Low Key Sakina

Despite the crazy subject matter (Sakina), I managed to get some decent results from my first play with a low key lighting set up. Just two images for now....

Red Sky At Night

This is a bit of a grabbed shot of a fantastic sunset over Shropshire, unfortunately there wasn't much foreground interest in the image. I knew the opportunity would only present itself for a few minutes at best, so I simply had to make do with the location before the colours disappeared all together.

Autosport International 2012

Once again its January, and it can only mean one thing, the annual visit to Autosport International.

On Friday night in the bar, we were trying to work out how many years we had been going to the show. We couldn't agree on a figure but according to the organisers this was its 22nd year and we are pretty sure we haven't missed a show at the NEC!

Catering for both fans and industry alike, Autosport International is a Motorsport trade, engineering and public show that features all levels of motor sport from Karting up to Formula 1. Generally Thursday and Friday are set aside for trade and college visitors whilst on the Saturday and Sunday the doors are opened to the public. The layout of the show also reflects this as the Engineering Exhibition Halls are only open on Thursday / Friday and are replaced by Short Oval / Grass Track racing exhibition at the weekends.

For 2012 I was working on a stand on the Thursday and had a few meetings / catch ups arranged for the Friday. Unfortunately flu got the better of me on Friday, so this year I only managed a small selection of photos from the show.





The all-new Ford Fiesta RS World Rally Car livery was revealed on Thursday when the company's official team unveiled the new colours that will adorn the car in the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship.

The team will continue to be sponsored by Castrol Edge. Branding for Castrol's global range of best-in-class motor oils will feature prominently in the Fiesta RS WRC's new livery for the upcoming season, as it did in ‘11.



Whilst Ford unveiled its latest WRC offering, a modified version of a popular car from the past days of Group B Rallying was unveiled on the Forge Motorsport Stand. The Monster Energy sponsored RS200 is the latest creation for an attempt at a British win on the Pikes Peak hillclimb and will be driven by Rallycross star Liam Doran.

The display board alongside the RS200 shows that the 2.4 BDT engine will be giving a power output of 925hp which should help achieve 0-60mph in 1.7secs and has a top speed of 160mph.

Go Motorsport's display stand at this year’s Show was promoting all forms of grass roots motor sport as organised by hundreds of car clubs throughout the UK.

Proving that motor sport is both more affordable and more accessible than many believe, the ‘Join Your Local Motor Club’ showcase at the National Exhibition Centre featured an array of inexpensive competition vehicles, and was manned by members of car clubs (inc me) from the region around Birmingham’s NEC complex.

Cars on show included those regularly used for a wide range of disciplines including asphalt rallying, sporting trials, autotests, sprints and road rallies. Indeed many were unmodified road cars providing potential participants with one of the most cost-effective ways of enjoying the thrills of competitive motor sport without the need to invest in specialist machinery. Several of the vehicles also featured special controls permitting those with disabilities to compete alongside their normally-abled opponents.

Whilst the wide array of vehicles on the stand drew a lot of interest, and proved that you can compete in motorsport in the daily shoping car, it still seemed that the Mini and Escort Mk2 were two of the favourites amongst the visitors with cameras.

Another feature getting plenty of interest at the show was the Senna display.

With Triple Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna still very much in the hearts and minds of motorsport fans, Autosport International's tribute to the F1 legend featured a collection of cars that launched his motorsport career and helped power him to three titles, 41 race victories and 80 podium finishes.

Four of the Brazilian’s most successful F1 cars: the 1988 McLaren MP 4/4 that powered him to his first World Championship, the McLaren MP 4/8 that Senna famously steered to victory in the rain at the 1993 European Grand Prix, the Toleman TG 183B from his debut F1 season and his 1987 Monaco Grand Prix winning Lotus Honda 99T were on display, along with a 1982 Formula Ford 2000 and the D.A.P/Parilla kart from his 1980 Karting World Championship campaign.

Now a well established annual feature of the show, the F1 grid display at Autosport provides a real treat for fans who have never had the chance to get close to an F1 car.

Whilst I've been lucky enough to see F1 cars in the flesh, I'm not an efficiando on F1 but I do love the opportunity for a close look at these cars.

It is reported elsewhere that if you're familiar with F1 machinery and take a closer inspection, you'll notice that the grid is far from current F1 cars. For example the Mercedes GP car has a 2011 livery but resembles a 2006 BAR whilst the Red Bull has the shark-fin, far from the 2011 championship dominating machinery.

Though these mixed up display models often create a bit of a stir with die-hard fans complaining about them not being the actual cars, any team would be silly to put their closely guarded designs on public display infront of thousands of camera totting visitors.Instead of complaining, it can be fun to work out where the cars have come from - the Williams is at least 3 different cars mashed together. (Thanks to Badger GP for the F1 dispay information).

It is impossible to write about everything on display at Autosport International, there is simply too much. But hopefully the following images will provide a little bit of a flavour of the variety on show.

Click on any of the images to see the larger version.

                                          

  

Aircoupe Air To Air

Recently a very small window of opportunity gave me the chance to get airbourne with a pair of 1960s Aircoupes. The intended plan had been to get some shots of the pair of Aircoupes together, but after take off with increasing blustery conditions and intermittent comms we decided to air on the side of caution and just photograph the aircraft individually.

Above all else the main aim was to ensure we got a few shots of G-ARHC, the Forney Aircoupe. Unfortunately due to various circumstances the current owner has had little time to fly it, and with it being put up for sale this may have been the last chance to get some airbourne photos.

With the shots of G-ARHC in the bag it was the turn of visiting Alon Aircoupe, G-HARY. Unfortunately as we hadn't been able to shoot the pair G-HARY had even less time infront of the camera, but we were able to get a few shots in the camera before G-HARY set course for home.

Full details of G-HARY can be found at http://www.ercoupe.co.uk/

Air Ambulance After Dark

With the dark nights upon us, it doesn't mean we need to put the cameras away any earlier, we just need to look for different subjects or simply look at existing subjects in a different way.

An example of this is the EC135 Midlands Air Ambulance, G-WMAS, which I have photographed on numerous previous occassions. On Saturday night though, the helicopter was briefly parked on a floodlit helipad and the contrast of the red against the colour cast sky and the fllodlit green grass provided too good an opportunity to miss...

 

Early Sunday Lunch

Looking out of the back window on a Sunday morning I often expect to see some of the more common suburban garden bird types dropping in for a bit of bread or seed off the bird table. More often that not I find myself cursing the Pigeons that also descend on the garden and seem to hoover all the food up, before the Sparrows, Blackbirds and Robin have had chance to feed.

This Sunday was a little different though, the feeding party was joined by a female Sparrowhawk and her early lunch consisted of....Pigeon!!

I have seen a Sparrowhawk in the area a few times over the last couple of years, but this is the first time I've actually seen one in the garden. Worried that I was going to disturb it, the following photos were actually taken through a double glazed window whilst doing my best to hide behind the curtain.

Considering the camera settings, iso1600 giving me 1/60th at f5.6 and iso3200 giving 1/200th at f5.6, and the fact that I was shooting through a double glazed window, they have still provided a reasonable result.

Click On Either Photo To View Larger

Wales Rally GB 2011 - Builth Wells Shakedown

Just a few taster images, details and further images to follow........

Vintage Ploughing Match - Horsepower of the Horsey Type

Advertised in one of the local pubs for the 16th October was a Vintage Ploughing Match taking place in the nearby village of Trysull. So, come the 16th, with the unseasonably warm weather and bright skies, a friend and I decided to pop along with the cameras for an hour. By the time we got there virtually all of the tractors had finished, but fortunately the working horses were still hard at it.

Im afraid I don't know one type of horse from another so I'll leave you to decide if they are Shires, Clydesdales or Suffolk Punches.

From chatting with some of the spectators and a couple of the competitors I was told that part of the skill of ploughing with horses is to keep them walking. Apparently it is a lot easier for the horses to trot but it makes the plough almost impossible to control.

This pair definately preferred the idea of a trot.

I was also surprised how patiently the horses would wait while taking a break, some of the pairs just stood quietly on their own.

A few more mixed photos