SG Petch Abarth Champs (Round 2), Middlesbrough

Round 2 of the SG Petch Abarth Championship took place today at the Tees-side kart track, where James made his first appearance of the year for Karting Magazine and Hayden-Media, in dry and sunny conditions.

It started well with grid 3 after timed qualifying out of an enormous grid of 36 drivers and karts, but as the pack powered into the right-hander at the bottom of the hill on the International circuit, James was hit from behind and spun through 180 degrees. Fortunately the pursuing drivers parted like waves as they avoided contact, leaving James to re-start 36th and last. From that moment on though he 'flew', impressively carving his way from the back to 7th place, to within a few seconds of the fight for 4th position, but perhaps more importantly, setting the fastest race lap in the process!

Up at the sharp end Simon Marshall initially indulged in a tough fight for the lead with Scott McNicholas. Once they got within the back-markers though around mid-distance, it allowed Simon to break clear, leaving Scott to fall back into Craig Brock's clutches, in what was a nose-to-tail finish for 2nd place.

The next round of this impressively supported championship will take place on the first Sunday in April.

Harry's Christening

Today was an enjoyable Sunday when two friends, Joanne and Lee, asked me to take photographs of their son Harry's Christening.

Mixed weather made outdoor pics a little hit and miss, but on the whole everything went well - I got more than enough images to make the family book I am preparing worthwhile for the proud mum and dad.

Harry played his part well although he was not too keen when the holy water gave him a mid-day hair wash!

Tada-san

Sad news seems to have been too much in abundance of late, and so it continues with the news that Tada Takano, an ace Japanese photographer and friend, has died.

I first met Tada-san in 2007 at the World Cup in Suzuka, and then again in 2008, when the above photograph was taken (Tada-san can be seen in the middle with the biggest smile!).

He and his wife Norika looked after me over the weekends of those two races, making travel and eating more acceptable, as they indulged my western ways so far from home.

In 2007 whilst in Race Control I was aware of a 'shadow' over my shoulder when I was mounting my U/C (ultra-compact) 70-300 Sigma lens onto a Canon camera. With the large' dinner-plate' zoom lens mounted on his shoulder, Tada-san grinned and offered the prime words of wisdom: "Ahh, cute!" The embarassment meant I bought a 'proper' Canon lens before I returned one year later, which thankfully earned his approval.

My thoughts are with Norika at this time - he was a good bloke to know well.

Getting what you pay for.

I read an interesting article recently that more or less matched my own thoughts on the costs associated with wedding photography. It made me wonder why us poor wedding photographers even bother to get up in the morning, especially with so many half-wits spending weekends earning untaxed beer money with their own uninsured, unqualified, poor version of wedding photography.

Most folk are likely to have heard about the brides and grooms who have not received their wedding albums, or the job that the so called professional did was so bad, they cried for weeks afterwards. In other words, the photographer wrecked the wedding, and their memories were ruined. But is it a case of you really do get what you paid for?

Some out of work people are quick to see where they can make a fast, undeclared buck on top of their dole money, available from a few weekends work of quick snapping, before hobbling off to Asda for the one-hour wedding prints to be made. These characters, the hardy weekend warriors, might probably even account for more than half of the wedding images taken throughout the week..? Pay cheap – suffer the consequences..?

And yet the real photographers, those who can do the job expected of them, who are tax registered, properly insured, and expect the couple to be like-wise insured, are slowly reducing in numbers as the weekend warriors do their bit to ruin hopes and wishes.

It was with some amusement when a potential customer said they could get a similar level of service from A N Other, including a ‘proper’ digital album, for supposedly half my cost. I suggested she do it, and hopefully she kept smiling afterwards, because I knew it was not possible. But out of curiosity I researched the lady photographer in question. True enough, I found her price, but then there was the small print. This was for a maximum of three hours work (and not just on-site, but from where she lived and return), so on-site left maybe two hours? Additional time was then charged at £100 for each 30 minutes extra, so before you knew it that cheap product had suddenly becoming rather expensive...

If it is going to be done properly a true pro will not rush through with a scatter-gun approach, firing away at will, hoping enough images will be acceptable to make a poor quality album that would cost the picture-taker (I really cannot use the word photographer), less than £50 to make.

Money is not everything, but I believe you really do get what you pay for, which from a real pro photographer, is going to be quality, commitment, a love for the job, and standard of service.

Make sure proper research is done and be wary of dealing on cost alone – it could be a painful experience.

Lancaster Update

With a short break away from the gym, and following on from my previous Blog entry, after Jon undertook a kart test on a new Birel/BMB Formula KGP chassis at PF International at the weekend, he was in high spirits over the following days. In company with his father, 'General' Dave Thomson, and of course yours truly,(with Hayden-Media stickers on the radiator and side-pods), it was exciting to see that Jon was as sharp and as quick as he had ever been at the wheel of a kart.

In a master-class of modest understatement he said: "Well it was great to get back driving again, but being quick is what I do! It was good training and it felt great to have the old team back together, with dad, 'Generali' (Dave's nickname), and you, although we were missing Marky Mark (Rose) who was away this time in Italy (Jon had previously carried out a pre-Xmas test with Mark Rose of MRM Motorsport, who was a former British kart champion in 1993). As part of my pre-season preparations it could not have gone any better!"

It would be worth the wait just to once again see Jon in a kart race, but until his 2011 racing programme has been finalised, which should be soon, the rest of the karting fraternity can rest easy - he might decide not to return!

Happy Birthday Laura. So hard to believe it is now nearly two and a half years since the wedding!

World Series Renault Formula 3.5 racer Jon Lancaster, returned to his 'roots' at PF International this weekend, when he put a new Birel/BMB (Formula KGP) kart through its paces.

The former World vice-Champion kart ace soon got into the swing of things, and in spite of the bitterly cold conditions, where temperatures struggled to rise above 1 degC, Jon was very quick indeed!

Depending on his racing programme for 2011, Jon remains undecided if he will race karts this year, but if he does decide to do so, his presence back on the karting scene would definitely create added spice!