My Britcar 2012 media pass has arrived…

Publicity photos were taken for Rackheath Players production of Dick Whittington. Pictures used in Norwich Evening News on 14.02.2012 as well as the EDP24 and EN24 websites.

This photo, which I took at Snetterton in October 2011, was used in this weeks copy of Autosport.

Letter of Intent by Sarah Friedel, directed by Zanna Foley-Davies and performed by Great Hall Players January / February 2012.

The tag line is “someone intends to annihilate an entire family”.

Having fallen out with her partner and needing to sort out her life, Chloe Westlake returns to live at her childhood home with her adoptive parents, Stephen and Diana. Shortly afterwards, however, the family is thrown into turmoil as a series of terrifying events begin to unfold. A wreath is left at the house just before an attempt is made on Chloe’s life during a high-speed car chase. Then almost immediately a member of the family is murdered. Police can find no clues and no motives. Is there a vendetta against the Westlake family, if so why?

Someone, somewhere, knows something, and is intent on the annihilation of the entire family. The twists and turns in the plot culminate in a fascinating finale to this gripping story!

Whilst the racing season is still some weeks away, this time of year is spent on getting things in motion for next season.    Talking with drivers and teams about their requirements, arranging season passes with circuits and series.

The application form for the 2012 MSV media pass dropped into my inbox this week, so filled it in, sent off my supporting documentation and some mugshots from the passport photo machine and two days later my fresh minty pass arrived.   Top marks to Richard at MSV as I wasn’t expecting it to arrive until after the closing date for applications at the end of February.

Having one of these makes life a lot simpler as I don’t have to apply each time for accreditation for an event at an MSV circuit.

One of my photos used by Motorsport News in the 4th January 2012 issue.

As I attend all the Monoposto Racing Club and MSV F3 Cup events this is the sort of thing I could be doing for you.   I can email photos to you or to magazines and local newspapers either directly from the circuit or very shortly afterwards.    I can also write press releases for you as well if needed.

I’ve entered the same photo in another competition, this one run by Race Drivers Inc.

If anyone with a Facebook Account would like to click Like on this link I would be very pleased.  Thanks.

This also reveals the big problem with this type of contest – it instantly becomes less about the photograph and more about the marketing campaign to persuade people to vote.    Many of the photographers, including myself, has promoted their photo on their Facebook pages and twitter feeds, some being more pro-active about this then others.

Whilst its an easy way of holding the contest due to the way Facebook works, I think it would be much fairer to photography if the entries were judged by a panel rather than by a flawed popularity contest.

All contributing photographers to MSV Racing – both the website and race programmes were invited to submit their favourite photo of the year.   The photo had to be from either an MSVR meeting or an MSVR series.     I chose this image of Aaron Steele rounding the La Source Hairpin at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, where MSV F3 Cup were racing.

I chose this over other shots, including crash shots or technically better racing shots because there isn’t a corner in the UK where a photographer can get this close to the cars.   This shot was taken with a 24mm wide angle lens, and if the driver clips the apex heavily a photographer could just about touch the car.      The closest corner I can think of where you are this close is possibly the Devil’s Elbow at Mallory Park, but you are still further away than this.

Whilst I didn’t win, that allocade went to Racing Exposure’s BTCC contributing photographer, Nick Dungan, whose winning shot was from the Brands Hatch DTM meeting, my shot did receive the 2nd highest number of ‘likes’ on the MSVR Facebook page.    Apparently we will all receive a small award in the New Year.

Today (Christmas Eve) we went to Horsey on the Norfolk Coast to see some seals.    Apparently there are 340 pups (someone has counted) and adult seals currently living on the sandy coast and its a rare opportunity to get up close and personal with some wild animals.

Last time I went seal spotting was at Donna Nook in Lincolnshire, where you could wander amongst the seals.    However, due to increasing visitor numbers, the number of abandoned pups increased dramatically and now they try and keep some distance to prevent this.   Horsey has taken note and parts of the beach have been roped off, but although you are close enough to get some great pictures – should the seals feel like posing for you.

Seal Wardens are patrolling and will answer any questions you may have.

Both of these shots were taken with a Canon 7D and a Canon 300mm f/4 IS lens.   They are not cropped so give an idea of how close you could get.

MSV F3 Cup today announced their dates, and I will be present at the following race meetings: