Happy New Year
February 3, 2024As with most of us we start the new year with the well intentioned resolve to change something in our lives. Be better, healthier or thinner. But you get to day three of January and the resolve has slipped, your just back to repeating all the previous years. For me, I began with the lists of what I wanted to achieve, but those moments of clarity are quickly lost in the fog of life and time. You grapple to find them again as you believe they offer salvation but to no avail. So you return to your old ways and plod on. But for me, maybe February is the new January.
So here goes. Part of the plan was tell you what I have been up to this past month. Well its been sort of busy, I haven’t had the range of work or opportunity I would have liked. I know this is a cliche, there is always an image there if look hard enough.
January started with a visit to Hayling Island photographing the sail board sailors there. Then it was back to the day job at HMS Collingwood photographing the daily routine of new classes, portraits and courses completing with a few PR jobs thrown in. Again very quiet.
In between this K Woodland Photography was able to photograph some sport. Rugby and football with a bit of enduro thrown in.
The first event was the RN football match against Paulsgrove FC, a bitterly cold night. An event that helped blow out the cobwebs, photographically speaking and get back into the swing of it.
Then it was back photographing United Services Rugby Club (USRFC), a team and sport I cut my teeth on, again photographically. This time they were away to Chichester. Images from this were used in the Portsmouth News. More rugby followed, this time a paid commission, the RN women against Havant. Another floodlit, cold match that is always a challenge to me and my cameras and lens. Here the RN had an emphatic win.
More matches for USRFC followed. Both wins for the club with the last against Locks Heath and the resulting images, again used in the News. However, in the first of these matches, against Totonians II’s, I was able to use my new Nikon Z 180-600 f5.6-6.3 recently back from Fixation and repair. That’s a story, I’ll keep to myself.
The final events of the month were both on the same day. The Portsmouth Motorcycle Racing Club (PMCRC) held its annual ‘Mudfest’. Though a smaller field than normal, the enduro riders have their riding skills tested against the, er, mud! And lots of it, especially after the recent heavy rains. I and my cameras managed to escape relatively unscathed this year from all that flying mud.
Then it was quick dash from Rowlands Castle to Portsmouth to capture the action at the Betfred Rugby League Challenge Cup match, the Royal Navy v Thatto Heath at Burnaby Road. The RN were hoping to make it to the 3rd round but to no avail, losing 24-32 in a spirited match.
In February, the sports photography will continue but I hope there will be a bit more variety, maybe a landscape or two and maybe a visit to a garden. There will be other things too look out for as I begin my New Year in February. Happy New Year.
Images from the events mentioned here can be viewed on my social media pages. Try my Instagram page; https://www.instagram.com/woodlandkeith/
These images and others can also be viewed and purchased or downloaded (depending on my agreements) by visiting https://www.kwoodlandphotography.com/ and making your way to the client page.