Shot for Epic Action Imagery

🥶 Shot while on duty for Epic Action Imagery 📷

2

Copies available here!

Etape Caledonia shot for Epic Action Imagery

A little over a year after running the London Marathon for The Desk and Chair Foundation i received the loveliest news - the money raised has gone towards some solar lights for a village in Tanzania! So, a huge thank you to everyone who sponsored me! The London Marathon had always been on my bucket list and what better way to do it than raise some money for a well deserved charity at the same time!

Training was tough, race day was HOT and I was very nervous, but i made it! 5h 21m 16s, was a bit slower than i was hoping for but the heat made for a tough run.

The money has been put towards a second phase of solar lighting, benefitting around 30 families. They will save money on torch batteries and kerosene and no longer have to breathe in the fumes from burning it. Children will be able to study more efficiently and make the most of their education. 

So, thank you for the sponsorship, safe to say it has been incredibly spent well!

Finally getting round to sharing some sneak peeks of Issue 1 of The Colourist by Annie Sloan!  

Working with a great team and I'm super proud to be the picture editor! We're already starting work on the next one, so many ideas and colourful images to look at, Issue two is going to be beautiful!

P.S. If you want a copy, you can buy one here!

https://www.anniesloan.com/annie-sloan-products/annie-sloan-books/the-colourist

Two beautiful people practising their smiles for the big day!

Some of my favourites from Rhian & Toms engagement shoot.

Every holiday starts with an aeroplane window pic right?

Pemberton

Mount Currie

Emerald Lake

Lake Louise

Moraine Lake

Athabasca Glacier

Maligne Canyon

Parker Ridge

Weather Station on Sulpher Mountain, Banff

Big Cedars Walk, Meares Island

Long Beach, Tofino

Victoria

Vancouver Island - Vancouver Ferry

Vancouver from Jericho Beach

and ends with the same!

Some of my favourite pics from a very busy 4 days of the Cheltenham Festival!

A pick of my favourite shots from the Rocket Race a few weeks ago, shot for Epic Action Imagery.

Aston Martin Festival 

24h

La Vie en Bleu at Prescott Hill Climb 

The SARA lifeboat station tucked under the Severn Bridge down in Chepstow

Glorious summers afternoon at Dymock music festival (wishing i wasn't working...)

Bank Holiday Monday saw in the Tetbury tradition of the woolsack race up Gumstool Hill

and the infamous El-ver eating competition in Frampton on Severn...

I know they are all a little bit samey, but i cant get enough of a nice blue sky in my photos at the moment! Can you tell I'm looking forward to summer!?

Champion Chase Day

Ruby Walsh on Douvan ahead of the Supreme Novices Hurdle

Ruby Walsh and Faugheen, winner of the 3.20.

                                                                                       Tony McCoy aboard Regal Encore coming over the 

                                                                                               last fence to win the Ryan Air Chase

Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle

McKinley heading out onto the course for the 4.40

These 4 are shot with a Hasselblad HV, what a beautiful piece of kit it is. Images are like looking at HD straight out the camera. The viewfinder is digital and takes a bit of getting used to, as does the focus tracking which will lock onto an object and follow it for you. Id have loved to have had it for a bit longer to get to grips with it and see what it can really do while shooting fast cars!

I find tracking shots magical, I like the smooth perspective of the tarmac which leads you not the subject. So from being driven along leaning out the doors, shooting between 1/80th and 1/30th of a second, heres the results!

http://www.rosemarywatts.com/spa2014#h13fdf324

Heres a handful of my favourite shots from Synwell boxing competition on saturday evening.

Stage 1 - Mailscot

lined up at the start

hi vis jackets were in abundance, quite a challenge to find a background with out one!

Stage 2 - Sallowvallets

people packed into every spot to watch

Stage 6 - Speech House

Stage 7 - Serridge

Its important to shoot 1 - different things to what your usual is occasionally and 2 - things for yourself, not working from any one else's brief or instruction.

Enter my January shoot: Swindon Wildcats v Peterborough Phantoms.

Ice hockey has been on my list for a while, the Wildcats home rink is just an hour away in Swindon so I went to take some photos and see what it was all about. And what a game it is! fast, full contact and played with no fear. The crowds really get behind their teams creating a fantastic atmosphere, its great entertainment for an evening out. Everyone seemed friendly, good banter between supporters and the players mingle with their fans after the match. What a brilliant way to spend a saturday evening.

You are a piece of plexiglass away from the action, (granted shooting through the screen wasn't the clearest but ok so long as you picked your spot) The standing tickets we got meant I was free to wander so I also headed up onto the balcony, knowing the high viewpoint would give me a nice clean background on the ice.

So The MA is done! The last few weeks have been fairly stressful to say the least! Putting together my final submission for it has meant lots of desk time and not a lot of photography but, here is the last round of the GT4 Challenge at Snetterton from last week.

This is a shot from the Forest of Dean downhill competition I want to share, I was looking for something a bit special so use in my assignment and it came about in a patch of sunshine on this bend of the course. Correctly exposed, it doesn't look much but underexposed gives a clean background and a lovely shadow.

correct exposure

& under exposure

James Foster hits for the boundary, T20 semi finals, Edgbaston

Muhammad Azhar Ullah celebrates catching the winning wicket, T20 final Edgbaston

Going to a sports based festival has been on my list for a while, I love to watch extreme sports, its awesome, maybe I wish I could be cool enough participate! I rounded up a few friends and off we went for a day at Boardmasters in Newquay. Surfing, BMX and skate.

I wanted to write this post to illustrate it is possble to shoot quality images without having an area access accredited pass. Yes, having one does make it easier but not having the access makes me think more about where I can put myself to get a good shot. It makes you more resourceful.

First up we came to the wave rider (man made surf wave machine - pretty cool!) big crowd stood infront of it, a photographer and a video guy stood up on the actual platform inside the railings and a gaggle of people crammed onto the steps. Fairly easily jostled a place onto the steps (I was too short to see over the edge without being on the steps!) I spent the competiton hanging off the railing/on the step dodging the splashes. Heres a few shots, I was able to crop in to isolate the branding on the board behind the surfer, which makes a nice clean background.

Next, to the ramps for bmx and skate. This was somewhat more restricted, there were barriers to keep the crowds at a distance and a net that stretched the entire side of the ramps to catch any stray skateboards/ riders from hitting the audience. I tried shooting through it but it was still too noticeable.

I had a look around, lots of people were sat up on the sand dunes to one side and there was quite a few marquees (big white backgrounds) I picked a spot and waited for the shot when the bikes went for a big trick and were high in the air. 

These don't quite work, something doesn't look quite right about them, maybe they need a little more processing to tidy them or maybe it just looks odd having a white background, I cant quite decide.

I also spotted a gap which gave a view to the air space the bikes were in from the biggest of the 3 ramps. Stood next to the security guard and the 'back stage' area of the ramps (outside the fence) and waited for the bikes to come into shot with a clean background of the sky.

from this...

...to this when they got enough air

Same ramps, different wheels - the skateboarders. This was slightly tricky as they don't get as much air when they jump meaning they didn't really get higher than the netting.

I had a look for a spot to be able to get close enough to avoid the netting, the only spot I could see was next to the gap in the fence where the riders were going in and out of. A quick scan of the people stood about just inside the fence and I could see hardly any of them had a wristband of any description. I sauntered in and poked my camera under the corner of the netting and started shooting with a wide lens because I couldn't look through the viewfinder. I stayed for a good 15 minutes before I was politely informed wasn't supposed to be stood there! Yes, its a bit cheeky to mosey into spots where you aren't meant to be but remember, you don't want to distract any competitors, get hit or get your kit broken so you really need to keeps your wits about you if you're going to.