Category Archives: sport

Rally Stage

I was not feeling at my best the day when I went to the Festival of Speed at Goodwood. Consequently, I always gave myself the option to bail out if I wasn’t up to it. One of the things that I figured was most likely to get sacrificed was the rally stage. This was something I was most interested in seeing but it was quite a trek up the hill and, with a hot day and a slight lack of energy, I thought this might end up not happening. In the end I decided to start walking up there and see how I felt as I went – always having the option to change the plan. As it was, while it was very warm, there was a lot of shade on the way through the woods, and I ended up getting there without feeling bad. Always good when you have options!

I first came to the paddock area and that was so much fun to stroll around. So many older rally cars including some Group B examples along with more modern examples. The selection of Audis, Subarus, Lancias and Peugeots was great. Sure, there were lots of others but my strongest memories of 80s and 90s rallying were these types. A couple of cars were driving around including a Mini that had clearly been rolled recently. A while later, the commentary team mentioned that it had indeed been the case. I guess the participants aren’t hanging around with their vehicles on the stage.

Things were pretty quiet when I first got there, things were pretty quiet. However, it wasn’t long before they started up runs through the custom designed rally stage in the woods. A couple of cars came through before I had got to the woods and then things went quiet for quite a while. I wandered along the trails into the woods and wondered if I had missed something when a truck came along the track towing a car. Not sure what had happened, but it clearly hadn’t ended well. Hopefully they got things sorted before too long.

Then it was back to cars running through the stage. Some of them were really giving it the beans while others were making sure that they stayed within their limits. That’s fine by me. If you have a vintage rally car, being reckless with it really doesn’t make sense. Besides, you might have the cool car but that doesn’t make you the greatest driver so do what makes sense. I’m just glad that they have the car and will bring it to an event like this.

Given how hot and dry it had been, the stage was very dusty. The good spots to watch from were often around bends where you can see the cars doing what they do best. It reminded me of photographing on the ramps at air bases. There you will fit yourself photographing a jet and then, as it turns away from you, you will turn your back to avoid the jet wash. This was the same except it was dust and dirt that was being thrown over you rather than hot air. By the end of my time there both me and my camera gear were coated in dirt!

When getting images, you are looking for something that really emphasises the drama of rallying. I was going with low shutter speeds to try and emphasise the speed of the cars as they hurtle through the woods. You also want something that includes cornering since rally cars do a good job of going sideways. If they are throwing up dust, that is even better. Then you get the more interesting moments when they might catch the bank and throw earth up as they bounce back on course. They won’t all be doing that but, when one does, it does look spectacular.

The course designers also included a small jump along one section. There were distance markers on the ground so you could see how far each car went before touching down. There was a lot of variety in the way in which the drivers approached the jump. Some seemed to be barely airborne while others got a lot of distance. I tried being ahead of the cars for a bit and then went with a side on view. The trees were a bit in the way for the images, but it was more about trying to show off the drama of the location.

Up to this point, I have talked about the location and the cars. However, what I haven’t shared is the relaxed nature of the area. It is a bit like going to Oshkosh in that the main venue is absolutely manic, but you can go to the seaplane base and chill out without the thousands of people. The rally stage is like that. Whether people aren’t as interested or maybe they just don’t want to climb the hill. It’s even possible that they don’t know what is there. Whatever it is, there are just not so many people up there. The woods give you loads of places to check out so it is never crowded, and you really feel like things are a bit more relaxed than down in the main areas. If you go to the Festival of Speed, I would definitely recommend some time up at the rally stage. Even if you aren’t a big fan of rallying (and why would that be??), I think you will enjoy it – once you have cooled down after climbing the hill!

Goodwood House

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The Festival of Speed at Goodwood is spread throughout the grounds of the estate but the main route takes cars right past the front of Goodwood House. They always put up a sculpture involving cars of some sort in front of the house. This year it was three Singer 911s. A pretty dramatic structure. Seeing the house brings back big memories for me. I spent the summer of 1986 living in the stable block just to the left of the main house. That was a cracking summer. Being back there is a treat. Seeing the cars zipping by is an extra!

A Memorial to a Fellow Cyclist

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As we were driving towards Sparsholt, we came along a lane that I often cycle. At a junction, there was a white painted bike against a tree. It looked like a memorial, but we were in the car so there was nothing much to be done. However, it wasn’t too long before I rode back up this way on my bike. This time I was able to stop. The bike is a memorial to a cyclist that lost their life. There was a message with details of Dave Davenport. As a cyclist, I am very conscious of how vulnerable we are to the inattention of others with whom we share the road. This could be any of us.

Serious Looking Yacht

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Whenever I see a large looking yacht in a harbour, I am apparently compelled to make a blog post about it. This one was in Lymington when we were catching the ferry to Yarmouth during the summer of 2025. When I saw it, I wondered just how nice it would be on board and what crew you would have to operate it. I suspect it would look rather good when under sail.

The Complexity of the Floor of an F1 Car

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Anyone who follows the details of Formula One is familiar with the endless efforts that go into the design of the aerodynamics of the car. Anyone that knows me knows that I love the aero side of things. The designs will be updated throughout a season to try and maximise the downforce on the car whilst minimising the drag penalty from that downforce. Taking a look at a Williams F1 car at Beaulieu gave a bit of a hint of the tiny details that are included in the design. There is a good chance that this car was not even an operational example and the aero features might not be representative of an actual racing set up, but they are a good approximation of what is involved, and the reality is that it is quite amazing.

Generations of F1 Racing Cars

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The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has an F1 exhibit running throughout the summer. There are a number of F1 cars from across the decades on show along with some images and information displays. I imagine that a few competitors were willing to collaborate on this because several of the cars seemed to have the same heritage. For example, the Jaguar is from the team that became Red Bull, so they were probably owned by the same entity and there were some Williams cars too.

Here are a few shots of the generations of cars that were on display. It is interesting to see how much the size and look of the cars has changed as the rule structures have evolved and the technology has advanced. The 70s cars really do look incredibly flimsy, and it is no surprise that drivers died a lot in those days.

Portsmouth Kite Festival

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We took a trip down to Portsmouth to see the annual kite festival that they hold. It is actually on Southsea Common and attracts both a lot of spectators but also participants from across the continent. I saw performers from Belgium and Switzerland, and I believe there were others. It is a free event on the common, so you are able to walk around and see the different elements at your leisure.

We had gone to a kite festival in San Ramon when we lived in California and I was interested to see how they compared. This was a larger event with more to see but the San Ramon event was in a more enclosed area which made it feel more involving. Both had their pluses and minuses. There were two areas enclosed for performers. One was for large shapes that were tethered to a spot and floated above the event. The other was sometimes used for free flying but also was used for performers.

The performers are always worth a watch. Whether it is an individual with a routine or a group of flyers in coordinated displays, the skill and controllability is impressive. I used to do a lot of kite flying and did once fly a Revolution kite a friend of mine had. It was incredibly agile and could be manoeuvred in multiple ways, but it was also super twitchy which made it quite a handful. I see that design is still in use but there are now even more advanced shapes in use. The skill of the teams as they move around each other and overlap their lines to make all sorts of manoeuvres work is so impressive.

The free flying shapes were so varied in both concept and size. It took me a while to realise that they often had a separate kite flying above them that was used to support them rather than being fully self-supporting. There might be more than one shape on each line. A great white shark and a blue whale were competing for space. Betty Boop was with Felix the Cat. Other creatures that were the result of the imagination of the designers were also up there.

Our favourite was a dragon. It was designed in such a way that the lines to the head were separate from those for the body. Consequently, as it moved back and forth in the breeze, the head would respond to any changes before the body. This made it look more like it was deliberately changing direction. Such a clever piece of design.

The wind was pretty steady on the day (and the conditions rather overcast which had not been the forecast), but it did sometimes drop and also change direction. This meant that some of the shapes would drift out of the arena and over the spectators. This was not an issue until the wind dropped and there were a few occasions when they came down on the people outside the arena. Not a big deal but still rather amusing to watch as the size of these constructions become apparent when next to people. Probably got their attention too.

It was an interesting event and I’m glad we went. It was certainly popular with a ton of people there and a lot of the kids there had acquired their own kites. I bet the kite sellers did good business. I wonder how long they will be played with.

Experimenting With Sport and Silly Frame Rates

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I recently wrote about spending a bit of time at a local cricket club watching a couple of games for a while. I haven’t really photographed cricket much so didn’t have strong ideas about what to try and get with regard to angles and action. I was just playing around, really, to see how things came out. I ramped up the frame rate for some of the shots that the batsmen were making. I was interested to see how I might miss the critical moments and how far the ball had moved between frames.

Now, clearly getting the shot is something that technique and skill should deliver. Compensating with the tech is not ideal but I wasn’t trying to prove anything to anyone. Instead, I was just out having fun. Consequently, I decided to use a feature on the R3 that I only occasionally drag out and that is the super fast frame rate of 194fps. This will not use autofocus or auto exposure once the sequence starts, but that isn’t a problem in the 0.2 seconds that it takes to shoot the 50 raw frames that are the limit.

It is amazing that, even with such a high frame rate, the ball still can move quite a distance between shots. You do end up with a ton of frames that are going straight in the bin. Since the ball either hasn’t arrived in frame or it has gone. That is a pretty easy process of culling of course. You also never know whether a given delivery is going to result in anything. You can get 50 frames as the batsman lets the ball through. Those are even easier to cull! Did I get anything I really liked? No, to be honest, I wasn’t too excited by any of them. However, it has got me thinking about what would make for a better shot. I shall have to work on that and head back to see if I can improve things.

Time for Some Local Cricket

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The onset of summer in the UK got me thinking of cricket. It is true that the Pacific Northwest has quite a cricket scene that has developed – principally as a result of the many people that have moved there from countries where cricket is a big deal. However, I never really spent any time checking it out while we were there. However, village cricket is a quintessential element of the UK and I thought I should go and see one of the local clubs in Winchester.

I went to see St Cross Symondians First XI play. Even the name seems suitable for an English country game. I didn’t time it very well as I wandered up just as they were breaking for tea. Fortunately, there was a second game on the adjoining pitch, so I watched that for a bit from the other side of the hedge. Those players were in traditional whites, which fitted the traditional image I had in mind. When the main game resumed, they were playing in dark colours with a white ball. I have no idea how the decision gets made. With a lot of trees around the ground, maybe the visibility is an issue. If anyone knows, please let me know.

I walked around the pitch to watch the play from various angles for a while. I ended up experimenting with some different photo techniques while I was there because it was a sunny weekend afternoon and I was in no hurry. I will post separately about some of what I tried. For today, I just wanted to share some shots of the larger scene. Maybe next time I’ll take a chair, get a pint from the clubhouse and sit watching the game for longer. It has also got me thinking about going to watch some professional games, but we shall see.

Almost Paragliding on the Shore

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Another post from my time on the shoreline at Mukilteo. I was working away on the laptop and a bit oblivious to whatever was outside the car when a flash of color caught my eye. Looking up, a guy was standing across the lot with a paraglider inflated above him. I have no idea what his plan was since he was about as low as he could be and launching somewhere seemed unlikely. Maybe he was testing something. Whatever the reason, this was one of the more unlikely things I have seen in a parking lot!