrison and Jack Le Tissier. That is quite a list for one meeting.

There were also many notable performances with competitors getting within fractions of a second of the old times.

I have been continuing the task of editing the latest pics. As I mentioned in my last blog, there has been a lot going on over the last few days. Combine this with such a big entry for the Hill Climb and I have more work than normal :-(

But it is nose to the grindstone and I've just been able to make a few updates.

Keeping this web site up to date and offering such a full coverage of local Motor Sport takes a huge amount of time. There is also quite a large cost to run the web site and keep my equipment serviced etc. My photography is my only income.

Perhaps I can drop a little 'sales pitch' into this blog and remind you that you can buy a favourite pic (or two!) from as little as £4.00! Of course (I think) a print is always the best way to see any picture.

I know that loads of my pics are copied from the web site... maybe you will consider purchasing a few - and you get rid of that horrible WATERMARK then, yippee!

The latest Gallery features the Cars from yesterdays Hill Climb including a sequence that shows the moment that the rear wing failed on Steve Brehaut's car which launched him into the bank at the top of the straight...
VIEW PICS OF THE CAR CLASSES AT THE HILL CLIMB

It's been all go this Bank Holiday weekend...

The Motor Sport racers have been out to play and we have all enjoyed some fabulous weather.

So I have had little time for much else for three days. But the varied race formats has kept things interesting.

Saturday set the scene with Sand Racing on the beach at Vazon. This was a nice 'taster' for the British Sand Ace Championship in a few weeks time. The beach was in perfect condition. Let's hope we can repeat this for the big one!

The Sand Racing pics are the first added to my Galleries.

The others that will follow are the Karting Championship and a very busy Hill Climb. Keep checking for updates during the next few days....

Oh, nearly forgot... there was also a fantastic gig by The Recks at the Fermain Tavern... pics will follow.
VIEW PICS OF THE SAND RACING

It was hard to believe that only one day had passed...

After spending a couple of very enjoyable hours in the sun yesterday photographing the Guernsey Powerboat Association's Championship racing... everything went wrong today!

The contrast couldn't have been greater. It rained all through the race, there was a strong breeze and it was dull and grey. The unavoidable result was dull and grey colours in my pics :-(

But that is what was on offer so that is what had to be worked with.

I think the biggest disappointment for me (even more than the persistent rain) was that I couldn't get into the shooting position that I had planned.

My intention was to find a vantage point on the sea-side rocks below Castle Cornet. However I soon found out the the rocks were incredibly slippery after the rain and there was every chance that I would end up smashing seventeen grand of cameras and lenses.
Not a good idea.

So I took the high view and shot from the castle's ramparts. I also turned the poor light into an opportunity and tried to capture a few slow shutter panning pics... now that is a challenge hand-holding a 600mm lens whilst exposed to all that the weather can throw at you!

I recommend not giving up when you think things are far from ideal. Try and turn conditions into an advantage. In this case I dialed the shutter down to about 125th second and used my 600mm lens. The resulting 'pans' give a feel of the racers speed. Sure its a difficult technique to master but it's rewarding to come away with a few successful, pin sharp shots.... Especially after all the discomfort :-)

See what you think of the days work that is now on-line:
VIEW PICS OF POWERBOAT RACE-4

We live on a beautiful Island. However it couldn't be described as large!

Inevitably this can lead to pressure on the available open spaces as the other notable charm of our residence is the huge and varied amount of sports and hobbies that the population pursue in their spare time.

Today was a good example of how we share our spaces so well.... whilst enjoying a sunny day.

Leisure activities included, for some, supporting Guernsey winning the Muratti for the first time in quite a few years, others were in Herm for a beer festival (I was VERY close to joining them)!

Instead I was on the water half way to Herm.... so close yet soooo far ;-)

But that wasn't too much of a hardship as I was offered a ring-side view on Goldie's Rib for Race-3 of the Guernsey Powerboat Association's 2013 Championship. The spirit of sharing our spaces was evident as we headed to our allocated marker whilst the Rowing Club completed a race. Everything had been timed perfectly as you wouldn't want to mix Powerboats with the oarsmen!

To make my day a near perfect one the sun showed its face and I was offered a large visiting cruise liner as a backdrop to make some of the shots a little more interesting.

So well done to our little Sarnia Cherie (If you don't live in Guernsey, that's the term of endearment we use for our little Island) , you did us proud again.
VIEW PICS OF GUERNSEY POWERBOAT CHAMPIONSHIP RACE-3

Pete Bretel, front man of Sugar Slam, is known to love his music.

He also likes his beer (a man true to my heart!) and it seems that he has found the perfect solution to the problem that all men have... how do you multi-task?

So at Sugar Slam's recent gig at the Thomas de la Rue Pete instigated the master-plan and I can see it catching on!

With the help of a member of the audience it seems that it is perfectly feasible to front the band, play guitar and drink beer all at the same time.

When he has mastered singing at the same time I reckon he will have a long line of fellow front men looking to learn the trick :-)

I'm not kidding you and I've got the picture to prove it. You can always trust anything that you see in a picture, can't you, eh?

A few pics from the Thomas de la Rue are now on-line:
VIEW PICS OF SUGAR SLAM AT THE THOMAS DE LA RUE

VIEW AUTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP PICS
How about that for a quick turn-around..... Karting in the morning followed by Autocross racing in the afternoon... and the pics are already on-line!

There is a reason though, I've made a rash promise to my missus that I will get out into the garden next week to re-discover the lawn.

I was caught off-guard obviously. But now the damage is done there is NO way out :-(

So it has been full speed ahead on the picture editing and now Monday is free for chain saws and mowers.

What I really need now to keep me out of the garden are a few 'urgent' orders for prints. Maybe even a request for a Tallpicture :-)

I'm sitting next to the phone and checking my web-site orders page in anticipation, hint, hint!

VIEW PICS ROUND-2 OF THE KART CHAMPIONSHIP

If petrol runs in your veins.... or methanol if you are a Slider rider, you don't turn down a chance to race!

Guernsey's 'National Holiday' is always fixed on May 9th which was the day the Channel Islands were liberated from occupying forces at the end of World War II.

This year the tides seemed to offer the chance to get a few hours of Sand Racing on Vazon beach. So that's where I found myself and it turned out that it was the sunniest part of the day. Nice :-)

It would have been nice to see a few more sliders but the numbers were made up by the new Moto-X Class which is proving popular.

I enjoyed the bright light which helps make the colours more vibrant. There were also a few wet patches so it was fun trying to time a competitors splashes.... always adds a bit of drama!

I've already added picture galleries featuring the racing:
VIEW PICS OF THE LIBERATION DAY SAND RACING

Last Sunday Jamaica rocked!

OK, to be perfectly correct I should say The Jamaica Inn rocked :-)

Billed as 'Chaos at the Jam' the event returned to a newly painted Jamaica Inn as a warm-up to the bigger Chaos Festival in July.

The afternoon offered time to chill to acoustic sets out in the sunny car park. Then things kicked-off proper when we de-camped into the bar.

Brunt bought something heavier to the party and were followed by Guernsey's favourite good-time band, RentOClean.... the party was swinging.

Make space for Heave to take to the stage.

Two guys - guitar and drums - but what a sound. Breaking the laws of physics Heave can fill any space with sound... and it's heavy. Love it.

Thanks to the Greenman for bringing us another great one. See you in July, if not sooner.

Pics of a few of the bands are here:
VIEW PICS OF BRUNT
VIEW PICS OF RENTOCLEAN
VIEW PICS OF HEAVE

One thing is certain. Even on a Bank Holiday with several major events going on, Motor Sport can still command a good crowd of spectators.

Certainly the beautiful day would have helped - but this could be said of each of the events.

The loyal Motor Sport supporters were treated to a day of highly competitive racing with more than a handful of new records right across the Classes.

It is also a fact that amongst all the thrills an occasional spill is almost regarded as a requirement by some spectators.

The first concern is always for the safety of the driver or rider but after the event and with the knowledge that everyone is OK the talk gets around to how spectacular each crash was.

It is the unlucky competitor who has to nurse a few aches and pains (their ego also perhaps) and they are left with a 'project' to get back on the road.

I was saddened to see (and photgraph) Nigel Ozanne's crash at the top of the straight. Nige races on a budget and this was the last thing he needed. However this popular guy really loves his racing and he has bounced back from worse.
Next time he should make sure he bounces off the bank instead ;-)

We all had a reminder that our sport does have its dangers when Ian Le Messurier had a spectacular crash in the esses. His transport was more plane than car for a few seconds. Ian is not someone who looks for attention but he was certainly the centre of it for half an hour whilst Sarnia Rescue and two Fire engine crews worked to remove him safely from his car. The good news is that Ian has no serious injury.

Once again, like Nigel, Ian and his twin brother Paul are as keen as they come for their Motor Sport. It is highly likely that we will see the boys back on the start line quicker than you can say Bank Holiday Hill Climb!

I have just added new Galleries featuring the days racing:
VIEW PICS OF THE BANK HOLIDAY HILL CLIMB

Today I'm excited to say that this web site has broken through a new landmark figure.

We have now logged more than 4,000,000 viewings!

Yes, you read that correctly, that's FOUR MILLION VIEWINGS :-)

The latest MILLION has taken just over six months so we are well on target to match last year's figure of TWO MILLION in twelve months.

I posted a blog about six months ago when the THREE MILLION mark was smashed.
READ THE THREE MILLION BLOG HERE

At that time I tried to illustrate how the viewing figures could relate to time... how many views each hour or minute of every day. The results were quite surprising!

This time around I thought that maybe I would try to find how the numbers can be associated to something a bit closer to a photographer's heart. That is an actual paper print. But how thick is an average print?

The wonders of the Internet came to my rescue again and after a few minutes of research I had some figures to play with. It is difficult to find explicit references as there are certain variables - not least of which is the thickness of a sheet of photographic paper.

In the end I have been conservative and based my results on an 'average' that seems to be a fair and realistic number. From my searches I found the height calculated for a pile of ONE MILLION sheets of photographic paper varied between 350 ft and 480 ft.

So I am going to use a figure of 400 ft.

Now let's take things to the next stage and try to picture what this pile would look like.

Perhaps if you are a resident of Guernsey (our small but beautiful Island in the English Channel, near France) you will be familiar with the dramatic cliffs on our southern coast. The highest of these are about 350 ft above sea level.... that is less than the height of a MILLION PRINTS in this example.

Try and picture that... are you impressed yet?

No, well a try at this!

As you have seen, this web site has now had FOUR MILLION HITS since first launching. Take this number and work out the height of that pile of prints and we are talking TALL... LIKE 1,600 FEET HIGH!

If you find it difficult to picture how that relates to the real world, take a look at the picture at the start of this blog which shows the heights of some of the tallest buildings in the world.

NOW YOU MUST BE IMPRESSED!!

The shame is that these numbers are only picture views. They aren't going to make me rich, although I think I would be Epson's biggest customer if I had to produce a print for every web image viewed!

My Epson Stylus 4900 would be working night and day :-)

So a big thank you for spending time viewing my pictures. I am now chasing the next big number.... Pop back again soon.
READ ABOUT THE FIRST MILLION
READ ABOUT THE SECOND MILLION
READ ABOUT THE THIRD MILLION

It's been a while since I have written anything about the equipment I use and the workflow that goes into making the final prints that drop through your letterbox a few days after you place an order.

Today I'm not going to go into much detail about all my kit. However it might be of interest to know some key items.

I'm lucky to have the opportunity to use 'top-of-the-range' equipment from start to finish of the capture process. I feel that when shooting as a Professional Photographer, a high standard needs to be maintained all the way through from capture to the digital darkroom and on to the final production of a print.

I am a NIKON camera user and love the quality and handling that this brand offers.
My current kit includes a Nikon D4, a NIKON D3s and a NIKON D3.
NIKON creates the finest photographic equipment in the world as far as I'm concerned. I await your responses :-)

UPDATE 10-03-2014: I've now added the new NIKON D4s to my kit bag. First impressions are good but it will take a few weeks to fully test. Drop me an e-mail if you want to discuss the latest NIKON body EMAIL ME

I also use NIKON lenses and have too many to list but can call on everything from a 400mm f2.8, a 200mm f2, 24mm Perspective Correction, 200mm & 105mm Macro, 50mm & 85mm f1.4's and many others in-between through to the brilliant wide angle 14-24mm f2.8.
So I hope you'll agreed that there is no excuse to not capture the highest quality of image :-)

The digital darkroom work is carried out using the latest versions of Professional software like Photoshop and Lightroom and this is all viewed on twin 30 inch colour calibrated reference monitors.
All images are then Catalogued and referenced using IMatch allowing quick and comprehensive searching.
Lots of back-ups are then made.... you do back-up your own work, don't you?

But all the work and cost of capturing the sharpest, colour corrected images would fall at the final hurdle if the quality of the prints wasn't to the same standards.

This is why all prints up to the A2 SIZED MONTAGES are individually hand-printed by me in my studio on an Epson Stylus Pro 4900 Professional Large Format Printer using the latest 11-Colour Ultrachrome HDR Pigment Inks. This offers me total quality control of the final output.

This printer is regarded as setting new standards in colour precision offering one of the widest colour gamuts on the market and exceptional longevity of prints.

So be assured that when you order a print from TALLPICTURES every effort has been made to make it as good as it can get :-)

Details of the various print options can be found by clicking this link:
VIEW DETAILS OF THE PRINT OPTIONS

Few things in life are as reliable as a gig by Guernsey's own Pete Frampton. Quality is assured!

It is sad to say that Pete no longer lives in Guernsey but he does make regular visits back home to see family and friends. And it is those friends who always take the opportunity to get some 'stage time' with Pete during the short stays.

Last weekend saw the guys on two stages and they dropped straight into gear and simply continued where they left off months ago. The quality of musicianship was as high as normal and the band rolled out all their classics leaving us looking ahead to the next visit.

I've added pics of Pete & friends playing on stage at the Fermain Tavern:
PETE FRAMPTON & FRIENDS PLAY THE FERMAIN TAVERN

Let's hope that someone has remembered to tell the weather this year as Summer has arrived in the form of the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's Summer Karting Championship.

Round 1 hit The Track today and the weather was OK... so maybe the word did get out!

On the tarmac it was certainly a hot start to the racing with some very competitve heats which have already signalled the entertainment to come.

There will be regular racing at The Track during the next few months and I recommend a visit on one of the Sunday mornings. You will be guaranteed plenty action to watch. The race dates can be found on the new Club web site:
VIEW THE NEW GUERNSEY KART & MOTOR CLUB WEB SITE

I have added pictures from todays racing to my Gallery.
VIEW PICS OF ROUND-1 OF THE SUMMER KARTING CHAMPIONSHIP

As promised, I returned to the sands of Vazon bay when the sun shone!

After Round 1 of the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club's Sand Racing Championship two weeks ago when the conditions were truly dreadful I'm pleased to say that things were much improved for Round 2.

OK, the wind was still a bit on the chilly side but at least it was dry :-)

Perhaps the improving conditions were the incentive for a couple more Moto-X riders to give beach racing a try and there was a good sized field for the Cadet Class as well. In fact the youngest of the racers produced some of the closest racing of the afternoon.

The sliders Class was dominated by Martyn Guilbert who found ample time to entertain the crowd with his wheelies.

If you want to make a diary date the next meeting is on May 9th at 11.30am. Fingers crossed for another dry and sunny one!

Pictures of the Sand Racing are now online:
VIEW PICS OF ROUND-2 OF THE GMC&CC SAND RACING