News / Blog

The GMC&CC Hillclimb started damply.... much like every previous visit to the 'Terres this year!

It's commonly thought that 2024 has been one of the wettest (worst) for Hillclimbing ever!

But this time the Motorsport Gods looked down kindly and they allowed the tarmac to dry as the day went on. So the racers were quick to enjoy the conditions and soon the records were dropping!

Check out the Gallery of photos here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE LATEST HILLCLIMB PHOTOS

Lots happening over the last weekend and what a great variety of events to photograph!

The edit of all of them will take a bit of time but I've already crossed one off the list.

Photos of the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club 2-day Sandracing meeting are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2024 2-DAY SANDRACING PHOTOS

Tradition has it that come the last week of August St Peter Port Harbour becomes the scene for fun, fancy costumes, crazy games and lots a sea water.

The occasion is the annual Harbour Carnival organised by the Guernsey Round Table as a fund raiser for the various Charities that they support.

Sadly this year the Man Powered Flights were cancelled but there was still lots to laugh at!

I covered the event for the Guernsey Press and the published photos together with lots of extras can be viewed by clicking the link below:
CLICK TO VIEW PHOTOS OF THE 2024 HARBOUR CARNIVAL

It's always a fun afternoon when I'm assigned to photograph the Lions Club Donkey Derby.

The format barely changes from year to year.... but why change a winning formula?

This year the Lions Club had arranged a beautiful sunny summer afternoon and that encouraged a great attendance of eager punters keen to lose a couple of quid at the Tote as everything was organised for raise funds for Charities.

I've uploaded a new Gallery to display my 2024 Donkey Derby photos.
Click this link to view the Donkey Derby photos:
CLICK TO VIRW PHOTOS OF THE 2024 DONKEY DERBY

I visited the Bowls Guernsey Association's 2024 Finals at Vale Rec, Corbet Field twice over the weekend to photograph some of the play.

Bowling takes place indoors during the winter months and then moves outside to enjoy the sun (when our summer allows!)

The Sport remains popular with the slightly old generations but it is great to see some youngsters now taking part and indeed getting results off Island too. Just like the senior players which have notched up many International successes!

In fact I wonder if Bowls is Guernsey's most successful Sport on the world stage?

My latest photos can be viewed by clicking this link:
CLICK TO VIEW THE BGA 2024 FINALS PHOTOS

I had an enjoyable weekend covering just a few of the many events taking place in Guernsey. Please don't ever try an tell me that there's nothing to do in our Island. You just can't be looking hard enough!

One of the most entertaining was the 2024 Medieval Fete d'Etai held within the walls of Castle Cornet. Displays and re-enactments were presented by Tol Galen and the Companie of the Duke's Leopards from Jersey.

I've added a small gallery of photos to my website if you want to see what happened.....
CLICK TO VIEW THE FETE D'ETAI DISPLAYS

With photo finishes making headline news in the Paris Olympics I'm here to tell you that Guernsey also has a few of its own!

On Sunday I photographed the latest Track & Field event of the 2024 Aztec Series and was rewarded with a couple of races that were so close that a photo of the finish was nearly needed!

However the Guernsey Athletics team were more than capable of splitting the finishers. But, if you want to try and decide who took the wins for yourself you might like to take a look a my photos here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE CLOSE FINISHES AT FOOTES LANE

I could have done without the early alarm but once I was down at Rocquaine waiting for the 7am start of the Olympic distance Guernsey Triathlon Club's event things didn't feel so bad!

It's actually hard to beat a beautiful Guernsey (early) morning and Sunday's was certainly one of those.

But I wasn't there just for the fun... there was a Triathlon to photograph and my pics are now online if you are interested? Maybe you don't realise what an early start to the day offers so take a look.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OLYMPIC TRIATHLON PHOTOS

Sometimes I think I have too much to say (and you lot are too polite to tell me so.... well most of you!)

But this time I think I'll just let my photos do the talking.

Check them out if you want to see why the GK&MC Hillclimb was abandoned:
CLICK TO VIEW PHOTOS OF THE ABANDONED GK&MC HILLCLIMB

Nowadays I don't frequent the local pubs on a Friday evening as much as I did. Which makes me wonder why I still have a healthy beer belly! But that's for another time.

I did however have a perfect excuse to visit the Club at North on Friday night as I'd been asked to photograph the Adie Exall Stonemasons Guernsey Darts Grand Slam.

I didn't get back on Saturday for the finals but I didn't miss much as the win went to a Jerseyman!

There's a new Gallery featuring my photos. Click the link to view:
CLICK TO VIEW PHOTOS OF THE ADIE EXALL DARTS GRAND SLAM

So when I was assigned to cover the 2024 BNP Paribas Tennis Open Tournament at the weekend I checked the weather - and it was going to be nice and sunny. Yeah.

So, in my mind, I already had the shots worked out.... a bright sunny summer scene with spectators enjoying a Pimms watching the sports action happening right in front of me. Easy job done.

However... it seems that the best Tennis courts at the Longcamps Centre are the indoor ones! This meant that my plan A went out of the window and I had to capture the action indoors in flat lighting with green curtains as the background and limited access due to inter-court netting!

Oh well, I'm sure that one day my 'dream' of the perfect photoshoot will come around, just not yet!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE BNP PARIBAS TOURNAMENT PHOTOS

I think I'm done!

The Chaos Events Music & Bike Festival is one of my highlights of every year even though it is a 'working' holiday - but it's great fun too.

But I always end up with a big photo edit.... well it is three days of photography combined with quite a lot of beer!

So the editing has to fit around my normal week of photography and that delays completion. BUT, I get there in the end and the final Chaos 19 photos are now online.

I think I deserve a beer or two! Click the link to view the Galleries....
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE COMPLETED GALLERIES OF CHAOS 19 PHOTOS

Playing catch up.

Pics of the 2024 Tour of Guernsey Round 5 at the Underground Hospital are now online.....

After some of the busiest weeks of photography that I've experienced during the last 20+ years I'm now able to tidy up some of the edits!

The best part of the photoshoots that I've been doing has been the variety of them. Most have been in genres that I'm very familiar with... all types of Sports, Live Music performances, Events and Press work.

But just as a highlight (and rarity) I was part of the Royal Media entourage following the visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. This was a special experience working alongside around fifty visiting Royal Correspondents, Photographers and Videographers.

So as I make the edits and reminisce I've added a few pics of the ToG 2024 here:
CLICK TO VIEW ROUND 5 OF THE 2024 TOUR OF GUERNSEY

Following on from the Jersey Rounds of the 2024 British National Hillclimb Championship the roadshow arrived in Guernsey in optimistic form.

The racing in Jersey was close and the conditions certainly offered all competitors the chance to push themselves to their limits.

Sadly something happened to the weather machine in the couple of days waiting for the Guernsey Rounds!

Damp is certainly a word that describes most of the day... with Monsoon probably more apt for the way the day finished! Luckily the very worst of the rain held off until the last few minutes of racing.

I spent the whole day trying to find the best action shots and these Galleries display my work....
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2024 GUERNSEY NATIONAL HILLCLIMB

I seem to remember... back in the day, that a week was seven days long. But the last week somehow feels like it was way more!

It was nothing like a 'normal' week... and it was fantastic for that.

It started with photographing the Guernsey Athletics Deloitte Challenge.

This was followed by Round 1 of the GVC Downhill Racing Tour of Guernsey.

Then a switch to photographing royalty at the visit of King Charles III and Queen Camilla as part of the media entourage!

What next? How about popping over to Jersey for the BHC National Hillclimb... up close to the action! Those pics then needed editing for two National publications and the BHC.

Next, back to Guernsey for Rounds 17 & 18 of the Championship, complete with torrential rain at the end of the event and an edit for the Guernsey Press.

And then (surely there aren't that many days in a week) there was time to photograph Round 7 of the Adventure Cycles Tour of Guernsey!

I've not made a count of how many photos but it amounts to an edit of many hundreds and then the uploads (still a work in progress)!

So an amazing week but I'd definitely need a younger body (or lighter kit) to keep up with this pace if it was a normal schedule!!

If you are interested, my photos of Round 7 of the 2024 ToG are now online here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ROUND 7 OF THE 2024 TOUR OF GUERNSEY

Once again the Jersey Rounds of the British National Hillclimb Championship produced some spectacular and close racing at Bouley Bay hill.

Near perfect conditions gave supporters and competitors nothing to complain about and as the show now moves to Guernsey for the next two Rounds of the Championship we all hope for a repeat... but some of the weather forecasts are suggesting rain might arrive in the afternoon!

Fingers crossed this is wrong.... but a few shots of single seater 'rain roosters' always look good!

I've now uploaded comprehensive Galleries of all the action in Jersey.

Please click the link to take a look and share this post to get the word out, thanks.
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2024 JERSEY NATIONAL HILLCLIMB PHOTOS

The sun was shining bright when King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrived in Guernsey for their first visit since becoming Sovereigns.

This was in dramatic contrast to the weather the Royals had experienced in Jersey just the day before. Torrential rain was not an exaggeration!

I was working as part of the 'Royal Media Entourage' alongside fifty + visiting Royal Correspondents, Videographers and Photographers.

It was quite an interesting experience. A couple of things I learnt were how hard the Royals worked to ensure everyone they met felt that they were given attention. Making the same small talk at every event needs a special ability and they were both 'Pros' at the job!

Another aspect of covering the days events was just how much time the media spends just hanging around for the next moment of interest!

Also it was educational being in the hub of activity seeing how each Correspondent set themselves up for their own reports and broadcasts. Some were live, others were videoed.

The couple of photographers and videographers who were on the (very) short-list and were allowed to follow the Royal couple very closely were working 'live' with photos being transmitted from their camera direct to their Newspapers and Agencies the moment the shutter button was pressed!

The final take-aways from the day were probably how much love and attention Royalty still gets in this changing world. Of course those who dislike the concept of Royalty would have stayed away but the huge crowds did make some sort of statement.

The other thing was how the visiting Media felt that Guernsey had put on an amazing presentation. In fact, in the Media room at the end of the day one of the visiting Correspondents thanked the local team of organisers and stated that they would love them to organise the Media requirements at every overseas event as such a good job had been done!

So well done to all those involved.

And I've ticked another (Royal) photographic box.... maybe 'by Royal Appointment' is laying it on a bit too thick though!!

I've uploaded a Gallery of photos. If you were taking part or in the crowd take a look. You might be in one of my photos.
CLICK TO VIEW PHOTOS OF THE 2024 ROYAL VISIT TO GUERNSEY

After having a late call to cover the Guernsey Athletics Deloitte Challenge at the Icart Loop I had a challenge of my own. That was finding exactly where the race was being run!

The Guernsey clifftops around Icart and Bon Port have a spiders web of narrow paths... so what was the route going to be?

It is quite possible to be in the wrong place, patiently waiting whilst the action is just around the corner!

In the end I did strike lucky as moments after I arrived at my chosen position the lead runner passed!

So the hike was worth it and I returned home with the required shots.

If you are interested they are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE DELOITTE ALL TERRAIN CHALLENGE

Look out, the GVC MTB riders are out and about this week for their Tour of Guernsey event.

Having missed out last year due to the Island Games, Club members were eager to face the challenge to their stamina and skills over a full week of racing at venues spread across the Island.

My photos of Stage 1 are now online here:
CLICK TO VIEW STAGE 1 OF THE 2024 GVC TOUR OF GUERNSEY

Congratulations to the School of Popular Music Guernsey on reaching 10 years of teaching young and older students the art and skills needed to fulfil their creative musical ambitions.

During the decade many hundreds have achieved goals and enhanced their lives through the medium of music in all its genres.

I've had the privilege of capturing many of the special performances during the last decade. In fact I was there at the first open day of SoPM. It speaks well of the enthusiastic culture of SoPM that many of the original tutors still teach alongside some early students who are now part of the tutor team.

I had a chance to pop along to Delancey Park for the SoPM 10th Anniversary celebration 'Party in the Park' to take a few photos.

I also have a huge archive of SoPM photos taken during the last 10 years. These links are to some of the Galleries:
CLICK TO VIEW THE SoPM PHOTOS ON MY OLD WEBSITE
CLICK TO VIEW THE SoPM PHOTOS ON MY NEW WEBSITE