Sports event photographer in Chichester. The Chichester 10K Run

Today I attended the Chichester 10K Run, hosted by the members of the Rotary Club of Chichester Priory. You can view the race website here:  http://www.chichester10krace.org.uk/10k_Road_Race/Home.html/  They are a friendly and supportive crowd and the marshals and support crew do a fantastic job at this event which I have covered now for numerous years.
I was the official photographer for the event on 5th February 2011. Chichester 10K is a very successful annual 10K ‘road’ running race – a Sussex AA Road Challenge Event and Sussex Grand Prix Event too. The event website has a link to mine at the top of the page. There is always a large and competitive entry, making for challenging race photography!!
We were lucky as we had overcast and still conditions, but NO SNOW despite the fact that most of Britain did on this day. I managed to capture a good number of images on the course. I photographed the mass start and was able to capture images of the vast majority of individual runners as they ran towards home and next to the famous Chichester Festival Theatre.
The images were available for viewing and sale to the runners the same day.
As always these images are © Martin Lewis Photographer and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and may not be used for any purpose without written permission from myself.

Goodwood Panto Derby Photographs. Sport Event Photographer in West Sussex.

Today I was invited to return to Goodwood Racecourse having previously attended their Bank Holiday Family Fun Day Race schedule. I have previously photographed a number of weddings at Goodwood House: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/weddings/weddings.aspx and The Goodwood Park Hotel: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/the-goodwood-hotel/the-goodwood-hotel.aspx this trip was intended to be recreational for me today.

Having met up with Bradley Eccleshare – The Goodwood Racecourse PR and Marketing Manager – he offered me a press pass for the day and described the etiquette and main ‘rules’ about photography at the course and in the winners enclosure and parade arena.

I hadn’t appreciated (precisely) what a ‘Panto Derby’ might be until I arrived. I spent the morning photographing a Corporate Event hosted via a sponsor called RSA and their logos were all around the arena and course. Their website is here: http://www.rsa300.com/ As you can see from the photos – the Panto horses weren’t actually racing thoroughbreds (they came later) but they and the celebrities who presented the event certainly had some FUN!!

I captured images from most of the races in the afternoon and some ambience and views in the public areas, only leaving after the final race and a short de-brief from Bradley who had himself also been rushed off his feet all day long.

I had thought it was going to be a relaxing day, but it turned out to be a long, HOT and quite physical one. I went home quite fatigued, tired feet and certainly slightly sun burnt!!

There are a few images here, just to give you a flavor of the event. I hope to go back to another Goodwood event SOON and take some more action shots – it was great FUN.

As always these images are © Martin Lewis Photographer and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and may not be used for any purpose without written permission from myself.

West Sussex sports event photographer. Goodwood Racecourse family fun day

Today I went to Goodwood Racecourse with my young family and attended their Bank Holiday Family Fun Day Race schedule. Whilst I have previously photographed a number of weddings at Goodwood House: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/weddings/weddings.aspx and The Goodwood Hotel: http://www.goodwood.co.uk/the-goodwood-hotel/the-goodwood-hotel.aspx this trip was purely recreational for me today.

Whilst I enjoy taking photos on a professional basis, I rarely take time to photograph purely for fun nowadays. I enjoy photographing equestrian events as an official photographer, but thought it would be fun to capture some images of these fantastic racehorses – and I much prefer photographing action and speed to equestrian ‘portraiture’ if that doesn’t offend you!!

They do put on a good show at Goodwood and there was lots of family entertainment, although its difficult to capture images from the main public viewing area as the railings are naturally blocking or restricting the view for photography at least. That’s not to say that you don’t get close to the horses as they gallop past, throwing mud and grass everywhere!!

I captured images from most of the races, but we left before the final race to avoid the crowds leaving at that time. Despite the chilly weather, my kids had a great time at this family fun day event.

There are a few images here, just to give you a flavor of the event. I hope to go back to another Goodwood event and take some more action shots – it was FUN.

As always these images are © Martin Lewis Photographer and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and may not be used for any purpose without written permission from myself.

Equestrian Photographer in West Sussex. Wey Valley Riding Club - One Day Event at Fair Oak.

Today I visited a new location for me – Fair Oak - the equestrian One Day Event / Cross Country Course at Rogate in West Sussex. I was providing the official photography for Wey Valley Riding Club and their One Day Event event on 9th May 2010 – one of a range in their Omnibus 2010 Schedule.

You can view the website of Wey Valley RC and find details of all their events, membership, news and results here: http://www.wvrc.co.uk/

The contact for these events at WVRC is Storme Whittaker: email stormewhittaker@tiscali.co.uk Storme and her team of Committee Members and volunteers did a great job at organizing this event, which was very enjoyable to be part of.

The website for the Fair Oak Cross Country Course in Rogate is here:
www.fair-oak.co.uk

We had a dull and cool / overcast (but dry!!) day, which made for great opportunities for equestrian photography. We captured images of the first hour or two of the various dressage classes, before I focused on the outdoor Show Jumping arena. A second photographer and friend and experienced photographer called Mike French assisted me on the day and covered the Cross Country section – Thanks Mike.

It was a long day, with riders setting off almost continuously, at 2 minute intervals - all of which kept me fully occupied and pretty tired by the end of the event by late afternoon. The riders all seemed to have a great day and I saw many familiar faces (Elstead RC had a large entry for instance and I used to photograph their events on a frequent basis) and people having a great experience at this fantastic venue.

The images will be available for viewing very soon. For a limited time of around 4-8 weeks you can view all my images in the order online section on the website: http://www.martinlewis.biz/ There are a few images here, just to give you a flavor of the event.

If you are an event organiser and might require an experienced equestrian ‘official’ photographer – please feel free to get in touch to chat about your ideas and requirements and to see if I am free and available to help you.

As always these images are © Martin Lewis Photographer and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and may not be used for any purpose without written permission from myself.

Sussex Sports Event Photographer, The Chichester 10K Run

Today I attended the Chichester 10K Race, hosted by the Rotary Club of Chichester Priory: http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.asp?ClubID=1628 You can view their website here and see some of the fantastic work and fundraising they do.

The entire selection of photos is at my main website in the 'order online' section at: http://www.martinlewis.biz/ A few sample images are shown here – just to wet the appetite.

I was the official photographer again for their event on 7th February 2010 which is their very successful annual 10K ‘road’ running race – a Sussex AA Road Challenge Event and Sussex Grand Prix Event too.

The event website is here: http://www.chichester10krace.org.uk/index.htm and there was a higher than previous entry level which made for a hectic finish area and race photography!!

From my perspective as an observer – the Chichester Race is one of the best organized I see and always has a great atmosphere amongst entrants, spectators and officials.

We had fairly overcast, but calm conditions and I managed to capture a lot of images at the start and finish area. I mainly focused on the finish area and was able to capture images of the majority of runners as they sprinted past the Chichester Festival Theatre: http://www.cft.org.uk/index.asp and into the well coordinated finish area.

Timing was recorded by E S Sports Ltd: http://www.chiptiming.co.uk/results.php who provided a first class results management service, utilizing an ingenious timing chip that looks like a mini credit card and attaches to the runners shoe laces.

All other sponsors, helpers and team members can be viewed via the Chichester 10K event website home page, mentioned above.

My images will be available for viewing and sale to the runners very soon, typically within 24 hours of each event. As always these images are © Martin Lewis Photographer and are protected under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and may not be used for any purpose without written permission from myself.