Face Off

I decided to go with a manual lens today, and so chose my Nikon 50mm f1.4 to use, from a wide range that I have.

Slightly better weather, so took a walk to the Old Market Square to see if the ice ring was being used.

To my surprise I saw high wire fencing around it, so wondered if something had happened, and it had been cordoned off. But no, things were ok, as I saw that an ice hockey was just about to take place. Only five a side, as the rink isn't that big.

I don't know who the teams were. Presumably some of them were from the local Panthers team. The wire fencing made taking photos difficult, but there were a couple of gaps here and there, so I managed to get a few shots that weren't ruined by black lines over the pictures.

Just Not Cricket

Not being interested in sport at all, I have never been to the two football grounds that Nottingham has, or indeed the cricket ground near Trent Bridge in West Bridgford.

This changed today, as I had to visit the cricket ground for a job interview. I don't think it went too badly, but we will see.

Before I left, I thought I would take a few photos of the cricket pitch, which was being got ready for the new season. It was strange to see all the empty seats, as whenever I've seen it on TV, it has been packed.

But cricket to me is slow and boring. There seems to be a lot of hanging around after the ball has been chucked, and someone tries to hit it and then there's a bit of running around. Maybe they could speed things up a bit, to make it appear to be a bit more exciting than it is a present.

The design of the floodlights is quite unusual, as they look like giant lollypops, and you can see them from quite a way away.

Balls Up

Another quiet day in Nottingham, so here's a shot of the Beeston Bears' training match that I photographed on Sunday afternoon.

Now I bet you are wondering whether Number 59 caught the ball, even though he had his hands closed at that particular moment. Well the answer is yes, before he was chased by the guy in the orange tabbard.

Battery Life

Motor racing took a new turn today at Donington Park. Although not as high profile yet as Formula 1 racing with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, electric racing cars are the new kids on the circuit, and go by the name of Formula E.

They look the same, go as quick, but they are a lot quieter and obviously don't use petrol. You just plug them into the mains and an hour later you can go racing again.  As it's a pretty new sport, there are only about 20 cars in existence, and they are all the same model. But no doubt the teams will be able to tinker with them in the future.

The first ever official race is going to take place in Beijing on the 13th of September. If you want to learn more about this exciting new motorsport, then here's a WEBLINK to the Formula E site.

Making A Racquet

There's a week of tennis matches going on this week at the Nottingham Tennis Centre. As I pass it to and from work, I thought I would pop in and try my hand at a bit of sports photography. Especially as it was free entry and a sunny evening.

A women's doubles match was on when I arrived.  There weren't that many people in the audience, so I had a fair amour of seats to choose from. I tried to find a good seat where I would get some decent shots.

I don't generally really have that much interest in sport, and have not shot any tennis matches before, so I not sure whether they are any good or not. At least they are in focus and show a little bit of action.