Windless Brogborough Sunny Afternoon

Sunny afternoons with little wind gives Brogborough Lake a different feel, for some it offers relaxation on a paddle board for their dogs, for others to watch their partners on the water trying to make the most from what little wind was on offer, but for a few to try their hand with foiling boards — two such were experienced windsurfers new to this extension to their kit who were joining Sam Barnes to explore this latest addition to their windsurfing boards.

It was this group that held my interest on this occasion, Richard and Geoff were taking the opportunity to explore this new addition to their sport, and I wanted to capture their exploration of this kit as they learned the nuances of this feature. It was not without its mishaps, but that was not my motivation, I wanted to capture their early successes as they added to their experience. The nature of the surrounding hills and trees meant that the best wind tended to be quite far from the main shoreline and jetty were, and this was handy for me to get the best out of my EOS R camera body with its Sigma 60-600mm Sports lens and its 1.4 x Converter.

In addition, I was also using a different head on my Benbo tripod; the Acratech Long Lens Head and Leveller, in place of my gimbal head, I have been assessing different options of kit, for when I need to keep weight down, and this was the second time I had checked this option out, but since I have no distance to travel the weight saving is insignificant and the gimbal head is probably better.

The combination of the Sigma Sports lens and 1.4x Converter with the EOS R is a really good mix for this type of work, because the camera body allows for excellent quality at high ISO speeds often necessary due to the light levels encountered, and the quality and range of this lens and body is superb.

I hope these results please the subjects of this day’s galleries, as I feel some have captured the essence of what they were experiencing.

Boxing Day at the Holmes

I travelled to Burnham to my sister-in-law Glory and Richard’s house to celebrate Boxing Day with Virginia, back briefly from Mumbai, Alex once again on dry land, my mother-in-law up from Dover, together with assorted friends: Grace, Alex’s current girlfriend from Korea, Rechna from India, briefly Anders from all over the world, Ursula from nearby and Jan and Norman from London.

A more eclectic group is hard to imagine. It was a time of much catching up, reminiscing and jollity with some splendid food and wine. Sadly Renee, my mother-in-law was in pain and confined to a wheelchair and it has been a tiring time with all the necessary preparation for the holiday period, and Catherine chose to lessen the burden by not coming over at this time, so my time with her was to be the following day.

I hope I will get to see Virginia before she heads back to India, but I think it unlikely, but perhaps I might at least see Alex.

Citroen B24 – A new Coat of Paint

Sunday heralded a surprise – Lizzy phoned to ask whether she might come over. What a silly question! I was delighted, especially as she said she was setting off straightway. An hour or so later I received a text which read “Just Leaving. XXX” I had begun to accept that this might be the case and replied with “Your tea is cold.” and a short while later: “I presume that was to give me time to tidy up?”! We spent some time in Luton shopping, chatting and chuckling. I had also been invited to dinner at Glory and Richard, once I had learnt he was back from sea where he had been First Mate on a Sailing ship plying the American Easter seaboard, So after our lunch together I changed up a gear and got myself better dressed for my evening with my sister in law, Richard, her husband, and friend ‘Uncle Tom’.

Upon my arrival Glory was cooking venison, and so as Alex was painting his fully stripped down racing car, the Citroen B24, I took off to see how he and Scott were faring. I came across them towards the end of the day’s toils, and took a few shots of the pair of them working and the separated chassis and bodywork, and noted evidence of their having already begun the celebrating of their handiwork! Scott was very keen that I show the reflections from their hard work on the penultimate coat on the bodywork, so after a shot which really did show strong reflections from a skylight when it was undercover he insisted we manhandle it out into the open. I duly tried to capture the high gloss outside, and then we had to carry it back under cover, and it was seriously heavy!

Alex is hoping that by close of Tuesday it will be complete, and he plans taking it onto the Continent again for a holiday.

The pair cleaned up the paint they had acquired on themselves and we all went back to the house for a thoroughly enjoyable dinner.