Catching up with the rowing @Quintin Head

I finally got to catch up with my other hobby of photography at the weekend. Its been almost a year since i covered a sporting event. My favorite being any of the rowing events that take place throughout the year in the UK. Since 2007 I have been taking pics at most major Uk events. This includes all the Tideway Heads, Nat Champs Henley and Nat Schools in Notiingham. Quintin Head has long been a favorite of mine, I can still remember doing my first one 4-5 years ago and there were only 100 boats. This year there were nearly 200 which makes it rather cool. And its the only one where crews get to race upstream so I see a different view from Hammersmith Bridge. Welcome to Birdman Photography.

Here are a few of my favorites of the racing and I'm pleased to say my pics although maybe not the best quality still have a uniqueness to them. This I think comes from my passion for the sports and ensuring that every picture is one i would like to buy.

Always the hardest part for me is sorting the order of photos to make them easy to find. It takes patience that I have little of, however using Lightroom2 has revolutionized this. You select the pics and it will file them for you whilst converting them in size and meta data.
Amazing how good Twitter is for promoting pics to Rowers. Everyone seems to have an account and are happy to follow Birdman. Which is awesome news. Latest analytics show 1000 unique visitors which is pretty good considering its only 24 hours later and that means probably 2-3 people from each boat have been on Birdman site.

iPhone 5 new cable issues

Why oh why have Apple changed the charger adapter for the new Iphone. Of course it s a rhetorical question. Commercial reasons are far too obvious, I think its because they don't really give a damn about planet earth.

Q: Why shouldn't we just put our old chargers in the bin and buy a whole new selection of goods?
A: Because its unethical (like starting a sentance with because). Especially in these days of economic downturn they have forced us to spend more all because of the bottom line. I personally don't want to buy another in car charger and new leads for home and office.

I'm on the verge of handing my phone back to the office and returning to the 4 in protest. I have 10+ leads for this and the Ipad why do I have to invest in more. I spent the weekend looking for the one Iphone 5 lead i have so far and therefore due to the terrible battery life spent the weekend with no phone.

What do you think.

Frustrated.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Snow Time in January 2013

Its early 2013 and the heavens have opened with a delivery of the white stuff. After a particularly balmy winter we were given ample warning and the excitement was palpable in our house. Friday morning involved a 6 am wake up call by both children, "please can we go outside". Made us quite happy that we have such intrepid explorers. Luckily I had whizzed past Homebase on the way home to buy a couple of tabogans. Its now sunday and we have been on the slopes of Hambledon twice a day. The good news is both of them are snow nutters, with a lack of fear that will do them well on the slopes of the Alps later this month. How kind of mother nature to supply us with the chance to test the cold weather aptitude of the children and give them a first hand glance of freezing feet and near vertical drops.

2010 View from Hambledon

1013 View of Child Okeford

I was particularly proud in the pub last night when a fellow father pointed out that my daughter had spent time working out the fastest sledge before requesting a go. I thought I'd share these pictures to show the difference between 2010 and 2013 snow form the top of Hambledon. It measured 4.5 inches on my car friday morning and I can't remember the depth from 2010. With any luck this will be here to stay. The way the roads have been cleared this year is fantastic so a big thank you to the council for sorting us out.

The real shame about a snowfall after a wet christmas is the feeling of something lost. There can be nothing more special than a white christmas it just makes you feel fantastic. The fact that you can eat and drink as much as you like "guilt free" because you have been out in the snow. As all fathers know the excercise is double because we have to carry and pull everyone everywhere but hen thats half the fun.