Journal for the year 2014

London - 19 November 2014

Had a day trip to London to see the last few poppies at the Tower of London, even though a lot had been removed the ones remaining were great to see and luckily the sun shone whilst I was at the Tower. I got around London on one of "Boris's Bikes", great fun and certainly saved on my feet!!! Went all over the place, stopped occasionally to take the odd shot or two and allso went to the 32nd floor of The Shard to have a coffee and look at the views, by then the weather was dull but took a few passable photos of the view as it was getting dark, not easy with all the window reflections. 

 

Black Country Living Museum, Dudley - 26 October 2014

On the way home from a photographic event at Ormskirk made a day trip to the Black Country Living Museum which depicts life in the period from the 1850's to the 1950's. Building have been moved from around the area that portray the way people lived and worked and the museum is constantly changing as new exhibits, especially buildings, are being added. However I found it even more interesting having people dress in the style of certain periods. I was lucky enough to bump into an enthusiastic teenage photographer who was doing her A levels;. her project was to create photographs in the style of photographer Roger Mayne. She needed a little help with her camera and in return allowed me to use "her models" mum and friends who were dressed in the 1950's style. I have put below a few of these images and am at present doing a page on my website of other places at the museum which will be uploaded within the next couple of weeks..

 

Model Shoot at Haldon Belvedere, Haldon, Nr Exeter - 21 August 2014

This was another event that was very new to me, trying my hand at shooting images of models. This was arranged by a member of Exeter Camera Club who managed to have the whole of Haldon Belvedere Castle to ourselves, he had arranged to have six models and there were several of us doing the shoot which was divided into pairs with different locations on the site every 20 minutes plus a change of model. I had to work quick and fortunately one of the models allocated to me was quite experienced, she put me at ease and was very good at posing in different situations. I used my flash on camera for all the shots, not something I have really used before and fortunately was lent a very good diffuser which helped push the light round the model.

 

Dog Agility, Westpoint, Exeter - 5 August 2014

My first attempt at taking dog images - I went to the Dog Agility Event at Westpoint Arena, Exeter the only problem being was the very distracting backgrounds but I managed to get something out of the day.

 

Birds of Prey Near Andover - 17 July 2014

More to photograph in flight but this time birds of prey, I had an excellent day and I guess the weather was even better than at Fairford. Late evening gave us some lovely light enabling me to get some good images of back lit owls. Go to website page for more.

 

Fairford Air Tattoo 13 July 2014

I spent a long day at this Air Show which is one of the largest air shows in the world. A very long day having to get up at 4 am and not back until very late in the evening. Still it was worth it, loved the atmosphere, noise and managed to capture quite a few of the aircraft flying plus just a few images from the static displays and trade stands. The weather was ideal as well. For more images go to my website page showing more images.

 

Blackbury Camp Bluebells 9 May 2014

A Photo Group evening visit to see the bluebells at Blackbury Camp, Devon proved to be a very lucky evening, not only was the weather good but a visitor appeared in the form of a white horse with a bare backed rider dressed in medieval costume, how lucky is that!!!. The horseback rider who does falconery and is the only horse back falconer in the area was up there with his friend taking photographs for his website. So getting the horse and rider in such a lovely setting was an absolute bonus.

 

Rock Solid Race, Escot Park, Devon - 15 March 2014

I went to the Rock Solid Race in March and throughly enjoyed taking all the antics of this obstacle course with a difference which is either a 5K or 10K race. The participants are pushed to the limit having to crawl, climb, go through mud and water plus many other obstacles. I have put a page on to the main site with a just a small number of images I took. Click here. Below a small sample.

 

Painting with Light and Spirits - April 2014

I have recently been having some fun with a few friends taking shots of an old building and church painting with light; getting some of us to dress up in a long white gown and headgear to create an illusion of spirits as night visitors.. It was great fun and we all managed to get some good shots. Below a small set of images I have done as a panel which I entered into my club panels competition. As a panel it was a little bit different and fortunately the judge liked the panel and gave me first place in the mono panel print competition.

 

Lake Kerkini Greece - 4 to 9 February

I took a short trip to Bulgaria to photograph landscapes and also to cross the border into Greece for shots of Dalmatian Pelicans. Spent most of the time at Lake Kerkini taking photographs of the pelicans. It was fantastic, they have so much character and I was able to pan the pelicans in flight from a small boat getting some wonderful reflections, in flight, taking off and landing. I also spent a considerable amount of time on my stomach beside the lake getting closeups and long shots of the pelicans at their level. Below a few images, more can be found on my Flickr site and I have also put a separate page on this site. Please click here.

 

Silverton Point to Point at Blackforest Lodge, Kenton, Devon on the 12 January

Each year I am invited to this event and each year try to get some reasonable images of the horses going over the jumps without much success. This year I felt I had achieved something better and below are my efforts. I always manage to get quite a few good images of the bookies, punters and owners but concentrated this year on trying to get the right image of the horses and their riders