Asics Wildman HumanRace duathlon event

Early morning Saturday the 21st of January I arrived at the third in the series of Asics Wildman events to capture some images.
HumanRace event management had done a great job of organising the day's event.

I sorted out all my camera gear and dragged myself to the start line, where I awaited some early rising eager competitors, and got talking to some organisers and a couple of other photographer's shooting for the organisers.

The course consisted of a lovely tree lined forest trail, hills, sand, and a refreshing water dip! I am making it sound like a bed of roses rather than the bed of nails it was in reality!




Congratulations to everyone on the day.

Results and placings can be found HERE 

Images for purchase can be found HERE



here are some images from the duathlon.

Catch the Croc!

The second straight -UP!

The water splash

Uphill struggle

Even getting a puncture was part of the fun.

Initial test of Canon EF 200mm f/2.0L IS USM

I've recently got my hands on a Canon EF 200mm f/2.0L IS USM lens and have been out this evening in low light to test it briefly on my Canon 5D II.
Initially I thought it was an excellent lens, but having used it for a couple of hours, I have to say it's not excellent. It's UNBELIEVABLY SUPERB!!! With the shallow depth of field and 5 stop image stabilisation, yes I said FIVE stop IS, it'll probably be used more than my 300mm f/2.8L IS USM.
 The balance on a 5D II with battery grip or a 1D series body is simply near perfect. The focus ring and the buttons all fall under the fingers as you're using it.
I'm yet to try it out using the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters respectively, it'll be interesting to see the speed of focus acquisition and image quality the teleconverter combination produces.

When I've used it more in better light and under different situations, I'll update the results on this blog with more images of varying subjects.

For now though, this one image will have to suffice.

Handheld in low light 1/160 sec, f/2.0 ISO 1600

Date confirmed for Red Deer Rut group meeting.

Thursday October 27 @ 06:45 a group of us will be meeting, hopefully getting some lovely images in the mist and early morning light of the Red Deer (with any luck we'll have all three!)
Anybody that has shown interest and hasn't replied to my DM tweet can still text me for the meeting location.
I'm recommending at least a 300mm or better still a 400mm lens for this outing, as the images will look more natural, also you're reminded that these are wild animals and have to be treated with the respect they deserve.
We'll be having our usual breakfast break more than likely around 09:30...ish (Myself and Richard Peters need our daily fix of food!)

Other wildlife, possibly a little owl, will be a bonus on the day.

Red Deer Rut update.

Yesterday, after a visit to the doctor's, despite still being unwell, I ventured to Bushy Park to see how the rut was progressing there.

There was a lot of bellowing and thrashing antlers through the ferns to decorate them from the testosterone fuelled stags.

By next month it should be hotting up.

Anybody that is still interested on coming along for a trip would do well to add me on Twitter, @JaiGrieve  as I regularly tweet my adventures and misadventures!

Red Deer Rut

As some of you may know, every Autumn is the time of the Red Deer rut. This is the time when the male deer are at their finest and are prepared to fight each other for the right to mate with the females.

I love to make the opportunity to get up and out early before sunrise usually to photograph these wild goings on. This Autumn will be no different, although I may organise a group meeting for one of my ventures out.

If anyone would like to come along with me for a truly wonderful UK wildlife experience, drop me an email.

The rut hasn't started yet, but I'll keep you posted here as I keep an eye on the deer.

F.I.M. Superbike World Championship

I've not long returned from a day out shooting the world superbike riders at Silverstone.
The kit I decided on dragging around with me was a 300mm 2.8, 1.4x converter, 2x converter, 70-200mm, 135mm 2.0 (didn't use), 17-40mm (also didn't use), 1DIII and a 5D II.

The following three images were all shot from the inside of Brooklands corner.

Leon Haslam

Ayrton Badovini

Leon Camier

Some of the results using the 5D weren't so useable as it showed up the fact I was shooting from behind a fence!

While shooting from this location, I got talking to a guy about this and that who has a stand at these events. I thought I'd give his site a plug as he is such a nice guy. Anyone that wants to buy any great signed images of riders in action can get them from Keith Martin who can be found here: www.keithmartinphotography.co.uk what you can't find on the site I'm sure he can get for you.

The winner of the race on Sunday was Carlos Checa. 

The View most of the other riders got.

Trackside view of Sundays winner Carlos Checa powering past.

Father's Day at Brooklands

Today I took my dad, or rather he drove, to Brooklands museum where they were holding "The Brooklands Double Twelve Motorsport Festival"

I think he enjoyed himself browsing around the historic cars and aircraft.
The cold burgers were awful, the tea was mediocre, but the rain held off long enough to have a good day!
The highlight of the event was the hillclimbing, as can be seen here, a DeTomaso Pantera GT5S flying past at quite a pace!

 

Also, the 24 cylinder Packard Bentley spitting fire was quite a sight.

Time now to put our feet up for a rest and a "real" cuppa!