I met the Hampshire Hunt a few days ago and what a lovely group of people they are.Very friendly as were the hounds (don’t call them dogs). I took some photos that I hope to use for my ARPS award from the Royal Photographic Society, I haven’t got one I am really happy with yet. Below is a photograph of the hunt master and his hounds waiting to set of, the horse is very grumpy because he wants to get going and not stand around waiting for everyone.

photograph of the huntmaster of Hampshire hunt

There was a spectacular event in Eastrop Park Basingstoke on 2nd July 2011 with dancers and performers from many different countries showing their traditional style of dancing including : English May pole dancing, Indian Odissi dancers, and Philipino dancers. Below are a couple of the photographs I took of the Indian Dancers for Kala the Arts an Indian dance company based in Basingstoke:

photograph of Indian dancer at World Party in the Park at Basingstoke

photograph of Indian dancers at World Party in the Park at Basingstoke

Had a brilliant day in London last week photographing people on the outdoor ice rink outside Sumerset House and generally touring around the sites of London in particular Covent Garden. Below are a few photographs I took on the day.

photograph of ice skaters at Sumerset House London

photograph of a side street on the way to Covent Garden

photograph street performer covent garden

photograph of a street performer inside covent garden

On 5th December Bracknell held it’s now annual santa run in aid of a hospice. As part of the entry fee you get a santa suit to wear and at the end a mug and a bar of chocolate and a couple of other goodies. It was amazing to see so many people dressed in red in one place. First they let the ‘Reindeers’ go these are the people that can run and think they will do it in under 30 mins. The they let the ’snow men’ go these should run it in between 30-50 mins and the ‘puddings’ are let loose, these will take over the hour and were followed by 2 men dressed up as Christmas puddings on bikes (I guess they were rounding up the stragglers. Below are a couple of photos from the event for more please go to my facebook photos album at 600 santas running.

photograph of some of the 600 santa claus' running in Bracknell Forest Dec 10

photograph of the 2 'puddings' at the 600 santa run

photograph of some of the santas at the end of the run

On the 5th December 2010 the 25th annual bikers run from Foster Wheeler (Shire Hall) to Barnardos in Wokingham was held. Over 200 motorcycles drove through Wokingham in various states of Christmas attire all in the aid of charity. Below are a few photographs of the event:

photograph of motorcycle with christmas decorations

photograph of motorcycle with christmas decorations-tree

photograph of motorcycles with christmas decorations

Photographed a terrific event on Friday, JJs soft play area in South Ham Industrial Estate, Basingstoke arranged for ‘Same Difference’ (X-Factor contestants) to come and sing along with their moto animal band and one of the staff members. Plus there was face painting, balloon manipulators and wild animals to handle along with some great food. The Mayor came to watch ‘Same Difference’ along with the Gazette photographer. A great evening had by all and here are just a couple of the photographs to give you a flavour of the event.

photograph of 'Same Difference' on stage at JJs Event.

photograph of the animal band on stage.

photograph of the balloon man teaching the children to bend balloons.

Had a fantastic weekend watching the ABSA husky racing in Wareham Forest and taking a few photographs just for fun. The dogs just love running and can’t wait to get started making so much noise and jumping up and down like mad things. belwo are a couple of photos from the weekend. To get details of ABSA racing click on Husky Racing.

At the weekend we went to Bristol Balloon Festival to see the balloons flying and spend some time in Bristol (a city I am not that familier with). What a lovely city, the old harbour area has been turned into a tourist centre with shops and restaurants and the most amazing water feature which children are allowed to paddle in (’ealf & safety not gone mad here thankfully). There is an enormous mirrored ball by the water feature and lots of different and interesting statues dotted about. During the afternoon some young men came to the mirrored ball and showed us their trick cycling in the pavement area around the ball. Very clever they were too, here is one of the chaps showing us how to ride on the side of the rear wheel.

I went to the Brighton Gay Pride Parade on Saturday and had a fantastic time, what a great atmosphere there was, so much like a carnival and I got some great photographs here are a couple for now. There was a fun fair and a couple of stages with bands performing live music all free.

I have have made several trips to London and each time I take photographs they always look different. The last trip I got there about 20 minutes after sun rise and so had some amazing light (with clear blue skies). I managed to see the London Eye with the most beautiful soft organge light on it and took this photograph.

photograph of the London Eye 1st thing in morning