I’ve been suffering over the week with some sort of bug/cold thingy so i’ve taken a few days off work.
I was passing the living room the other day and our Shih Tzu, Molly was keeping guard on the back of the sofa. I had to go and get the camera to grab a shot.
I’m sure that would put any burglars off from breaking in!!
He’s escaped from the basement………………………Dan has been looking forward to Halloween for ages. He’s been wanting us to get the costume bag down from the attic since September. Anyway he wanted to be a Zombie this year. I managed to get the camera out for a couple before he went out trick or treating.
The outfit must have worked as he has enough sweets to last until next year!!! We have also learned that the people in Coburn Drive are more generous than those in Richmond Drive. “They pretend to be out, not going there again” he said.
I managed to get a couple of pics before he left. Single gridded speedlight on a stand.
Feed me
Trick or treat
First an apology, it’s ages since I last wrote anything. The Sunflower Trophy Races take place at Bishopscourt and are traditionally the season ending races. Running since 1977 they have been won in the past by names like Joey Dunlop, Ron Haslam, Steve Hislop and Michael Rutter. Last year Danny Buchan won the blue riband event and he was back this year to defend. It was also great to see a number of BSB riders and teams over, in particular Gearlink Kaawasaki, whos riders are always entertaining.
We have been unlucky in the last couple of years with the weather and an oil spill which ruined the meet, so it was welcome to see the forecast was damp for the morning, brightening later in the day.
What we saw was exactly that, and as the feature race arrived the track was dry. The racing didn’t disappoint and Danny Buchan triumphed again with a new lap record.
Danny Buchan
Supersport 600 racing, was entertaining as always with Gearlink taking taking three of the top 4 spots. Glenn Irwin taking the victory from Ben Wilson with the “Wee Wizard” Alistair Seeley coming in third.
Gearlink Kawasakis
All the images from the day are on my site at http://www.aidanplace.co.uk
Aidan
Saturday 10th August. Dan and I went to capture some images. I think he prefers cars to bikes. It was a great day out with Garry Jennings in the WRC Subaru beating Kenny McKinstry to the top spot.
As usual all the entertainment came from the “sideways boys” in the escorts, great fun. I also discovered that taking a packed lunch is infinitely more healthy than buying a burger, and you don’t miss any of the action.
Dan again wanted to have a go with the camera and some of the images at http://www.aidanplace.co.uk are his.
Wow what a great day out. Marcus and I left home at 7am this morning and typically N.I. was overcast but warmish. We arrived and found a spot before the roads closed at 9 and by the time the racing started there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Sunblock?…………….naaah. Oops Leigh says I look like a radish!!
11 races, all well contested but the star of the show was 80 something George, back in Skerries after spending time across the water. A non stop stream of jokes, stories that kept us in stitches all day…………..Legend!!
Both Dunlop boys were racing and as usual they were very competitive. here’s a few pictures
My daughter Lucy plays french horn in the South Ulster Youth Orchestra and on Sunday they were playing in Warrenpoint at the Blues on the Bay festival. With a good forecast for the day we took a picnic, which was a good thing as the food that was available was very expensive. We met Leigh’s parents Georgie and Jim there and Jim brought his new scooter which he and Daniel has great fun on, chasing each other round the park like a couple of hooligans!!
Lucy played really well and the large crowd who watched from the grassy bank on picnic rugs seemed to enjoy it too, as the applause was enthusiastic. Hopefully the collection they made to raise money for their concert tour to Poland in a few weeks made a few pounds.
All in all a good family day out, hopefully they do it again next year.
The forecast for Saturday was terrible. Friday had been dry, a great north coast day even, but no racing. Leigh (Mrs) had already said I was mad and there would be no racing. With the roads closing at 10 I lest before 7, sandwiches, wet weather gear packed. I thought I would go up to the Portstewart end of the course with the hope of getting some access to the coast road section. I have a client lives in Portstewart, so I parked at her house and hiked into town. It’s not until you walk some distance carrying all that gear that you realise how unfit you are!!!
The coast road looked like a no go, so I trudged back up the hill and found a spot not far from the Strand road roundabout. I Stood chatting to a man for an hour or so before realising he lived a couple of miles away. At 11 the racing started on time with the Supersport 600 race, which was very surprising as the rain hadn’t relented and the roads looked treacherous. 2 laps in it was red flagged due to 4 “offs”. Thankfully no one was hurt.
They kept putting a restart back and back and I decided that i’d had enough. I listened in on the radio on the way home and it was finally cancelled just as I got back. I learned a few things.
Leigh and I went out to a quiz in the evening, (came third but won prizes in the ballot) danced a bit (not pretty) and drank too much Guinness. All in all an experience. Lilla has used another picture for http://www.motology.it so happy with that. Thanks Lilla if your reading this.
My very first blog post. Last week was an interesting week. I’ve never been up to the North West before so I didn’t know what to expect. I received an invite from a local photographer David Maginnes, to travel up with him for Tuesday Practice. David hoped I could help out a bit and I was hoping to get an insight into what is involved in being a photo journalist. After a days shooting, and perhaps helping a bit with uploading photos, holding umbrellas to keep the rain off, holding umbrellas to keep the sun off I can testify it’s not easy and very high pressure. We were at Ballysally, the “Magic Roundabout” which is a great place to get pictures. Most of the hype was about Josh Brookes, Aussie, and BSB star coming to have his first go at Roadracing. He even had special leathers with his compulsory orange bib as part of them, no doubt at great cost. Most of the day was dry and by mid afternoon the roads were fully dry. David and I popped round to Morrellis for coffee and buns before heading back. I think he needed the rest more than me…………patience of a saint and top bloke!!
At the Tandragee Road races Lilla from http://www.motology.it had asked if she could use one of my pictures of Michael Dunlop for her magazine/news web site – of course I was flattered. I got it printed in the hope of catching Michael but it didn’t arrive in time, and I didn’t go into the pits.
All in all a grand day out, I got some good pics, well i’m improving anyway. Not sure whether photo journalism is for me!!!!
