A few snippets from the weekend just past in Barcelona, my first grand prix of the season...


1 - Yet another race weekend dawns (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


2 - Winning style (K-5 IIs, DA300)


3 - Valtteri Bottas explores the Catalan hills (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


4 - The present and future of Spanish motorsport, Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz


5 - Young Brit Alex Lynn looked very much at home in Spain, winning the second GP2 race (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


6 - Romain Grosjean passes beneath race control (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


7 - Jackie Stewart rarely shirks a hat contest (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


8 - Seb wonders why the two Mercs seem to have disappeared (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


9 - Backlit... and on the back foot: Lewis Hamilton (K-5 IIs, DA300)

I will try to post something other than racing cars one day, but...

Donington Park

1 - Stars and stripes (K-5 IIs, DA300)


2 - True grit (K-5 IIs, DA300)


3 - Quiet drive in the country (K-3, Tamron 70-200 f2.8, 1/250)


4 - Self-raising (K-5 IIs, DA300)


5 - Lotus position (K-3, 70-200, 1/125)

Shelsley Walsh

6 - Worcester source (K-3, Tamron 17-50)


7 - Attacking formation (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


8 - Rise and shine (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


9 - Sparks (K-5 IIs, 70-200)

I don't, Simon, but will give it a try next time (if the bluebells are still there). In this instance, I was taking a head-on shot (as depicted in #1), then turning around and taking several paces in time to catch the cars as they passed behind me a few seconds later. There wasn't much time to adjust settings, but it would probably have been manageable if I'd had the DA300 on one body and 70-200 on the other. Which, being a twit, I didn't.

I was just happy to get two shots for the price of one!

Thanks, Rob.

I agree completely about paddock shots - I usually set aside 90 minutes for doing just that, but traffic diversions compromised my schedule on Saturday. And when I was heading towards the paddock at lunchtime, I bumped into somebody I knew and ended up chatting f0or an hour. My fault for being a gasbag...

Enjoy Shelsley. I intend to pay a visit at some stage this season, but don't yet know when.

Other spheres of the sport are more widely celebrated, but hillclimbs are fun, friendly, accessible... and tend to provide good photo access from the spectator banks (which are usually fairly close to the track). I know I have the privilege of a media credential, but at Prescott it confers relatively few advantages. If ever you get the chance, it's located about 15 minutes to the north of Cheltenham (just off the A435, towards Evesham). It's worth the trip...

1 - Qualcast Concorde (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


2 - Vroom with a view (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


3 - Flower power (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


4 - Bottom's up (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


5 - 1965 in 2015 (K-3, Tamron 17-50)


6 - The future is allegedly orange, the past more certainly so (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


7 - On the edge (K-3, Tamron 17-50)


8 - The sky's the limit (K-3, Tamron 17-50)

I made three trips to Cadwell last season and will doubtless pop in again between now and Christmas...

Sorry to hear about your experience, Alex. My copy came from Amazon Warehouse and looks as though it had hardly ever been used, if at all. Luck of the draw, I guess.

I hope you find what you need in due course.

Nice set, George, with your customary diversity.

I'll be up at Donington in 10 days or so, for the Historic Festival. That's particularly photogenic, if you have a free weekend.

I stepped away from that at the end of 2012, Mike, leastways on a full-time basis.

I shall attend a few grands prix, but don't yet know which.

Thanks (other) Simon.

I'm very pleased with the Tamron. It seems agreeably sharp, locks focus quickly and was a delight to use. I switched lenses between bodies (K-5 IIs/K-3) halfway through the day, to see if one combination worked any better than the other, and the final result was a score draw (to my eye, at least).

I reckon the combination of DA300, Tamron 70-200 and Tamron 17-50 (mostly for paddock shots) covers most bases, plus I have the 1.4 TC for Silverstone.

A Prescott hillclimb beckons this weekend...