Wicken Fen

It's been a bit of a lean time recently, photographically speaking, with lots of time spent on RPS and Cambridge Camera Club duties.  Harriet and I managed to get out to Wicken Fen this afternoon, though, for a guided "Cuckoo" walk by Nick Davies to coincide with the launch of his new book.  Also there was Richard Nicoll from CCC, who had provided some of the pictures for Nick's book.  We heard several cuckoos, and saw one - expertly summoned by Nick doing a very accurate bird impression!  It was moving too fast to get a picture, though, so you'll have to make do with some Konik horses and a few sparrows which were flying around the visitors' centre.

John Hooton visits East Anglia

At the weekend I was visited by John Hooton from Cork in the Republic of Ireland who was embarking on a mini-tour of East Anglia.  Sunday saw an RPS event held at Cancer Research UK, and a took a few pictures of the day while John was in full flow.  If you're not familiar with his work it's worth looking at his website, but be aware that it doesn't do justice to his beautiful prints.

John's "glamorous assistant" for the day: Barry Badcock, our print-handler-in-chief, complete with white gloves.

John is clearly passionate about both photography and the Dingle peninsula in south-west Ireland, where most of his pictures were taken.

We held periodic shuffle breaks to allow the audience to drool over the prints.

A well-attended and highly enjoyable event which was also free of charge, having been sponsored by the RPS East Anglia Region.

CRUFC take on Clifton (and wipe the floor with them)

Chris Fell, Cambridge Rugby Union FC's official photographer, was unable to go to yesterday's match as he was shooting a wedding in "sunny" Halifax instead.  Ann Miles was deputed for the day, and she asked me if I would help out.  I guess that makes me "Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief" (with apologies to Michael Flanders).

I've never photographed Rugby before, so wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Well, here are some of the results.

Ouch!

I'm sure Rugby Union was never this balletic when I used to play it at school...

It's a constant battle to try to isolate interested periods of play while, at the same time, keeping an eye on the (rather cluttered) background.  A healthy dose of luck is involved in getting half-way reasonable shots, I discovered.

If you can keep your shirt when all about you are losing theirs...

Yet another try for Cambridge, who eventually won 46-7.

Group commiserations in the Clifton camp after the game.

They start them young at CRUFC!

The Chief Assistant pointing out her inept partner to Cambridge's Scrum Half, who had just scored a spectacular try.  Yours truly had failed to capture it; well, failed to capture it in focus, anyway.  The most valuable lesson I learned was to take a second camera body with a shorter lens on it, as otherwise it's almost impossible to guarantee that "big moment".  Oh well...

Thoroughly enjoyable, and it's definitely something I'd like to have another go at - if the Big Cheese(s) let me, that is.

RPS Distinctions Advisory Day

Yesterday saw the first of this year's RPS Distinctions Advisory Days in Foxton, with Richard Walton, Roger Force and Will Cheung presiding.  An excellent day it was too, with some absolutely cracking panels on show.  We are lucky in East Anglia to have a dedicated set of advisors who work so well together and are happy to come back regularly.  Mind you, we also have some very talented photographers in this Region, which might have something to do with it.

The advisors very much liked the Creative panel from Barry Badcock, one of Cambridge CC's members, but couldn't quite agree on the best layout for the pictures.  Even Ann Miles got in on the action...

We have an LRPS Print Assessment in September and another Advisory Day in November, so plenty more good work from the Region to look forward to later in the year.

Crufts (part 5)

This is the final post from Crufts, you'll be relieved to hear.  It was a thoroughly enjoyable day out, despite the halls being heaving with visitors.  Izzi and I had hoped to get into the Arena to watch the "Fly Ball" competition, but queue to get in was so long that the event would have been over by the time we reached the front!  Whatever else, it's the dogs who are the stars of the show, and we met some really beautiful animals.  My ears haven't been quite as clean for a very long time.

The final picture shows the aspect of dog shows which I dislike the most: the concept of an "ideal form" for each breed.  This is something which causes endless genetic problems in the misguided pursuit of "perfection", and can result in unhappy and unhealthy animals.  The dogs' well-being should be paramount, in my view, and not sacrificed in the name cosmetic beauty.  Here endeth the sermon...