Here was an opportunity not to be missed. Sunshine and for me, a new experience amongst a very different sporting activity, with new people to meet. Everyone I met was easygoing and friendly, reminding me very much of the atmosphere I remember from my time as a Pit Marshal with the BRSCC at various circuits around the UK. Although the names of the drivers and the classes of boat were unknown to me, the mixture of purposeful work being carried out and the outward calm and the generally informal atmosphere despite the obvious background structure to the day ahead was familiar to me from my thirty years with marshals and racing cars and racing circuits. I left that community to allow me to concentrate on building ‘SOLUTIONS photographic’ from the early days of the involvement of computers in photography.
This was the first real opportunity to see how effective the Benbo tripod was in allowing me to have a stable platform at the very edge of the lake. Yes, I had used it at the other nearby lake at Brogborough, but there it was still very novel, here I put what I had learned there into practice, and felt far more at ease with its foibles.
I learned I had packed too little to drink for the Saturday, and put that right for the Sunday. I met up with a very keen and knowledgable family of young brothers from Lowestoft whose mother I learned had been a powerboat racer herself, and since they were keen on photography, I promised I would bring along my second long zoom lens as one of them was fortuitously a Canon shooter, so that he could play with that on the Sunday, later I also lent him the use of a monopod, which I learned he was grateful for lessening the effect of its weight! That was my mistake I had forgotten he wouldn’t need an Arca Swiss plate for it, so got that out of my boot later.
I am afraid I did not write down their names, but they seemed to know every participant, so their knowledge was vital, but only a fraction was retained in my failing memory but for what little I retained I was still very grateful. One very obvious observation was just how young many of the participants were, I also gathered that the number of competitors was considerably down on the past numbers due to costs and regulations, but I believe that the numbers will increase if the age for entry becomes bolstered by the development of these young entrants’ undoubted skills. I have some grandchildren who could well become interested if they catch sight of the age of those I saw performing!
I was somewhat trigger happy as I explored the angles I captured, especially so on that first day, so that largely accounts for the delay in these images appearing on the blog; I hope the wait was worth it. I now have to get my Sunday shots done.
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