Time to experiment a little...

No action this week at Ipswich, but I thought I'd post up a speedway pic anyway, with some background explaining how a "regular" night at Ipswich goes for me. I leave work as early as I can get away with, but realistically about 5.15 - 5.20pm. Hot-foot it up the A12 to get to the track as early as possible, and generally arrive at Foxhall Heath, home of the Witches, at around 6.45pm. First stop is off to get myself a quick bite to eat, checking in with my contact on the supporters club committee on the way to find out a little bit of info about the nights meeting mascot - are they nervous, is it a special occasion like a birthday, that sort of thing. Then it's down to the pits to get my kit sorted out and get a feel for the way things are going to go that evening. At about 7.15pm Nicola joins me along with the mascot for the night (they are usually between about 5 and 14 years old) and we spend a few minutes getting the kiddie at their ease if nervous, or calmed down if overexcited, before one of us goes off to round up their favourite rider for the first photos. The lads are all very good about it - and there's always time for a few quick words with the child whose big night it is before they have to get back to business. The tension then starts to rise - final adjustments are made to both bikes and cameras, before the riders hit the track for the pre-meeting parade, and we head off to the centre green. The riders line up for introduction to the crowd but prior to that it's the all-important coin toss to decide starting positions for the meeting - the two team Captains link up with the mascot for another photo and it's time for me to get it right - not something that can be re-done this one, no pressure or anything! A bit of banter with our Captain - Chris Louis - when I let the opposing skipper know that there will be two photos taken "Yeah, the first one never comes out does it!" jeers Chris with a grin, always making the mascot laugh which makes for a nice shot! Then the Mascot tosses the coin before it's helmets on for the warm up. Nicola and mascot head away out through the pits and I grab my bag and leg it down the centre green to change lenses and settings and get ready for the start of racing. I have "starting point" settings for speedway which I default to although these tend to get "tweaked" as the night wears on. Heats 1 - 4 are the most important for me - to make sure I get at least one clear action shot of each of the witches riders as early in proceedings as possible takes concentration but is essential before they get dirty with shale. Once I know I've got those in the bag then it's time to relax a bit - up to the interval (usually heat ten or thereabouts) it's a case of watching for any "handbags" with elbows flying as the riders jostle for positions, hopefully no crashes but got to be ready just in case, and generally reinforcing the action stuff with different angles, shooting positions etc. The crowd on the terraces know when the interval is even before it's announced as those of us on the centre immediately start heading for the pits as the riders cross the line. Time to go and see Pat in the tea-room for a much welcomed cuppa and, if we're lucky, a ginger nut or two! I usually spend the heat after the interval in the pits - saves me having to gulp down my tea and it's nice to get a feel for how things are with the lads. If I'm lucky there is space at the pit gate - the Poles usually shuffle along to make room for me and I watch the race from there - Robert says something unrepeatable in Polish as one of our reserves takes a tumble on the third bend, as the red lights come on the team all pour out of the pits to see if he's OK.....
Back out on the centre for the final few heats and for me this is time to play about a bit - hence the posted picture. I like to try to get something a bit "different" - the shot above was with the flash turned off, and shot at 1/80th, f2.8. Heat 15, and either jubilation all round as the witches rack up some vital points, or crestfallen faces and a downbeat atmosphere if things haven't turned out so well. For me it's time to get packed up before heading up to the bar for a bit of a gossip and the "post mortem" on the meeting. Then it's home (about an hour and a quarter for me!) and time for bed - none too soon!

Robyn

Cairt-puist?

......Or
"Postcard" when translated from Gaelic! In the bookcase in the cottage is a great selection of books - from novels to guide books. The night before this picture was taken I had been browsing through a book of old postcards of the Western isles, so when at the end of road we'd just driven along, we found this little cottage with the sheep taking shelter from the wind in front of it, I knew exactly what I wanted from the shot! Processing was fairly straightforward - convert to Sepia, levels, and then a touch of grain added to give that "film" feel. Finally a quite search for just the right font for the wording.

Apparently I have a reader in the USA - Hello to Phyllis!

Robyn

**WARNING**

Warning all Bloggers - if you receive a comment from user "Salar" DO NOT click on the link as it appears to contain malware!

Spring has sprung!

Went for a wander along the lane today armed with 30D and 70-200mm f2.8. To put you in the picture, it's a little lane that used to be a "proper" road but is now closed off at each end. It has a long narrow wooded area along one side, which is fairly quiet and as a result is a haven for all sorts of birds, and our local squirrel population. In the high winds a couple of years ago we had quite a few trees and large branches come down in there, and sensibly (for a change!) the local council has done nothing more than cut them up to remove obstructions to the path, and then leave the bits in situ to rot down naturally. As a result it's turning into quite a nice habitat down there.

It was the first time we'd really noticed the change in the season - buds are breaking all over the place and this back-lit leaf burst caught my attention. Meanwhile, the squidgers attention was being caught by the bag of Monkey nuts being carried by Ben......this little chap decided we merited a closer look!
No speedway this week so I will hopefully get the holiday shots finished and uploaded....... watch this space for the new Webshots address for those.
Finally, a mention for a blog I'm a regular visitor to now. Silversprite - the Librarian at the end of the World is written by a chap living on the island of Berneray but covers far more than just the subject of island life - go on, have a browse!
Robyn

The one that got away...

I tried to update this while we were away - honestly, I really did - sadly the connection I was on was a little twitchy and I couldn't keep a strong enough signal to get both post and photos to upload..... Anyway, as it's all written, here it is. More from the holiday to follow.....

I'm sitting here at Nunton Steadings writing this - as the wind howls round the building! Looking straight up I can see the clouds scudding overhead through the skylight, but the sky behind them is blue and the sun is shining.....as it has each day so far since we arrived - lucky eh?! The first shot I have for you is the sunset on our first evening -


we walked from the cottage up to the road end at Sidinish, only a mile or so each way but a pleasant enough stroll to start us off - on the way back we were rewarded by this fabulous sunset in front of us - just what we wanted really! It topped off what was a rather special first day as we'd not been at the cottage more than a couple of hours when a glance out of the front window revealed Otters at play in Loch A Ghoill, just across the road from us. Amazing watching them - and especially considering all the time we'd looked fruitlessly for them previously, there they were just over the road. Didn’t manage to get any very clear shots of them unfortunately, but this one does at least prove we saw them! We've seen plenty of bird-life since we've been here too - seen Golden eagles several times now, and also a heron, whooper swans, black throated divers, Shelduck, Tufted Ducks, and the sweetest pair of Stonechats playing "kiss-chase" around us on our walk at Rueval (Benbecula) yesterday. Altogether so far we've seen 29 species of birds, and on the mammal front, seals (including yesterday evening on in the Loch at the back of the cottage!), rabbits, Red deer and of course the Otters

Finally - this is the beach on Berneray looking

splendid in the Sun - nothing like a walk on a white sandy beach to remind you that you're on holiday!

Hebrides Countdown....

This shot was taken on the Tuesday of our trip last year - we were heading home after a day exloring Eriskay and South uist, and had just turned into the Locheport road leading back to the cottage when, up on the hill ahead of us, we saw a herd of deer. We managed to find somewhere to pull in and sat in the car and watched and waited but they never really got close enough to us to photograph so we drove on. Lo and behold just a mile down the road there was another herd, this time right next to the road! Again we pulled in and I grabbed the only camera to hand - my old D30 which mercifully had the Sigma 70-300mm f4-5.6 lens on board already......I was desperately wishing at this stage that when we'd left our previous stop on South Uist I hadn't decided to put my camera kit into the boot, as I could definately have done with the advantages that my own 70-200mm f2.8 would have given me - notably IS (Image stabilisation) considering by the time that this shot was taken I was hand holding at 1/30th with only the car window-frame for support! It certainly taught me a valuable lesson about leaving the gear accessible!

Robyn

Hebrides Countdown...

This is Eilean Donan Castle, on the A87 shortly before you reach the Isle of Skye. You round a bend in the road and there, suddenly in front of you is this lovely building, and you know you're on the final stretch of the journey. By the time you get to that stage it seems almost rude not to stop the car, get out, stretch your legs and reach for a camera.......

This shot was one of the first I took with my 12-24mm lens last year - I ran really tight on time for getting it - it turned up literally days before we left and I was beginning to get more than slightly nervous! As soon as I put it on the camera all the stress and worry was worthwhile - it's a stunning bit of kit to use on the Digital cameras, but when you attach it to a full frame 35mm SLR it's phenomenal. The film camera gets so little use normally but every time I break it out with the super-wide lens attached I get totally carried away and shoot far more than I intended! I've little doubt that will change any this year.....hmmmm, that reminds me, I must remember to take the film out of the fridge.....!

Robyn