MAXXIS British Sidecarcross Championship Canada Heights

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Maxxis British Sidecarcross, fifth round of the championship was held at Canada Heights Swanley Kent home of Sidcup MCC. This event is something special and my fifth annual visit. The course is elevated with a wide variety of views and a great location for photographers. A few more technical comments and links at the foot of this blog

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Shooting sidecarcross doesn’t require lots of kit, these visits were managed with a 70-200 zoom lens with and without a 1.4 converter and a 24-70mm zoom. Some of the most rewarding shots are close-ups on the turns. These require either careful timing or protection for the camera and lens because of the mud churned up by the motorcyle rigs. I try wherever possible to shoot with a ‘planned background’ to illustrate the event or with simply the track as my background, this avoids the visual challenge of fences and course marker tape etc. You can see this isn’t always possible. Events such as these bring families and enthusiasts more to shoot than the racing.

The link to ACU below is a great starting place to find future events https://www.acu.org.uk/events

Londons Invictus Games

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I can only describe this as an almost missed opportunity. Shot back in September 2014, the first Invictus games before sports became my chosen genre. Walking through the Olympics Park fortunately with a 70-200 in my bag, I came across the Velodrome complex where the outdoor cycling event was taking place. A truly inspiring group of competitors with all measure of disabilities and physical challenges and yet attacking the track as any competitor would, you dont need to be interested in sports to want to watch or record that. The event had minimal security so shooting was pretty much from the track perimeter. Some great captures and possibly an influence on things to come…

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More information on the invictus games and foundation here https://invictusgamesfoundation.org/