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Having paid my website scant regard over the last 18 months or so, it seemed appropriate to tidy up the galleries and give the site a bit of a refresh. In some of the earlier blog posts there were details of various photographic projects I set myself, most of which are ongoing, none of which received any update from the original post, and the plan remains to update the progress on some of these items.

The site itself has evolved a little to concentrate more on these personal photographic projects, and whilst a gallery still exists with highlights of the Cricket World Cup and various motor sport activities, the site really now pays attention to subjects of personal interest outside of the sporting sphere. Details to follow in future blog posts.

The GT World Challenge Europe descended on Brands Hatch for a dual sprint race for round seven of the championship series - a series which contains a mixture of endurance and sprint racing.

The array of machinery on display, together with some of the best drivers provided some real high speed entertainment for the crowds to enjoy, with all of the track being used and at times, a little extra especially the gravel at Paddock Hill Bend.

Team WRT drivers Charles Weerts and Dries Vanthoor in an Audi R8 LMS GT3 held a commanding lead into the weekends event and as the weekend unfolded secured the championship with an unassailable points tally.

The ECB announced a new tournament, the Hundred for 2020, then COVID intervened, and the launch delayed to 2021. With player picks, drafts and a franchise based operation as opposed county base, with women's and men's competitions. A lot of change, change initially the establishment seemed not so keen about.

After all, we introduced the T20 blast some time ago to generate interest, stimulate support and new crowds, and it has much of the same - a quick 120 delivery Bish, Bash, Bosh, players walking out to 'their tunes', music to accompany boundaries and wickets. It's all pretty much the same isn't it?

After the relative tranquil passage from pole to podium at Silverstone, the racing couldn't have been any further from this at Donington Park for round 3 of the Intelligent Money GT Championship. Ian Loggie and Yelmar Buurman posted the best collective times in qualifying to take pole ahead of Michael Igoe and Phil Keen in the WPI Motorsport Lambourghini.

From the rolling start however, the ambitions of those on the front of the grid unravelled. Michael Igoe was tagged on Redgates on the first lap, which also accounted for a couple of other contenders, and for some time the safety car led the cars round until the stricken number 18 was removed from the track.

Whilst Brands Hatch and several other circuits may consider themselves the home of motor racing, Silverstone at the moment is probably recognised as home. The Intelligent Money British GT Championship moved on from the opener at Brands to Silverstone for the 10th Anniversary of the Silverstone 500. The name of the race and 500 relates to the approximate number of kilometres covered in the three hour race, roughly 85 laps of the GP circuit.

Following the inception of the World Test Championship, in an aim to give test cricket more meaning, the World Test Championship Final at the Hampshire Bowl welcomed India and New Zealand to contest the inaugural final. Two weeks of glorious weather was abruptly brought to an end on the first day, with torrential rain washing out proceedings. With further rain forecast over the next few days, the ICC had the foresight to include a spare day for any time lost during the ordinary course of proceedings.

Day 2 was curtailed due to poor light, and rain once again completely washed out day 4, and potentially the climax to the previous two years was in danger of ending as a bit of a damp squib. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field, and an engrossing opening day saw honours reasonably even. Day 2 swung in favour of New Zealand as Kohli was removed early and Rahane, who had looked very comfortable making 49 fell to a sucker short delivery set up by Wagner. Devon Conway, a real find at the top of the order made 52 before chipping to wide mid on at the close of play, to leave the Black Caps in arrears by 116 with 8 wickets in hand.

The 5 Nations British Rallycross Championship season opening weekend at Lydden Hill provided plenty of excitement as it rushed to make up for the curtailed season of 2020. Welcoming back spectators, the series features the first Electric rallycross series, a group of Fiat 500E taking to the track.

A bumper entry of 100 for the two rounds, one on Saturday, followed by the second on Bank Holiday monday provided bumper to bumper racing over the course of the weekends event.

The supercars, with reigning champion Mark Donnelly setting out to defend his title, welcomed debutant Robert Vitols, his drive the prize for the S1600 championship the previous season, and what an impact he made winning the first supercar final from Ollie O Donovan.

The Intelligent Money GT Championship roared into Brands Hatch over the weekend of 23rd / 24th May with an awesome display of GT3 and GT machinery competing for season's glory. Reigning champion Sandy Mitchell has plenty of history to overcome if he is to retain his title this year, a fear which has only ever been achieve once before by Jonny Adam.

The British GT Championship racing series based predominantly in the United Kingdom. The series was originally created by the British Racing Drivers' Club in 1993 and, for its first two seasons, was known as the National Sports GT Challenge. The series is currently run by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation, SRO Motorsport, while Pirelli began its first season as the championship's official sole tyre supplier in 2016.

Two classes currently compete in the championship: GT3 and GT4. A consolidation of GT regulations and significant manufacturer support saw British GT first introduce a GT3 class in 2005. The category later mirrored that of the FIA GT3 European Championship and has used near-identical regulations from 2006 onwards. GT3 rules include extensive performance balancing and handicap weights to make cars artificially more equal.

The FIA GT4 class was adopted in 2008 as a stepping stone towards GT3. Regulations governing GT4 ensure the cars more closely resemble their road-going counterparts than GT3 machines. This replaced the unique GTC category.

The weekend started with a parade of the vehicles in all their splendour in the pit lane on Friday evening, before two hour long practice sessions Saturday, a warm up Sunday morning before the Opening round on Sunday Afternoon.

A selection of images can, including galleries from the test day on Friday, the parade, Practice and Qualifying, together with the race action can be viewed at www.raylawphoto.co.uk

The cricketing test match grounds, are amazing stadiums where great sporting theatre can be witnessed. With a full house for Domestic one day competitions, International matches, Test Matches and not forgetting the World Cup, the atmosphere and the buzz is something else.

The 2020 5 Nations BRX series was severely curtailed due to the COVID pandemic, ultimately only a couple of rounds possible, the first of which witnessed Sir Chris Hoy throw a Citreon C4 around the circuit and John McGuinness, King of the Hill, an RX 150 buggy.

The 2021 media day at Lydden Hill, coupled with an open practice session saw the return of Sir Chris Hoy, together with triple British Touring Car Champion Matt Neal, Tom Onslow - Cole, Liam Doran, and not inconsiderable interest in the STARD ERX, electric rallycross car.

With the suggestion the STARD ERX may feature Sir Chris Hoy at the wheel for certain races during the 2021 season, and knowing the BRX series has incorporated Electic cars into the Supercar category would certainly make for an interesting challenge.

Manfred Stohl of STARD Austria took several members of the media for laps around the circuit before the vehicle was turned over to Chris Hoy and Matt Neal, both of whom had nothing but positives to suggest about the experience. It will be interesting to see how things unfurl on race day with the season opener at Lydden Hill on 29th May.

Continuing the theme from previous posts in relation to abstract photography these three images were taken on another walk from the river through Chelmsford. This time during the late afternoon. In Backnang Square redevelopment of the buildings next to the Slug and Lettuce has recently been undertaken and the exterior wall finished in a sort of copper plate style.

With the sun opposite the new exterior, coupled with existing street furniture produces some amazing reflective shapes and colours in the water. whilst it wasn't a still day, there was just sufficient breeze to break up the surface.

This panel of six recently entered to a camera club competition consists of 3 images, themselves reflected horizontally to produce a set. I saw a series of different faces or facial contours in these images, not necessarily human, some maybe alien, and one reminiscent of pac man perhaps. In the end everyone may see something different or nothing at all. What do you See?

Before the official practice began, Sir Chris Hoy in discussion with Pat Doran, perhaps exchanging benefit of wisdom, information in terms of handling or method, maybe tactics before Sir Chris sets out on his BRX debut.

The Allotment during the winter months is a bit of a spartan place, with much of the growing season completed, with the exception of overwintering vegetables, of which I grow little.

Generally speaking the winter months, on milder days, is a time for repairs, maintenance and ensuring everything is prepared for the coming growing season. Poly tunnel repairs, pathways, and importantly the spreading of a trailer load of well rotted compost needs to be undertaken, as I am deploying a no dig method as far as possible.

Just before the last lockdown kicked in, was fortunate to find myself at Abberton Reservoir, late afternoon. With reasonably misty afternoon weather, which had been in place all day, there was a surprise in store, and once again I was the fortunate recipient of another persons excitement. Apparently, the reservoir was hosting a White Cheeked Pintail Duck, normally at home in exotic climbs in the Caribbean or Latin America, and quite at home along with various mallards, greylag and egyptian geese.

My good colleagues at the Chelmsford Camera Club wildlife special interest group, very generously provided a host of information in terms of where they have been shooting, species and anything to take note. During an easing of some of the lockdown restrictions took myself off to various destinations recommended and ended up having an amazing few days.

I would of course like to suggest I had made extensive preparations, and was going prepared with a specific shot in mind. However, the reality on the first few visits was more of an exploration to see what was available, shooting positions and hides, and anything captured a bonus.

My first visit to Suffolk Wildlife Trust reserve at Lackford, was to provide an amazing initial visit. From various ducks, geese, egrets, grey herons to a spot of a very elusive Water Rail. If the latter wasn't good enough, then better was to follow with various Kingfisher sightings, and a Hobby eating his catch in the tree above the hide I was shooting from. Bouyed by this success, I quickly returned a couple of days later, specifically for the Kingfisher, and so extended my successful initial visits.

Despite the restrictions in terms of the pandemic, some elite sports with the government backing have been able to operate. Football, for example, and a revised Cricket season. The counties supported a regional series of games, culminating in a five day final to play for the Bob Willis Trophy.

The initial viewpoint remained that smaller crowds may be allowed attendance, but the increasing spread of the COVID virus eventually meant all games were played behind closed doors, and unless you had media accreditation (which was very tight) viewing was via a live streaming service established at all grounds for the fans of the sport.

Fortunately, we managed to cover various days play, and witnessed some entertaining cricket, which despite the lack of crowds, was played with plenty of intensity. None more intense than a specific spell from newly transferred Jamie Overton, plying his trade at Surrey against Delroy Rawlings of Sussex, who ducked and weaved a hostile short spell at the Oval.

Full galleries of various Bob Willis Trophy fixtures can be viewed at www.tgsphoto.co.uk

Lockdown restrictions mean that aside from essential exercise, most things are off limits. This has allowed more time to experiment with elements of photography which up to this point have proved either fleeting or of little real interest. A lecture at our camera club by Mike Curry has been the motivation for some of these experiments, and in a previous post highlighted how there is often something to be seen in the most abstract of situations.

The "Double Take" gallery is an example of this. Images taken at the riverside from the bank, in various conditions, and with appropriate light can throw up some amazing patterns within nature, which can never be repeated. The particular moment in time, flow or breaking of the water, the light and its angle on the surface of the water combine at a moment to present something unique. Taken (without directly looking at the light as this would damage the eyes) pointing the camera at the direct area of light, in manual mode, two to three stops underexposed to account for the bright light, the trees on the bank breaking up the surface in abstract streaks, produce an outcome which is unplanned and unexpected.

An earlier post provided an insight to time spent on a local allotment site, where a plot was taken on in what I now refer to as a 'Baldrick Moment'. Besides growing fruit and vegetables, predominantly donated to a local charity (Sanctus) which provides hot meals for those that require, it also allows some space to experiment with some more unusual crops, which may not necessarily be at the forefront of the growers mind. During lockdown, Sanctus changed to providing take away meals, and were preparing upwards of 2000 meals per month a number which is staggering.

However, the other outlet for this space is photography. The plot was deliberately planted with fragrant plants around some of the borders to attract pollinators, and as I am on the bottom of a row of plots, is also close to some rough ground and hedging which encloses the site which is ideal habitat for various bugs and beasties.

It is quite amazing to witness the considerable array of insects which visit the area over the season, and the camera is never too far away - just in case. The insects, bugs and beasties can quite easily be categorised into friend or foe, friendly being those who don't attack and eat the growing attempts, and the foe all those who in one guise or another are looking for a decent meal. Ultimately whether friend or foe, all have a role to play in terms of the activity. A collection of images taken on the Allotment site can be seen in the gallery 'Allotment Safari', and is continuously being added to as new specimens are captured.

The image which accompanies this brief post was taken during the initial lockdown, and is a large white butterfly which found its way into my poly tunnel. Apart from targeted contrast improvement there is little photoshop post processing with this photograph, and was fortunate the light literally allowed a reflection of the butterfly on the poly tunnel side and thus provide an image with decent symmetry.

Previous posts have indicated various experimental threads which are being pursued following either a presentation at the local photographic society, or from an article read or seen on line. One of these threads was from an inspirational article in relation to French Photographer Nicolas Evariste and a series of images entitled ‘ Dark Zoo ‘.

This striking monochrome portfolio, taken at zoological parks really struck a chord, and have been trying – not to re create the stunning images-, but to place my own interpretation in terms of capturing wildlife in conditions which when rendered down could be presented simply in black and white.

A selection of my initial attempts can be viewed at http://www.raylawphoto.com where there is a mix of images from a local zoo, one or two from a game reserve trip, and wildlife taken in it’s environment (the swans for example on the local river, the geese and grey heron at a local wildlife trust reserve).

In nearly all instances have tried to ensure most of the activity has been undertaken in camera, with post production limited to colour to mono conversion and adjustment of contrast. Very specific localised adjustments using Nik Software to target any distractions helps to produce as far as possible a reasonably clean finish.

As with the reflections and abstract experiments, this specific project is ongoing, and hope to be able to update progress in later blogs.

The latest visit to Portman Road to cover the Tractor Boys against ‘The Posh’ (Perterborough) provided an opportunity for a minor detour to follow one of the experimental threads I have been pursuing over the last few months. Fortunately, the weather was reasonably kind providing some decent light (sun was out more than it was in), and set off a couple of hours earlier than usual and made for Ipswich Marina, literally a mile from where I needed to be for the afternoon.

This specific experiment was inspired by a presentation made at our local camera club by Mike Curry, a commercial photographer who presented an evening on his personal photographic project ‘Reflections’, a series of abstract photographic images taken at Canary Wharf. During his presentation Mike identified the extremes he pushes the equipment and produces virtually everything in camera. The images produced are fascinating and plan to update the blog with details of the various experiments later.

Whilst Mike indicated the extremes required to capture his vision, I have been experimenting with different light, including overcast and later afternoon, different weather – from calm to reasonably breezy, and finally operating directly off a river bank or in this case Ipswich Marina to see if it was still possible to capture images of suitable quality. Equally, have opted to use a variety of slower shutter speeds, and not dabbled so much with multiple exposure. The image which accompanies this piece is the Thames Barge Victor, and a photograph taken just of the rusting anchor and keel reflecting in the marina water edge.

The jaunt around the Marina proved interesting, and with direct light, reflections of the quayside buildings could be picked out amongst the boats and walkways. The visit did produce some indicators of what may be possible and a return is on the cards. The football was less successful with the hosts trounced and the goals scored at the opposite end to where I had positioned myself. On reflection, I should have plumped for the away end – the hosts record against the clubs in the mix with them not so great up to this point.