Welsh Wales

We've been spending a few days in Welsh Wales - the weather has been pretty good, but it's been damn cold. It's bloody May - it shouldn't be this flamin' cold! First up was Manorbier in Pembrokeshire. We've heard how lovely it is - it wasn't. Might have been something to do with the Arctic gale blowing, but we didn't hang around for very long. There's a surprisingly pristine castle, but it's not National Trust so we were buggered if we were going to pay to get in... After that, we went to Colby Woodland Garden, which *is* National Trust. Quite nice, with a reasonable walled garden, but nothing desperately exciting. When we were in Wales in September, SWMBO was trying to find a beach on the Cardigan Bay coast that she visited as a child. We've been to about half a dozen of the damn things now, and we still haven't found it. I suspect that the passage of 30 years has...
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Getting creative

A bit of experimentation following a chat with a friend - try and photograph water drops. Pretty easy to do - poke a small hole in the lid of a plastic bottle and an even smaller one in the bottom of it - that provides the drips. Gaffer tape it to a tripod that's sat over a bowl of water. A single flash off to the side works pretty well, and then a bit of colour from some card/paper under and behind the bowl. It worked pretty well, but looked a little bland. The stroke of genius was adding orange squash into the water! Another way to do it is apparently to drip milk into ordinary water. Setting it all up is pretty easy - the hard bits are first of all focusing correctly and then getting the timing right. But, once you work out the timing, you can get really good results... ...
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Wedding photos

Pretty much the only non-rugby photography I've done recently was at a friend's wedding in February. I wasn't the official photographer or anything like that - I just did my normal thing and took loads of photos. I think it's only the second wedding I've taken any serious photos at - the first was an odd one. I was involved in a sort of informal photography club at a previous job, and one lady in it asked me to go to her wedding and wander around taking photos. It was a slightly surreal experience - you had people asking "do you know the bride or groom", and I had to honestly answer "neither"! The photos came out really nicely and Nicky was happy, so that's the main thing. I don't normally take many pictures of people, so the candid part of it is probably what appeals to me. Caroline & Dom's wedding was at Tortworth Court in Gloucestershire - next door to Leyhill...
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i-team.cc Mark Brookes Memorial Ride

Two postings in a day - you lucky people. Well, I say "you lucky people", but does anyone actually read this blog? Today was the i-team.cc (my cycling club) Century Day - the aim is to get as many of the club as possible riding 100 miles on the same day. It also ties in with a ride and meet at Gloucester Docks in memory of i-team member Mark Brookes who died too young a few years ago. Not having ridden my bike since November, I wasn't riding, but fulfilled my role as unofficial club photographer. This is the full bunch of reprobates who met in Gloucester. Most of them are from the Portsmouth branch of the club, who drove to Hungerford and rode from there. Special credit to Jon Skidmore and Phil Freeman who rode solo from Bristol and Shrewbury respectively. The Portsmouth branch then headed back via Birdlip Hill, which is a bit of a beast - particularly near the top with a...
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Saints v Saracens, 25/04/2010

Last home game of the season, Saints v Saracens in the 4th meeting of the season - and with potentially another one to come in the playoff semi-finals!A glorious sunny day, and a cracking game of rugby - the only problem being the final result - 28-27 to Saracens. Saints had a chance to win it, missing a conversion with only 2 minutes left. To be fair, Saracens played really well, and looked massively dangerous with the ball in hand - which is a major change compared to how they played at the start of the season.Lots of good photos this week, with the good light really helping.Some nice acrobatic stuff, as Jon Clarke doesn't quite get it right under a high ballBen Foden and Bruce ReihanaDylan Hartley flattens Neil de Kock just as he gets the ball awayLee Dickson gets hit pretty damn hardEuan Murray and Dylan Hartley prepare for the forthcoming collision.Bruce ReihanaAnd finally, a couple that I...
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