Sports Acro Nationals Sunday 25.3.12

Covered this event for British Gymnastics. Photos now online at   http://bit.ly/GQHcMC

From BG website2012 British ACRO Championships: GB ready for Worlds

The two-day British Acrobatic Gymnastics Championships (24/25 March 2012) at the Fenton Manor Sport Complex in Stoke-on-Trent, proved to be an outstanding display of talent and a good level of preparation for those selected to represent the country at the 2012 World Championships in Lake Buena Vista, USA, in April. In three of the disciplines the defending senior champions kept their titles, while in the other two (women’s group and mixed pair) there are new title-holders- from South Tyneside (WG) and Wakefield (MxP). Women’s Pair:       Baker, Spalding (Heathrow) Men’s Pair:            McAssey, Upcott (Heathrow) Men’s Group:         Hurst, Walker, Evison, Heskett (Deerness) Women’s Group:    Gamnlin, Harrington, Spence (South Tyneside) Mixed Pair:            McCarthy, McGreevy (Wakefield) Photos by Alan Edwards       http://www.f2images.co.uk

Rhythmic Individual Apparatus Championships 2011

Covered the Rhythmic Individual Apparatus Championships 2011 for British Gymnastics on Sunday. The Championships were held in Bradford at the Richard Dunne Sports Centre.

Photo by Alan Edwards

Images from the Championships can be found at http://www.f2images-gymnastics.co.uk

Nikon Lens 85 1.4 AFD Lens

Had the opportunity to buy this lens recently at a price that was too good to miss. I owned the manual version of this lens some years ago and managed to leave it in a car park somewhere in Oxford. Looking forward to using this lens in the coming weeks.Autofocus isn’t as fast as the newer AFS lenses but as a low light portrait lens it is hard to beat. Will also be using this on manual focus for indoor sport in poorly lit sports halls.

Nikon 85 1.4 AFD Lens

Nikon 85 1.4 AFD Lens

http://www.f2images.co.uk

Rhythmic World Championships France

Covering the World Championships for Rhythmic Gymnastics in Montpellier this week.

Photo by Alan Edwards

Photo by Alan Edwards

Photo by Alan Edwards

Photos can be viewed and purchased online at http://www.f2images-gymnastics.co.uk

For full reports please view the British Gymnastics website at http://www.british-gymnastics.org

Warrington v Leeds Rugby Super League

Covered the Super League game yesterday. In an attempt to get fitter I decided to cycle part way there. Managed about 8 miles in total. Not bad with a Nikon 400 2.8 on your back!
Great way to arrive at the match though no parking problems. Great bike parking at the Halliwell Jones Stadium as well.
Looking to get a pair of panniers that will carry some of the camera gear. Need to have room for a laptop another camera and lens.
The game itself was a one sided affair with Warrington hammering Leeds and showing true Championship potential.
Photos now online at http://www.f2images-photolibrary.co.uk

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English Gymnastics Championships 25.2.11.

Originally uploaded by F2images

Covered the English Championships at Stoke this weekend. Three days of packed competition with the Men and Women competing at the same time. Fenton Manor in Stoke is not the best lit venue and I found myself shooting at 2500 asa f2 at 1/400s. Not great if your trying to freeze dynamic action. Used a Nikon D3 and the new Nikon 200 F2 Lens. Keep reading how much better the D3s is in low light and this situation would be ideal for this camera. For me the D3 is limited to 3200 asa. How much better is the D3s? If you have any experience using the D3 v D3s in this type of environment please let me know if its worth upgrading!
Back to the gymnastics .This is an early season tester for many of the gymnasts. Beth Tweddle produced a new bar and floor routine and finished first on bars. It was the British Womens Champion Hannah Whelan however who took top spot in the all round competition.
The mens competition was won by Kristian Thomas finishing aheahd of Matthew Firth from the City Of Leeds Gym Club.

Photos from the event including the Juniors and Espoirs can be viewed and purchased at http://www.f2images-gymnastics.co.uk

Merseyside Schools Cross Country Championships

Covered the Merseyside Schools Cross Country Championships on Saturday 5.2.11. This is the first time I have covered this event for a number of years. Glad to see not much changes in cross country running especially the rain and mud.

I used one camera and one lens for all the races. A Nikon D3 and the 70 – 200 VR 11 lens,well protected by an old Tenba rain cover designed originally for a 300 2.8 manual focus lens.

Despite the rain the temperature was mild for February and Sefton Park in Liverpool proved a good venue.

This is part of a larger commission for an Education Publisher. Several more events are scheduled for early spring and summer.

Photos can be viewed at the following link http://bit.ly/ekbNAE

Merseyside Schools Cross Country . Photo Alan Edwards

Merseyside Schools Cross Country . Photo Alan Edwards

Merseyside Schools Cross Country . Photo Alan Edwards

Alan Edwards  www.f2images.co.uk

Liverpool Hope University Arrivals Weekend

Spent a busy two days photography the new intake of students arriving at Liverpool Hope University. The job entails plenty of walking . The Campus at Hope Park is split into two sites and as a rough estimate I  must have walked 4 miles per day.I decided to shoot with one camera a Nikon D3 and a 70 -200 2.8 AFS V11 and carry the 24-702.8 in a waist bag,changing the lens when I needed a wider angle. With a full frame camera though I was able to shoot 90% of the images with the 70-200. Might look at purchasing the new 24 -120 f4 lens. This would be ideal for this sort of walk around job. Looking forward to seeing some test images from this lens.

The weather was good on both days and  the sun lifted the images. However this was a problem early morning with strong shadows needing a little fill flash to balance the photos.In all edited the photos down to about 400 from the two days.The images can be viewed at http://www.f2images-photolibrary.co.uk in the Education Section. Some photos below:

Arriving on Campus

Loaded up with Bags!

The right hat is essential!

Making friends

The new Library at the Crative Campus

The new library at the Creative Campus

Down to work already!

International Basketball in Liverpool 26.8.10

Still catching up with some blog posts. Covered the Basketball Internationals recently at the Echo Arena in Liverpool. Found the official cycle parking area at last. Its round at the back of the arena and quite hard to spot. Picked up the accreditation and was taken to the photographer positions at court side. First impressions,good lighting and plenty of room to work. Photographers tables set up court side,which meant you could photograph,edit and transmit with out leaving the court. Shot with the 70-200 2.8 for the whole time. Camera settings were as follows: aperture 2.8 ISO 2500 shutter speed 1000s.I found that custom white balance worked the best to balance the lights. On the the matches . The GB  men faced  Bosnia Hercegovina and the women Germany.

The GB men qualified for the European finals for the second successive time with a 94-85 overtime win over Bosnia-Hercegovina.Luol Deng and Pops Mensah-Bonsu both produced their highest scores for GB, Deng hitting 38 points and Mensah-Bonsu adding 32 and 21 rebounds.GB needed two free throws with 19 seconds left to reach overtime at 81-81 but dominated the extra period.Nate Reinking added 16 points as GB reached EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania.

The women also has a successful outcome and qualified for the European Finals.GB women booked their place in the EuroBasket finals for the first time with a 77-59 demolition of Germany .Led by a fantastic performance from Julie Page who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists, Tom Maher’s side never looked back after a strong first half.

Photos online at http://www.f2images.co.uk

David Cameron launches the Big Society at Liverpool Hope University.

David Cameron launches the Big Society at Liverpool Hope University.

Covered this event for Liverpool Hope.

Used a combination of lenses from 400mm to 28mm.Nikon 400 especially useful shooting from the back of the hall.

Prime Minister David Cameron chose Liverpool Hope University’s Creative Campus to launch the Government’s “Big Society” project on Monday, a scheme aiming to involve more social enterprises, charities and community groups in providing local services.

Mr Cameron was greeted by Campus Provost Professor Bill Chambers before addressing an audience of community leaders, politicians and journalists in The Cornerstone’s Great Hall. He then gave TV interviews in the new Angel Field garden.

PM David Cameron Launches the "The Big Society"

PM David Cameron Launches the "The Big Society"

PM David Cameron Launches the "The Big Society"

PM David Cameron Launches the "The Big Society"