Polo without a horse
As many of you will know for many years I specalised to a certain extent in equestrian photography, and covered both sport and general equestrian subjects in conjunction with my wife Jean, a well known equestrian journalist. I have covered many of the top polo competitions in the world but this time it is water [...]
Fierce looks and makeup
Many regard synchronised swimming as more of an entertainment than a sport, and to be fair that’s hard to argue with, although it might surprise some to find out that this has been an Olympic sport since 1988. However there is also no doubt that the girls who take part in this event are supremely [...]
Shooting shooters
The third and final cluster of Olympic test events is now well under way with the shooting events currently under way and the synchronised swimming over the weekend. Shooting is not the easiest sport to make great photos at, mainly due to the fact that there are a limited number of angles to take photographs [...]
Back to the birds
This week I am going to return temporarily to a bit of wildlife photography with a visit to The Isle of Sheppey RSPB reserve at Elmley Marshes, with my friend David. There is a 2 mile drive into the reserve proper that is managed by the Elmley Conservation Trust so the photo opportunities regularly start [...]
Hard water!
You might be thrown by the title of this weeks blog. That is until you imagine being a diver coming down from 10metres up and getting it all wrong. Suddenly that nice soft landing into 15 metres of water must be like landing in wet concrete. Unfortunately Mexican diver Rommel Pachero found out this hard [...]
World Cup at the Velodrome
This weekend was the UCI World Cup Track Cycling at the Olympic Velodrome, the latest in the series of test events. Now I like to ride my bike – a road bike to be sure. There’s nothing quite like coming down a decent hill, the wind ripping away at your face, senses keenly aware of [...]
Hoops, Balls, Ribbons and Clubs
The seconds part of the gymnastics the rhythmic gym tool place this week at London’s Excel Centre, following on from the traditional artistic gymnastics. This sport is the exclusive domain of the girls consisting the four discipllnes of ball, hoop, ribbon and clubs. some of the world’s top athletes took part in the latest of [...]
It’s Olympic Year – 2012
We finally have to stop calling it next year’s Olympic Games, it’s now this year’s Games and we are getting closer to delivering one of the best Olympics ever. The test events have started up again the same day I arrived back from spending Christmas and new year at home in Canada with the artistic [...]
The year comes to an end
Well, I am back in Canada after a somewhat protracted trip home due to an aircraft failure at Heathrow.This meant a night in a hotel in Chicago and not arriving back on Gabriola Island until 6.00 pm on Monday, having left for Heathrow Airport at 9.00am on Sunday. The joys of international travel! 2011 has [...]
New Olympic Test Event Series
The next of the Olympic Test Event series is now well underway. The past week has seen the boxing, fencing and table-tennis events running in London’s Excel Centre, their home next year when the Games start. The Table Tennis test was performed us part of the ITTF Table Tennis Tour and saw most of the [...]
The test events continue – Archery at Lords Cricket Ground
The last week has seen me at Lords Cricket Ground in St Johns Wood, London, home of the Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) and the founders of the rules of cricket. Back in the late 1980s I spent many a day photographing both county and international test match cricket from here. The MCC was founded [...]
Beach Volleyball and BMX
Although some might describe both of these sports as ‘extreme’ it would be for vastly different reasons! I guess that for some the mode of dress of the competitors in the Beach Volleyball might well be considered extreme. That’s not the only thing these sports have in common, they are both events that have all [...]
Badminton World Championships
This week the shuttlecocks are flying in Wembley Arena at the World Badminton Championships which is serving as an unofficial test event for next years Olympic event. This is not an easy event to photograph as the lighting is somewhat patchy and with black backgrounds almost impossible to get a good shot of any player [...]
Sailing at Weymouth
This week it’s the turn of the sailors to run their Olympic Test Event at Weymouth in Dorset, on England’s South Coast. Discounting the odd football game taking place in Scotland and the North of England this is the most remote of all the Olympic Venues being some two and a half hours South of [...]
Two more test events
Last week saw two more test events running, the White Water canoeing from Lee Valley White Water Centre and the Mountain Biking from Hadleigh Farm in Essex. Once again both events were a roaring success with things shaping up nicely for next year’s Summer Games. Both events took place under blue sky and skyrocketing temperatures, [...]
It all begins again!
The first two events in the lead up to the 2012 Olympics have already taken place. The equestrian event in historic Greenwich Park, was a great success, with really positive feedback from all the press. A couple of fences on the cross country course offer stunning views if the City, in the background and the [...]