The Open 2010 - Coming Soon

[CraigDoyle]

I thought I'd 'set my stall out' so to speak with a preview of an upcoming addition to my blog which I want to roll out sometime in the next week or two.

Basically 'The Open' golf tournament is at St Andrews this week and I am very fortunate to have a friend working with the Royal & Ancient who organised a free ticket to the practise round this morning. Cameras are not permitted during the competition days so today was my chance to get along and grab a few shots of the players. Thankfully there was plenty of sunlight and I returned home with a selection of over 500 shots to work with. I'll be working through the best of them in the next couple of weeks and updating both my blog and Flickr with the results. Hopefully there's something of interest on there for everyone!

[trophy4toon]

Hope you weren't there today Craig, whilst we bask in the balmy heat down south it looked more like hurricane city at St Andrews.

[CraigDoyle]

Thankfully I was safely indoors at work today John. I was offered my pick of which day I'd like to attend and I based my decision on two criteria.

1. Photography only being permitted on non Championship days.
2. The weather forecast as the amount of sunlight directly influences the chance of getting good pictures with a long focal length camera lens.

With heavy rain and wind expected on the Wednesday, I opted to move things up to the Tuesday and get the photos taken while the light was good. I've never been to the golf before but from walking around on a good day it was rather evident to me it is not the sort of place you want to be when the weather turns sour. You really are at the mercy of the elements as the whole place is so exposed. The wind comes battering in off the sea and other than the marquee tents at the first tee or in the tented village alongside the 17th there aren't many other places to find shelter if the rain comes down.

[CraigDoyle]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/46466615@N07/show/

Sorry gents, I forgot that I posted these a while back.

[trophy4toon]

They are amazingly good photo's Craig.

A man of many talents !

[CraigDoyle]

Thanks John.

I'm relatively new to the photography game and I'm finding it has a rather steep learning curve that is influenced by various factors. I've never come across any activity where the tools you have available to you matter so much. The money invested really does dictate what type of thing you can shoot and how much you have to rely on the weather. Better lenses (ie those in the £6,500 category) don't need to rely on being outdoors in the sunshine to get top quality images. It's often a real battle for guys like me to get something that looks anywhere near as good as what the pros get with their mega money equipment. The problem is though that the cheaper the equipment being used, the more technically difficult it is to get a good picture as well. It's really not like any other activity or sport where you can turn up with lower end gear and be able to compete.

I had thought about pursuing photography further but I'm not keen on the idea of having to get another honours degree. I already have one in mathematics and I've no desire to sit around learning theory everyday when I could be getting hands on with the camera. Most of those who do 'study' the subject seem to open high street photography studios with the intention of doing portraits, weddings and 'family events' etc. I tend to find that sort of thing a little dull and technically easy as you are getting people to pose for the camera and work on your terms as opposed to having to take shots of them in action.

I'm currently enjoying just building a gallery in the background. Flickr makes a fantastic little presentation tool for when guests are round. The slideshow tool in particular is very nice in combination with the big screen in the living room. I've seen myself just leaving the slideshow on repeat in the background when people are round. Looks great and catches a few eyes.