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If you want to keep me happy there is one easy way.

Let me bring my 'big guns' out and present me with a couple of days of fast Motor Sport action.

I'm not even too fussy what it is... as long as it is noisy, a bit dangerous - and fast.

So last weekend ticked all the boxes for me. Even the sun shone most of the time!

A couple of my 'big guns' made an appearance too. One of my most used lenses is the versatile Nikon 200-400mm f.4 zoom. This is a great lens for action photography as somehow you can never get close enough. This is especially the case when photographing Powerboat racing.

However it was the powerboat racing that gave me the excuse to mount my biggest gun - the amazing Nikon 400mm f2.8 - on to the Nikon D4. But even this didn't do the job when shooting full frame from the shore so I added a 1.7 times extender... 680mm, that'll do nicely ;-)

Using the bigger lenses has made my new years resolution of joining a gym well justified as it is quite a work-out swinging those monsters around. I reckon I can miss next weeks sessions after the last two days work-out :-)

Saturday saw a near perfect mix of Motor Sport with the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club running a Hill Climb at Le Val des Terres. Perfect conditions produced a hand-full of new records and my MSA Accreditation allowed me to get really close to the action... almost a bit too close when Ian Shorto clouted the bank on the last corner and headed my way... I got the shot though! I popped away from the hill for an hour or so to photograph the Powerboats and 'drink in' the beautiful drone of Dave Corbet's V8 Diablo's engine... mmmm.

I've been busy editing the two days pics and they are now on-line:
VIEW PICS OF THE GK&MC HILL CLIMB

VIEW THE GUERNSEY POWERBOAT ASSOCIATION'S RACING

I've just had a really good month when judged by the number of my pictures published in National Magazines.

It is always a nice accolade to have a major publication accept your work for print. It is also an encouragement when the genre of the pics are so varied. So last months distributions will keep me happy for a little while :-)

My National Hill Climb racing pics were reproduced in two of the leading Motor sport mags, Motor Sport News and also Autosport.

Then it was Powerboat & Rib Magazine that featured a double page spread of the Guernsey Powerboat Associations racing.

Evo Magazine also featured a pic of John Dunne racing at the Guernsey Hill Climb.

And to keep things nicely varied my Commercial photography featured in Country Life Magazine.

To add to that mix I have had numerous pictures published in the Channel Island Newspapers, Magazines and Business publications. My pics have also been used by a number of Bands both local and as far afield as New York... today Guernsey, tomorrow the world, ha,ha?

I am often pondering whether my chosen profession is a sensible one... at least as a means of making a decent living. It seems that every week there is a 'new kid on the block' who has bought a digital camera, created a web site (or simply a Facebook page) and decided to to call themselves a 'Pro' photographer... wedding day bookings made at your own risk ;-)
This new competition often has a 'proper' day job and can afford to play at fulfilling their ambitions to be a photog. Don't misunderstand me, I accept it is everyone's free choice to do this.

But what this does do is add pressure on to those of us who only have our photography as a means of buying the real ale (oh yes, and the food)! So when National publications consider your work as being worthy of printing you get a little boost and encouragement to keep the nose to the grindstone... or should that be the back of the camera?

The long hot summer of '13 is proving to be a successful one for me so far. This web site might even break the 3,000,000 views during this twelve months, so maybe I'll keep this up for a bit longer yet?

As I say, 'it definitely beats a proper job, eh'.
VIEW MY PICTURE GALLERIES

MASSIVE isn't a big enough word to describe the size of my Greenman Chaos Festival 2013 picture Galleries!!

Never before, and probably never again, have I posted such a large gallery of pictures for one event.

So was it worth it? Well maybe I'll know if you post a comment or two.

But, as far as I'm concerned I found this years Chaos Festival topped all previous ones. There was a great line-up of Bands in the main tent and also the popular Peace tent.

The main stage was bigger and better than before with a fantastic light-show... always a good way to get a photographer on your side ;-)

The edit of three days shooting has taken a serious amount of time but has the benefit of allowing me to 're-live' the Festival. In fact the odd thing is that quite often I will look at a pic and 'see' it for the first time, even though it was me who pressed the shutter! I guess that when taking pics you are in a kind of 'zone' with all the senses focused on the work.

If you were one of the hundreds who visited the Greenman Chaos you can also re-live the days by checking my Galleries...

If you were in a Band and like a few of the pics maybe you will think about buying a few :-)

I know it is a bit bad making a shameless plug to sell pics but it has taken MANY days of work to bring the pics to my web site... and selling a few pics is how I make a living (exaggeration)!

Full coverage of the Greenman Chaos Festival is here:
VIEW A MASSIVE PICTURE GALLERY OF THE GREENMAN CHAOS FESTIVAL 2013

Guernsey entertained the British Hill Climb racers at Le Val des Terres on Saturday. The conditions were near perfect and after seeing the quality of the racing in Jersey a couple of days before I was expecting some serious action.... and that is what we got.

Records dropped in several Classes with special mention needed for Sarah Gaudion's all-time women's record. However it was the battle of the big boys which resulted in the outright hill record being lowered by Scott Moran during the first Championship run-off. His time of 27.19 looked impressive enough to stay as a long term record for Le Val des Terres.

But that was soon proved wrong.

It was during the first dramatic and tense run-off that every local motor sport fan had their fingers crossed as Darren Warwick's time placed him in the top spot with only Scott Moran to run.

The real possibility that a local driver could win a round of the National Championship had the crowd ready to release their emotions... but had we forgotten that Scott was a previous outright record holder for the hill?

Maybe we were all a bit too hopeful because as Scott finished his run the clock stopped at a quite amazing 27.19 beating Darren by seven tenths. He had re-taken the all-time record for the 'Terres'.

In qualifying for the second round of Championship run-offs Darren clocked almost exactly the same time as his earlier runs, perhaps suggesting he was at the limit.

So it was the second of the National Championship run-offs that provided a fitting climax to the day as Scott Moran produced a time that took him to the top with only Jos Goodyear to run. Jos raised his game by re-taking his outright hill record by the smallest margin of two hundreths and at the same time he asked the question - is a 26 second run going to be seen sometime in the future?

The brilliant time that Jos returned mustn't overshadow the standard of Darren Warwick's racing. He really stood toe-to-toe with the big boys with their powerful high-tech kit and got very close to beating them all... bar one.

There should also be a mention in despatches for the notable inclusion of two other locals in the run-offs. As a regular qualifier, Nick Saunders qualified for both run-offs and was joined by Paul Le Messurier for one of the runs. Once again they pushed their underpowered and lower tech cars as hard as was possible and split the visitors for run-off places.

The Championship provided a memorable days racing. We now have to wait twelve months to find out if that 26 second time really is possible.

The 40th time that the Championship has been run at Le Val des Terres was celebrated by the unveiling of an impressive Banner Hoarding at the bottom of the hill. This has been sponsored by Comprop who are about to re-develop the old brewery site.

Comprop have become major sponsors of the GMC&CC and together with Dowding Signs produced the superb display. Of course I might be a bit biased as the hoarding features many of my pictures ;-) Make sure you stop and take a close look next time you are in the area.
VIEW PICS OF THE GUERNSEY ROUNDS OF THE NATIONAL HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP

The local rounds of the British National Hill Climb Championship were always going to be a highlight in the Channel Islands Motor Sport calendar..... but we didn't anticipate just how special things were going to be in 2013!

For Rounds 19 and 20 the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club had planned a special celebration of the 40 years that they have hosted British Championship rounds. A well attended, lively and interesting gathering and barbecue was held at the Marina restaurant after the Saturdays racing and this was the perfect end to the two days racing.

But it was on the hills that the spectacular was so special!

The soon to be legendary 'summer of 2013' produced the hottest conditions for years, particularly in Jersey on thursday where there was no breeze. The sun always raises people's spirits and they were running on turbo boost as the racing started. We knew we were in for a treat!

Guernseymen ruled the hill when it came to top performances in Jersey with Darren Warwick being the only Channel Islander to feature in both Top twelve National Championship Run-offs. This was a stunning performance when you consider the far higher power and technological specifications of the visiting National drivers cars. Well done Darren on an astounding result.

Other records were also taken by the small contingent of Guernsey drivers. We showed the Crapo's, eh ;-)

Then we moved on to the Guernsey rounds which were even more special for Guernsey fans... more on this to follow.

For now though, I have added a new picture gallery featuring the 2013 Jersey rounds of the British National Hill Climb Championships at Bouley Bay. Enjoy.
VIEW PICTURES OF THE JERSEY ROUNDS OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL HILL CLIMB

If you visited the Greenman Chaos Music & Bike Festival last weekend and didn't pace yourself I'll call that a big FAIL :-)

Why? I hear you ask.

Well if you enjoyed a few too many beers and a few too many of the sun's rays and if you took the early bus home you are sure to regret it when you hear what you missed! The 'hard-core' festival go-ers were rewarded and left drained and exhausted by Sunday's head-liners, Spunge.

The party/festival really kicked-off when Spunge returned to the Chaos stage for 2013 and by the end of their set the party had hit the stage itself after the audience joined the band in a massive send-off to the 2013 Chaos.

Words can't describe the atmosphere. My pictures might help you to see what you missed... but in the end you really had to be there!

Those of us who had the stamina got the prize... happy days!

I have just added a small picture Gallery giving a taster of what will follow, eventually. But for now I need to catch up with some sleep...
GREENMAN 2013... VIEW A LITTLE TASTER GALLERY

Sorry, no time to stop and chat....

I'm on the way to Guernsey's only three day Bike & Music Festival!

The 2013 Greenman Chaos Festival is promising to be the best ever. There is a fantastic line-up of Bands .... and all this takes place in one of the most spectacular settings on the cliffs at Pleinmont, Guernsey.

See you there...
VIEW PICS OF PREVIOUS CHAOS FESTIVALS

Yesterday this web site busted through its previous record of picture viewings in a 24 hour period when over 40,000 views were logged! This is an incredible number! But it has been worked for...

My time has been totally absorbed since the weekend by trying to catch up with three very busy days of shooting. I'm afraid I pushed the normal limits that control my photography... that is I shoot as few pictures as I possibly can!

This is usually a great plan. Why take three pics when you know that only one will be needed. This 'rule' of mine is always in the back of my mind and it works for me. I have often stood alongside other photographers, both professional sport and performance 'togs and keen hobbyists who fire off tens of pics to my one. That's not for me.... usually!

But I tripped up last weekend when photographing the Charity Hill Climb and Sprint. I seem to have miscalculated just how many runs each driver would get. The result was a lot of photos to sort through :-(

The Lock-in fights also produced a few more pics than I intended. For a start there were fifteen bouts and when combined with the weigh-in and atmosphere shots I had another pile to sort through!

Burning the midnight oil is the only answer in this situation and I have now managed to finish those Galleries.

Time for some sleep? Oh no. There is the Powerboat racing and the Elysium gig to get on with next!

I'm definitely going to keep my trigger happy finger under better control next time!

The completed Gallery is here:
VIEW THE COMPLETED LOCK-IN GALLERIES

As I have already mentioned in a previous blog, last weekend was an extremely busy one for me.

This is no problem at all when you are as lucky as I am. I love my job.

In the course of a working month my photographic work includes a surprising variety of shoots. The core work is for 'Commercial' clients and sees me capturing all aspects of Guernsey life including its people, properties and events. As well as that important category I also fill what spare time I have by pursuing things that interest me both as a spectator/audience and fan.

These 'personal projects' revolve around live performances, gigs and sports. The huge picture galleries on this web site are testament to how many of these occasions I photograph!

So I am now working through the third of the major events I photographed over the weekend. This was the highly successful Full Boar Motorcycle Club 'Lock-in Guernsey Round-2' at Beau Sejour. This was a repeat of last years event .... only BIGGER and BETTER! The Full Boar certainly have a crack team organising this spectacular and the whole evening ran smoothly with more Bouts than the first year and Champion fighters displaying their skills to an engrossed (and maybe a bit drunk) crowd :-)

Last year was my first encounter with this form of combative sport and I must say that I love trying to capture the action. There are many challenges including the speed, low light and of course the blasted cage... definitely better outside than inside though!

With 15 Bouts to edit it is taking some time so I have uploaded the first eight. This is to assure the guys who are chasing me for the uploads... I am on the case, promise:-)

Follow this link to view the first eight Galleries:
VIEW THE LOCK-IN GUERNSEY PICTURE GALLERIES

After completing two solid days of Charity Motorsport there were smiles all around the pits. It was agreed by everyone that this was the best fun ever!

Everyone was a winner as the whole weekend was about supporting three deserving Charities (Male Uprising Guernsey, Saumarez Park Playground & the Lions Club)... all this whilst having a great time. Win, win, win I think.

I have now spent a further two days editing my pictures of the racing and it dawned on me as I looked at the varied types of cars used during the two days that there was a very broad mix. In fact there was an amazing variety of cars. Certainly there was a bit of 'exotica', although not as many as I would have liked to see (come on guys bring out your 'treasures' next time).

Amongst the cars were a few AMG Mercs. I have a soft spot for these as that is what I drive.... mmmm, V8's :-)
There were also a few 'shopping' cars that had been 'borrowed' from the Mrs... I think they'll now be back on the driveways smelling of burning clutches. I hope you have your excuses ready lads!

But as I looked through my pics I began to wonder just who enjoyed the weekends racing the most?

There will definitely be passengers who have fantastic memories after donating cash to have a run up the hill with a local racer. But did they actually enjoy their run - or were they scared silly?

There will also be drivers of the faster (and expensive) cars who enjoyed 'giving it some' legally on local roads. But was their enjoyment tempered by the dread of stacking their pride and joy into one of the verges?

I think this photographer had a surprisingly good time too. As a Professionally Accredited Motorsport photographer I shoot a lot of racing.
I was expecting to find the days long, and to be honest a bit boring! After all these were road cars driven mainly by inexperienced racers. But I was completely wrong as there was some seriously good racing to be enjoyed and I had the added challenge, as a photog, of making the racers look as fast as they felt they were!

But, in the end I think my prize for the person who seemed to be having the most fun must go to Mathew Lesbirel who was driving a modified Transit van with a 3.5 litre V8 engine.

Not your average racing machine I hear you say. There is a lesson in there somewhere. I'll let you work it out for yourselves ;-)

My picture galleries are now featuring the Heritage Charity Hill Climb. Once again I will donate 25% of any sales to the chosen Charities.
VIEW PICS OF THE HERITAGE CHARITY HILL CLIMB 2013

Last weekend, once again, our little Island and its people have impressed me in many ways....

It is easy to forget just how small we are when judged by the amount of varied events that are on offer to anyone with an interest in taking the opportunities out there.

There is usually one overriding quality to all these Events and that is the standard at which things are organised and presented. Again it must be remembered just how small our population and resources are compared to much larger places.

So I have had a brilliant few days watching and photographing just a couple of the weekend's Events - and I even captured a few rays from the sun, as my face goes to prove ;-)

Of course, for me, it was a weekend 'at work' at the end of a camera lens... but how can it be called work when you are having so much fun?

The weekends list included the Heritage Charity Sprint at Vazon coast road followed by the Full Boar Motorcycle Club Lock-in Guernsey - Round-2 at Beau Sejour in the evening. That was a busy day!
Sunday it was the racers turn at Hill Climbing up Le Val des Terres. The weather wasn't so nice but maybe it helped me avoid getting properly toasted!

Also slotted into the Sunday was a quick visit to the shoreline of Havelet bay to take a few pics of the Guernsey Powerboat Association's race. This offered a ringside seat to the Hill Climbers who saw how things can go wrong in any Motorsport when Resolution IT crashed out in spectacular fashion.
EDIT: I had forgotten that my weekend had started on Friday night with the first weigh-in for the Lock-in at Beau Sejour followed by a 'best ever?' gig and the Fermain Tavern by Elysium!

Both the Heritage Charity Events were superbly organised and showcased how things can work so well when different Clubs combine their resources. Well done everyone and I'm sure your target of raising £40,000 will be smashed.

The Full Boar Lock-in was another fantastic success with visiting fighters commenting on how much better the standards of organisation and presentation were compared to what they often get. That's one more tick for our small Island!

But, to return to my first comment on how I am always impressed by the standards of performance in Guernsey. After the Powerboat accident the rescue crews and divers were on-scene incredibly fast and the Resolution IT crew and their upturned race boat were quickly and safely removed.... and the race re-started.
Job well done guys!

My weekends work amounts to many, many more shots than usual and I now face a few days of editing (a bit of an anti-climax really). But it has to be done and I've made a start.
First pictures feature the Heritage Charity Sprint at Vazon. I am donating 25% of any picture sales to this years Charities.

Check-out the first of many Galleries here:
VIEW PICS OF THE HERITAGE CHARITY SPRINT

Is it a good sign when you can't really find the words to describe something?

Well I guess it must be as I have been left a bit lacking in the literary department when it comes to reporting on last weekends gig at the Fermain Tavern. Head-liners were a re-formed Sacred Hearts (maybe just for this 'one-off') with support coming from Party in Paris.

I arrived at 'the Tav' nearly at the end of Party in Paris's set. Just enough time for a few quick pics.

As I slipped through the crowd to the front I was welcomed by a chant of 'Andy, Andy, Andy'.... so much for trying to stay incognito! Thanks a lot Martin Mackintosh!

'PiP' have built up quite a good following and I look forward to watching their progress.

But it was the headlining Sacred Hearts that left me short of words as I consider their set as one of the best I have seen for quite some time. The musical talent is well shared amongst all the band and they were really up for it.

Mark Le Gallez was as energetic as ever, if not more so! Colin Leach led the psychedelic sounds with Colleen Irven taking the lead on some songs. Mark Guppy, Matt Hutchinson and Chris Denton all made vital input to the energetic sound-scape.

This was truly a gig to remember. Lets hope the the guys and gal can be persuaded to make a return, soon.

New pics have been added to my Galleries:
VIEW PICS OF SACRED HEARTS AT THE FERMAIN TAVERN
VIEW PICS OF PARTY IN PARIS AT THE FERMAIN TAVERN

Yesterday represented the biggest disappointment in my photographic year. At least so far!

This was due to the abandoning of the Condor Ferries British Sand Ace Championships.

No blame can be made for this unfortunate fail, it was simply a case of this sort of thing being a part of Motor Sport... thankfully very rarely.

I suppose the signs were bad right from the start as the morning's weather wouldn't of been out of place in November. This was such a contrast to 2012's Sand Ace in 'flaming June'.

Whilst the conditions dampened the initial energy and anticipation in the pits, once the practice laps began to clock up there was little doubt that we were going to enjoy a few hours of high class racing by a large entry which included some of Europe's top 500cc Solo Riders and 1,000cc Sidecar Crews.

As the qualifying heats began (heats as in racing - certainly not from the sun!) we were all distracted from the cold, the high wind and occasional rain. Everything was going well... and I was in my element :-)

Then the racing had a couple of spanners chucked into its spokes after two of the Sliders had nasty accidents that required hospital runs. These things happen sometimes with any Motor Sport but when you are racing on a beach the disruptions take on quite a different importance as the tide turns and makes its unstoppable advance back up the sand.

After much effort another Ambulance crew and Paramedic couldn't be arranged in time to allow the racing to continue.

So the British Sand Ace Championships failed to run to the promised climax. The end was as damp and limp as the weather.

Hopefully it will be judged as an unavoidable coincidence of bad luck. The Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club have decades of experience in running beach racing and can offer last years highly successful British Sand Ace Championship as proof that, given the chance, they can run a race meeting worthy of a National status.

We will all be keeping our fingers crossed for better luck in 2014.

I've now sorted my pictures of the Sand Ace... and I'm really pleased with some of them considering the low amount of opportunities offered by the limited runs and the fact that it was raining for many of them!

The Condor Ferries British Sand Ace Championship picture galleries are now on-line:
VIEW PICTURES OF THE 2013 BRITISH SAND ACE CHAMPIONSHIP

I can't remember any previous local Motorsport event having such a strong reaction, and it all seems to be positive!

The Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Reservoir Speed Event attracted a small amount of negative comments before the first runs last Saturday. I had heard some question safety due to anticipated high speeds. There were also questions about the lack of space for the pits.

In fact I was amazed when I arrived at the St Saviours event and walked down the hill past what seemed a never ending line of racing machinery. How on earth was this race meeting ever going to run through smoothly?

But things ran at a fantastic pace. The extensive planning allowed the competitors to all have their practice run and four timed runs resulting in a lot of happy chappies ;-)

The course also seemed to be fairly forgiving of the occasional mistakes and damage was limited to racers ego's and machinery... apart from Leigh Digard who now knows that he bounces quite well!

It was a relief when we had a visit from Leigh on Sunday at the Twisty Sprint after he was kicked out of hospital. I think he even fancied his chances on a bike... no-one would lend him one. I wonder why?

I have now finished the picture gallery for the Reservoir Speed Event which now features the Bikers and Karts.
Be warned, it's a big one:
VIEW PICS OF THE BIKERS & KARTS AT THE RESERVOIR SPRINT

I think that the air of excitement that surrounded the first ever Speed Event on the twisting road bordering the St Saviours reservoir must have rubbed off on me a bit too much.... read on!

There is no doubt that the competitors were barely able to hold in their eagerness to get started on this new event. The Guernsey Kart & Motor Club members really made every effort to support the Committee who had put so much work into making the 30 year wishes come true. There was great help with the set-up of the track and the very tight pits area.

As a Motorsport photographer I was really looking forward to having a new track to work on. I'd already walked the full length a few times eyeing-up the possible shooting opportunities. In the end, on the day, some of my planned shots didn't work out - but there were many more successes :-)

This is where I became a little over excited and I fired off a lot more shots than normal. It isn't only the racers who get an adrenaline rush it seems! The enhanced level of excitement and awareness is a good thing though as I certainly have to keep my wits about me when working so close to 'barely in control' racing cars, bikes and karts.

I've already spent over nine hours on the first edits from the weekends racing and have added the first pics to a new Gallery.

More Car pics will follow together with the Bikers & Karts....
The first to be featured are here:
VIEW THE FIRST RESERVOIR SPEED EVENT PICS

The updates are coming think and fast....

I've just added a new Gallery of pictures featuring the last Sand Racing at Vazon bay.

The next event is the British Sand Ace Championship featuring Sliders and Sidecars... this is going to be a fantastic event to watch. Be there, you won't be disappointed. It starts at 11am on 22nd of June on Vazon beach, Guernsey.

Last meetings racing van be viewed here:
VIEW THE LATEST SAND RACING PICS

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!