Brogborough Lake Saturday Early

The forecast promised wind, and from a good direction and certainly as I set off, it was living up to that, so after a chat with some of those already, and just unloading, it looked very promising; so I returned to the car and started to set up the camera and Benbo Tripod.

A short while later I had the Sigma 150-600mm on the 5D MkIII body for a change. Normally I go for the 7D MkII as it has a faster burst rate, but it seemed worthwhile checking out just how the different body worked in practice, and I can report that generally it seemed fine, though the distant shots maybe failed to focus accurately on occasion, but that was down to me rather than the camera I reckon! The wind however was not behaving as forecast and was as fitful as the day previous.

There were a few brave souls already on the lake, one of those being Richard McKeating who was not alone in choosing to cover his face well as the windchill was definitely evident. This visit was not going to be a long one for me, but had nothing to do with the weather; I had learned only the night before that my daughter who plays Sax, was due to play at the Fairford Leys Christmas Carol event, and I always enjoy the Aylesbury Concert Band playing.

I set myself up on the pier, and every so often it was severely rocked, and on the second time I looked round to see why – the dog had leapt onto it then back onto the land! I had mistakenly assumed it was one of the waves, even though they had not seemed that large. Sam Barnes was out twice using the Hydrofoil; the second run with greater success.

Since there were not too many takers early on, I did also try to keep my hand in shooting passing cormorants and gulls. I was lucky enough to catch a few jumps performed by the afore-mentioned Richard, but missed one when suddenly I realised my preparations for Lizzy and her Concert had made me make a silly mistake which was not to reformat my Compact Flash card and so it swiftly ran out of space, and to make matters worse, the pre-existing shots were of my last visit to this lake, so working out which had to be deleted was in danger of removing this day’s images. Sorting this out took me valuable time, as I had specifically only put one card in the bag because I needed everything for later in the day.

I stayed long enough only to leave when the wind began to improve, but since I was Roadie for my daughter I could not arrive late and I had to change into smarter clothes before driving over, and, for safety, offload these images, so they were ready on the computer for my return. I apologise for my abrupt departure.

Despite Lack of Wind - BrogLake Buzzes

Saturday and fine weather, but little wind did not deter numerous visitors to sample the atmosphere and enjoyment to be had at the Lake. There were numerous Paddleboarders and several windsurfers of varying levels of attainment and some training was taking place in the light breeze as it was an ideal opportunity not to be missed, and also there were a greater number of birds than I reckon was normal - affording me an opportunity to capture wagtails who were along the shore. There were some gulls swooping to fish, but were either way too fast when close, or simply too distant.

Richard McKeating one of the experienced sailors was taking the opportunity to check out some new manoeuvres including travelling facing backwards which seemed a somewhat unusual skill to attempt to master, since it would seem risky to be facing the way you have come and not see in the direction you were heading, but perhaps it is a skill for when faced with danger from behind as well as ahead, but he told me others had mastered the skill, so reckoned he should put in some practice – watching the occasions Richard made his early attempts, the results I observed seemed to have a downside!

The lack of wind was a bonus for those attempting to learn and gain experience which a full lake of competent and skilled practitioners travelling hither and thither would have been somewhat more daunting. A lack of wind is definitely a bonus though for paddleboard enthusiasts, and their numbers were greater, and I learned that the paddles themselves are more sophisticated than I had imagined with Emma showing one which was of a very novel shape, exceedingly light and cleverly designed to be adjustable for length and the handle of which could not rotate in the shaft.

Watching Richard I tried to capture sequences, as much for me to learn what he is attempting as be able to provide him and others with the movements and results he was achieving. This afternoon was never going to be one where I witnessed stunning jumps or skilled turns, so there were always going to be numerous exposures that never made it to the gallery, but it keeps my eye and hand in, which is of importance to me.

At one point I heard the fairly recognisable sound of Pratt and Whitney engines overhead and a Dakota DC3 passed overhead from the direction of Old Warden, but this was not the burnished silver of aluminium, but a very dark grey, almost black, painted body, yet with white stripes and RAF roundels, and oddly displaying ‘UK’ on the nose, checking using Google, it would appear to belong to the Battle of Britain Flight, which surprised me because I thought it was a plain unadorned aluminium one, certainly my memory of them were that.

I was twice treated to a visit from a Pied Wagtail whilst I was at the water’s edge.

It was a quiet, but relaxing day, that meant being in front of a computer to get the shots up later, so I left whilst there was still plenty of life at the lake to give myself a headstart.

Briefest of Visits to Brogborough Lake

It was sunny and Windy, so for the few, in this case by the time I arrived just two windsurfers were on the lake – Richard McKeating and Sam Barnes. Richard was practising his turns and Sam was checking out his choice of sails with his hydrofoil board.

I have no idea how long either had been out before my arrival, but the bitter wind was definitely keeping others from coming to the lake, and I could have captured a few more shots had I not delayed in setting up, so the paucity of images is purely down to my tardiness, so there is not much to see, and Richard had obviously decided that I was unlikely to visit so he brought his GoPro and wand to capture his workout on the water. I was not able to get much of Sam flying high, but I suspect that the wind speed was too high for the sail size as he came in for a smaller one soon, and both men decided that the cold was taking the pleasure out of the activity, so I spent more time setting up and  taking down than shooting, so the only other practice I got, was on checking out some black-out material I had scrounged off Steve White at Calvert’s Studio for when I might need it to take some movies at a later date.

Brogborough – Very Much a Great Family Day Out

The Sun was out and the Wind Fair, and alongside my opportunity to cover the general windsurfing activity on the lake, I took the opportunity to capture a significant day for a couple of the families, that of accomplished sailor, Richard McKeating help his two daughters to take on board some of the sport which gives him so much pleasure, and Sam and Emma Barnes’ son being given some encouragement walking and playing with bird feathers, that seemed to constantly escape his young clutches. Sam runs the Club, and was on hand to give Richard’s daughter some tip whilst he supported a mast.

I decided these shots needed separation from the rest of the shots taken on the day, as they were far more personal, but both parties were happy they could still appear on the blog. I am now back on the task of collating the rest of the day’s output!