First Visit to Stewartby Lake, 2020

         I noted that there was some wind and at the time I made this observation, the sun had burned through the overnight mist, so though rather late in the day, I decided it was worth taking a look at the boating lake with its sailing dinghies and catamarans.

         Initially after parking, I locked the car and went to take a look at the activity on the water, and was pleased that there were several boats sailing around the course. I returned to the car to assemble the camera and lens, and found that I had missed that my Benbo tripod was not in the boot, so I had to use a far less steady one, and also missing was my tripod head, so, Note to Self: check all the gear I needed before leaving in the car!

         I set up the less than ideal tripod and took a few shots of the activity, and it was just a shame that the sunshine which on arrival had been fading rapidly was now completely clouded over. This was a shame, but with the EOS R and the Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens with the 2x Converter, the distance I was from the boats was still within an acceptable range. The only available tripod however was very limited in its panning, making it necessary to re-site the tripod, shortly after I had initially positioned it. What I learned was that despite the minimal lighting available it was still possible to obtain adequate quality from where I had set up the tripod, and with the converter attached to the lens.

         After the weekend I will be taking delivery of another camera — the mirrorless Panasonic bridge camera which may well be able to allow me to travel with a long reach camera whenever I am unable to lug my dSLR with my weighty zoom, and heavy tripod. I hope to put it (and myself) through our respective paces as I am assured the quality is there, but really what I am interested in, is its burst rate and the serious possibility of being able to hand hold it, or at worst use it with my monopod.

Tring Reservoirs – Canalside Images

               In that iterregnum between Christmas Day and New Years Day, I decided to pay the Tring Reservoirs and Grand Union Canal a visit. It was surprisingly warm and the sky was clear; the birds on the water stayed clear of the banks, and those I sought were absent – the Kingfishers, Grebe and Herons. Numerous groups of friends, families and dog-walkers were making the most of the mild weather to enjoy the opportunity, and the hopeful anglers were few.
               I had my EOS R with the Sigma Sports lens and 2x Converter and a lightish tripod, but on this occasion, I was mainly using the wideangle end of the range, due to my hopeful subjects not making an appearance. I had come for relaxation, and so I was not overly disappointed, and had numerous brief conversations with other photographers, and simply imbibed the tranquility that pervaded.
               So, as a result the gallery of images is but a single page of pictures of personal observations of a quiet afternoon, in an unseasonably warm and windless December approaching the end of this decade. However, the end of the afternoon found several of those visitors stop along the path to witness a truly fabulous murmuration of Starlings perform, as the sun was setting – all that was missing was Music, as a growing gathering of people stopped to watch this almost silent display of massed birds, swooping and circling above the margins of the Lake.
               All of us watched in wonder and quiet conversation as the flying group was gaining ever more small groups of birds to swell their numbers as the light dwindled. Whilst we watched, after the overall size grew ever larger, it would separate for a while, then coalesce once more as the mass semed to be weaving like fine lace in a breeze.  This body of birds circled ever closer to a stand of trees beyond the far shore of the lake, and teased us by then climbing higher. As the light further faded, the straggling smaller groups still came; until the right hand edge of this body of birds, suddenly dived for the trees. But this was barely one third of their total number.
               The remaining group returned to their swirling display, and tantalised all the gathered assembly of people for a while longer before diving down again, but slightly to the left of where the earlier group were settling. This still left a sizeable number of birds in the air, as more stragglers had been absorbed into the mass. Then, the next group flew down to the trees. The remainder still circled for a couple of circuits before they dived for their place in the trees. But, even as they headed for their night's rest a smaller group circled and finally the display ended. All the assembled group of watchers   stood awhile to comment on what they had just witnessed in wonder, before breaking up and heading away. It had been a wonderful way to end the day.

Sunny Afternoon — a Very Brief Quest Lake Visit

Every so often a brief moment is needed for me to relax by capturing scenes in sunlight, and one such occurred back on Wednesday last, but only now have I had the time to even look at the shots I took.

Quest Lake is another old worked out clay pit that has become a series of lakes, but access is somewhat limited, but near enough for me to reach at a moment’s notice, and after some dismal grey days, sunshine had arrived at a time when I needed a break, so I did not hesitate.  Unlike a previous visit there was far less activity, and most of that at some distance, but it gave me the chance to try panning passing trains along the raised track at the edge of the site, in between clumps of trees. I also took a shot of the distant ‘Caddington Sheds’ as the vast hangars were known, that housed the two Airships, the R100 and R101, and in more recent days, the Airlander.

At a far more personal level, as the eldest son of a past Deputy Officer Commanding, RAF Cardington it held memories for me, as my father retired from there to take up life in ‘Civvy Street’. So hence my taking a shot of the distant hangars beyond the trees. I would like to think that these lakes develop into a Nature Reserve for the countless soulless housing developments, rather than add to their number, since from the few shots in this gallery, it should be apparent that there is both beauty and tranquility here. Carefully selected plant and flower species introduced here would really help to make Bedfordshire a County that was not merely a transit corridor between London and the North, viewed from closed car and train windows, but a location of interest to visit and enjoy, not simply to pass through.

Very Brief Visit to Weston Turville Lake

I was due to have lunch with my younger daughter at Quainton, but not too early, as she was in need of some quality time with her two youngsters who were hopefully coming to the end of their coughs and sore throats. Since I had woken early and was ready to go out, this suited me, since the sun was shining, and the time spent at a lake with a camera was equally good for my soul.

Having not visited the lake at Weston Turville for some time, and it being in the same general direction as Quainton, this was very welcome; also, an added benefit was Lizzy knew how long the journey to her would take, so when she felt that her roast, potatoes and vegetables would be my time distance away, she could simply ring me, and I would pack up and be on my final leg of the journey.

Despite there being almost no wind, there was a gathering of dinghies on the farther shore, with just a couple beyond the confines of the harbour, there were a fair number of swans, a few, scattered Coot, and a young Grebe, also there were several small groups of gulls, mainly on the water, occasionally taking short spells in the air. I had assemble the camera and lens on the Benbo tripod by the car, just beyond the entrance; a thoughtful soul had kindly vacated his or her slot very close to that entrance, which meant I was spared a long walk from the farther end of those parked cars. A few dog owners were heading in and a lesser number coming out with their charges as I set up my EOS R, the 2x Converter and the Sigma Sport 60-600mm onto the tripod, then headed for the entrance myself.

I had assumed from the number of parked cars to find the bank and paths crowded, but obviously the lake and woods are large enough to absorb that number without more than three or four groups being visible. It took very little time before I began shooting, and rather than the native wildlife, it was the somewhat pedestrian sailing dinghies that were my subjects as they very slowly made their way out from their moorings, I felt their sadness that with this sunshine there was barely a whisper of wind — a mere zephyr!

Meanwhile the Grebe was inching slightly closer, but still little more than a speck at the full extent of the lens’ range, meaning it would be well-cropped within the frame, even with my 2x Converter! It is here that the EOS R shines, in that with the sunshine on this occasion, even with such a crop, the quality of the image is still good. Even though now the Sigma is invariably linked to my 2x Converter, I find I can still focus close enough at the 60mm end of the lens with the Converter on when as happened a Coot swam into the ban below me, and gave himself a good shake, without being chopped in any way.

One fascinating group of shots occurred when a small dinghy with an outboard came towards me then returned to the boatyard making some wonderful interference patterns on the surface, and behind me a Dad and son were cycling when the chain came off and Dad stopped to pop it back on whilst the lad ran up and down the bank, as Dad settled down to pop it back. Not long after I got my Dinner gong from my daughter, and headed back to the car, and an excellent roast ham and all the trimmings, rounding off a great day.

Tringford Reservoir — Between Two Downpours!

I took a look at my nearest lake to see whether it’s birds had returned, but was disappointed; there was not a single bird on the lake that I could see as I scanned the entire far shores I could see from the junction of the two possible directions. Also, there were not too many anglers either.

I had a brief chat with one, to elicit what natural activity he had observed, but came to the same conclusion. So my destination was to be the more distant one — the Lake at Tringford, where I would be able to discuss motor racing with its Water Bailiff, Bob.

I took a non-motorway route to drive down to avoid any possible delays, and found just one lone angler whom I had not met before and learned Bob would be a while, so after a while I headed back to the car and set up my camera with my long lens on the Benbo, to see what I could capture, as I had spotted a couple of young Grebe reasonably close, but despite my not being too slow, they had decided I was a possible threat and put a good distance between us, and never came any closer for my entire time there. I also got shots of some young cygnets, and a gull.

I took some shots, but was soon overtaken by the forecast heavy rain, and retired with assembled camera, tripod and long lens to the refuge of my car. There followed quite a battering of heavy rain upon my roof which lasted probably fifteen minutes before subsiding. I got out of my now steamed up car, and there now followed light drizzle for respite, before a second onslaught which though heavier, lasted less long and final stopped completely, allowing me to continue shooting. The angler meantime had decided to come ashore to avoid any possibility of a lightning strike, and we had a further chat, and he mentioned he had let Bob know I was at the lake.

Although I did get my fix of a few photos, it was not destined to be particularly interesting, so it was not long before I was once again on the road, and since there was only a minimal delay on the M1, that was the. route I took to return to create the small single page entry on the blog. The images were completed by the early afternoon of the following day, and the narrative finished after a scheduled visit to the local Hair Salon, which was undoubtedly overdue!

Goodwood Revival Meeting 2019

The Duke of Richmond and Gordon seemingly has the Weather Gods in his favour, for in the more than ten years I have been lucky enough to be visiting his grounds to attend the Revival Meetings and the Festivals of Speed, I have only encountered inclement weather on two occasions, and only one of those was really a problem, but every last one has proved thoroughly enjoyable.

My early contact with Goodwood was through Peter Morley a neighbour of mine in Bromley, Kent. He was a Rally Driver and a Director of Tesco, who at the time was the Assistant Chief Pit Marshall at Brands Hatch, a role I later inherited jointly with a colleague Peter Melville, when Peter Morley became the Chief. The first occasion he invited me to Goodwood, it was a regular and fully functional race track, and a year or two before the fateful crash that brought Stirling Moss’ racing career to an end. On that occasion as we drove through some of the villages, people waved to us as we passed, and Peter told me that when he had come to a standstill for a longish time on some occasions, villagers had offered him cups of tea!

I cannot speak for all UK motorsport venues, but for an atmosphere of joyous camaraderie, Goodwood for me has been in a class of its own, followed closely by Brands Hatch, Oulton Park, Lydden, and Castle Coombe. Short of some major disaster befalling you, Goodwood never fails to deliver.

I always bring a camera, and on this occasion, I had decided to forego my superb Sigma 60-600mm and had brought my much earlier and far lighter Tamron 150-600mm on the mirrorless Canon EOS R body. I had one further ‘tweak’ — the 2x Converter — which meant I was actually using a 300-1200mm full-frame camera! Knowing There would also be opportunities for closer work, I also had the 24-70mm — which I used to get shots within the ‘Motor Show’ feature.

I will make an admission that despite my careful preparations there was one failure on my part; the one item which could have made my life far easier was still carefully nestling in the boot of my car — a monopod! However, that only surfaced once I was trackside, since to make the trek to the car would lose me too much time, I was going to have to rely on whatever support I could find, such as the top of fence posts, and my daughter’s willingness to provide her shoulder on one occasion! The sacrifices one’s family sometimes endure for their forgetful parents!

Goodwood as I mentioned is a friendly place and an example is a charming mother of two young children who was just in front of me at the banking, who opened a conversation wondering whether she was in my way whilst shooting, I assured her she had no need for concern. Later, she had insisted the boy and girl stayed together which was good advice, and later still when both were at the front fence, in return I suggested that they don’t watch from beneath the wire fencing as they were at that time, because they were unprotected. Somehow, interactions between strangers here at Goodwood is the norm.

I watched an old business colleague, Simon Diffey, do well in his race, and listened over the speakers to his delighted response to his good fortune whilst being interviewed. Later I briefly met up with him, still in high good humour. Another familiar face I spotted was photographer, Jeff Bloxham, but I failed to catch his eye as he was trackside at the Kids’ Pedal Car race and we were in the enclosure. Over the years visiting Goodwood rarely has there been a time when I have not come across old friends, but perhaps the clue is within the adjective ‘old’!

Also, most of my visits, I have bumped into Charles March during the course of the day, as in what I term my ‘former life’ he had been a client of the retouchers, The Colour Company with whom I had worked for many years — in fact it was through them that I had been twice invited to stay at the house to give him some Photoshop help. This day, I did listen to him over the Tannoy, give a moving tribute to his absent friend, Stirling Moss, and later watched him take Susie, Sterling’s wife around in one of the many cars he had driven to success over the last many years. I have tried since to find a recording of his piece, but thus far, in vain. It undoubtedly came from his heart and in his own words as a friend. Sadly, Sir Stirling was not up to travelling to be present.

The last pictures from our day were all taken on my handy 24-70mm, and this turned out to be one of the very few times when I never used its handy macro feature, but this lens if I ever am limited to just camera and one lens and weight, proves invaluable. Another, wonderful, warm, and welcoming day nears its end, just the journey home and the parting with my daughter Lizzy as she heads back to her husband and young family.

Marston Lake – Life Mainly Tiny

I suppose here I share the interest I remember the young Gerald Durrell found so fascinating but, he found that on the far more exotic Greek island of Corfu, bathed in warm sunshine for a large proportion of the Mediterranean year. On this warm English Summer Day, I had driven but a short distance from my home and entered a secluded lake given over largely to the sport of angling. 

The relentless passage of Time was very apparent, for where just a week back water-lilies could be found in bloom, now it was almost as if they had never been in this spot; there were but a low single figure left, and in poor condition, but I only learned that later when I ventured to the far side of the lake. On this visit, I spent time in the second or so Swim where in a preliminary walk I had seen some activity from dragonflies and butterflies. I tried to see whether the extra flexibility of working from a monopod might be viable.

I persevered for around fifteen minutes before I realised that with my heavy long lens, this was wishful thinking on my part, so leaving aside my monopod and flask, I returned to my parked car and fetched my sturdy Benbo and the Acratech Long Lens Head and, though I did occasionally lift it bodily aside to avoid intervening reeds from my subjects, I spent most of the time in the shade of an overhanging tree with a good view of dragonfly activity close by the water’s edge. Apart from the obvious stability advantage, the relief came from the vast reduction of weight and less waving around!

It is always fascinating to watch- Water-Boatmen walk on water, though the is not strictly true – they jump, but the semi-religious analogy is still apt for the ease with which these insects travel across the water surface. I was able to capture this in some detail on this occasion due their  comparative closeness and the use of the 2x Converter on the 60-600mm lens. I also switched away from autofocus in order to keep up with both these creatures and the Dragonflies, with a subsequent improvement in my overall success rate!

I have never given up attempts to capture insects such as Hoverflies, Dragonflies and Butterflies in flight, and on this occasion was extremely lucky to be rewarded more than once with some success! As the sun eventually left this location in shade, I packed up my kit and visited a few other spots , but with less success; I had managed to get the most out of my trip, and the shaded light by where my vehicle was parked tempted me to take a couple of shots of the car to conclude.

Marston Lake – Flying Insect Life

Once again I was out with the EOS R, and the newly-purchased 2x Converter. I had recently made up my mind after much use in different activities that this would definitely be an asset with a good range of uses under differing categories of work. I had wondered whether the addition for instance to my 60-600mm Sigma Sports lens might hamper autofocus, but the experience has been heartening. I think I forgot to consider that the smaller apertures might actually  give me greater leeway rather than be hampered by the lesser amount of light.

The pixel density is greater with this full frame chip, so the impact of higher ISOs is lessened, allowing me to use a higher ISO with the long length of this lens, which benefits stability, which has meant that for those occasions where I need the extra throw, there is no negative impact from adding the converter, and the 60mm end becomes 90mm which is close to half the length I experienced with the earlier 150-600mm lens.

Recently I have also been using the Tamron 150-600mm and a monopod when the need to travel light is essential, so the transition to this body has been a positive, especially after a firmware update which was a great improvement for autofocus.

On this afternoon, I arrived to a well-attended lake by anglers as many prepared for a long stay extending over the Bank Holiday weekend, and my first destination was to check out whether the woodpecker was in the trees to the right of the junction of the two trackways that circle most of the lake, and since that seemed unlikely as there were no sounds of a woodpecker at work, I headed to the right unencumbered with a heavy tripod.

It proved to be the correct decision as there were no sightings by any of the anglers, and no tell-tale sounds, so I returned to my car and set up the camera on the tripod and took a walk just a few swims down where I spent some time with one angler, before heading in the opposite direction to investigate the far side of the lake. Dragonflies turned out to be my main subjects, and on the far side I even managed two shots of one in flight, which is always rewarding, as they change direction so rapidly.

The short distance to this lake was fairly rewarding despite the lack of Grebe and the woodpecker.

My next sortie – without the long lens will be to a Concert in Aylesbury.

Brogborough Lake Drop In

Thank you for a Rivetting Note to me, Barry, in Comments, for pointing out my unforgivable error in naming the file incorrectly, rendering it unavailable for those eager to see how Hydrofoiling is progressing on Brogborough Lake; I hope it was worth the Wait!

         On the spur of a moment,  I decided to see whether anyone was taking advantage of the wind at Brogborough Lake, and found that Sam was once again trying to master a gybe whilst keeping the board aloft, clear of the water throughout the manoeuvre. I spotted that he was successful on several occasions. I later learned he was generally successful in one direction, but was finding it difficult in the other. 

         There were others on the water, but I’ll apologise straightway, that  I was more interested in capturing a complete sequence of a successful gybe whilst clear of the water throughout whilst using a hydrofoil board.

I was a late arrival, so missed some of the earlier action, and so there is not a lot to show but I also slipped up by thinking that since the action was reasonably close to the shore I could dispense with the 2x Converter, but I found that I was mistaken, so also lost some time in having to return to the car to bring out the Converter. Once that was in place, the shots filled the screen far more fully.

I hope that the shots I took were useful for Sam; I learned that keeping the 2x Converter on permanently for shots here was definitely worthwhile, as it made all the difference, with no downside, and confirmed I made the right decision in upgrading from the 150-600mm Sports lens to the 60-600mm Sports lens. Certainly using this lens on the Canon EOS R body I see no downside on keeping the 2x Converter on at all times, unless the light levels are seriously low. The same would not be so when using the 5D III or 7D II as the EOS R’s file size is greater, offering higher ISO cleanly. Having a sturdy tripod is another benefit, especially when shooting the windsurfers, as it invariably means that whilst the participants are using the wind, I am fighting it! Ironically, also I find myself hankering after a dark cloth to improve my screen viewing.

Not My Initial Venue - a Lone Hydrofoiler

My camera gear was in the boot of my car, and due to the direct route to my intended destination lake blocked, My route took me past a familiar venue, Brogborough Lake, home to the Windsurfing fraternity, so I slowed to see whether it was full of sailors — it wasn’t but I spotted that there was at least some activity on the water, so I pulled in.

I recognised one familiar face out on the lake, and he was foiling, so fickle as I am, I opted for staying to see what I might capture, since the wind was reasonable. I duly set up my camera together with my Sigma Sports 60-600mm lens on the Canon EOS R body. I forgot to mention that the original reason for this venture was that I had been lent a 2x Converter by Sigma, and it had arrived this particular afternoon. So my camera was already assembled with this attached, and since the first subject, a Woodpecker at a different lake was to have been my initial quarry, that was where I was initially headed, however, the pull of a windsurfer new to foiling was out there, so like an addict, I found myself unable to resist the temptation to change the venue for my test.

I will apologise to others on the lake that on this occasion, that Geoff, a neophyte to hydrofoil windsurfing was the ideal test subject this time around, as with this Converter my lens becomes 1200mm, and on the mirrorless body becomes a real challenge for panning fast moving subjects, and Geoff is no slouch when it comes to speed, so was destined to give me a real challenge, and I definitely need the experience as it is very different from a dSLR, but as I have already found with the EOS R, when I get it right the quality is superb, but it has yet to become second nature for me, so it is I who am the newbie! But I do seem to be getting there!=