The St Regis International Cup

PinkJulepAbroad (www.pinkjulepabroad.com) received 2 tickets to The St Regis International Cup held at Ambersham polo ground at Chowdray estates in Haslemere/Midhurst Surrey England. The Cup would be played between England and the USA, the first time in 15 years the game would be held on English soil.

This would be a great time to practice my sports/action shots with my Nikon D7000. And away we go! After taking the train from Clapham Junction, one hour away and one taxi ride later, we arrived to glorious skies, perfect conditions and a well stocked picnic, all was well. There was the usual exclusive areas for those who need to be excluded and removed from the public and the usual stalls and trappings of an outdoor event.

Once the ball was thrown in for the first chukkah, the pace was relentless. The ponies and riders played to the bitter end. I played with various shutter speeds in shutter priority mode and took the below shot. Speed at 1/200 and aperture f7.1 and ISO 100.

Same settings but lost a little contrast in the lower left. I was trying to remember everything from contrast, lines, shutter speed, aperture, ISO, even the white balance I set to cloudy, everything happens so fast it really make you appreciate the skill involved. I am only shooting since April and I absolutely love it! There is always that part of me that plans for a shot as best I can but never really knows what the exposure final result will be.

After the final whistle, England won by a half point, I captured this nice pic.

And so to the train and back home to London, if ever you get a chance to go to a polo match, do. And trust me, there are loads of polo grounds inside and around London to make a day of it and the cost to get in no more than the price of a few beers. A cracking day out and a great reason to take your camera and take a lot of pictures. until next time....

Choices choices...

Having spent the past few weeks reading up on all things camera related for the budding photog and playing around with a basic point and click CoolPix, I have finally come to a decision as to which camera I aim to purchase as my first DSLR.

For me, the only camera that came anywhere close to what I'm looking for is the Nikon D7000. Everything about this camera screams "there can only be one!" For a beginner with aspirations to be a serious hobbyist slash enthusiast, it has enough user friendliness coupled with enough advanced features to allow advancement at a steady pace. Don't get me wrong, this camera will be far more capable than me for at least the first year and maybe more, and that's the point, if I am going to invest in a proper camera, I do not want to have to upgrade a year or two later. The Nikon D7000 has so much going for it, compared to the others I looked at, the D5100, the Canons,the Pentax and the Sonys, that I just kept coming back to it.

I spent weeks watching You Tube videos (check out www.digitalreviewtv.com and www.artoftheimage.com), read countless articles online (www.snapsort.com is amazing) and even went into a few stores to check out some models. Listening to and reading the reviews and there are plenty all pointed to the D7000. A few key features.

16.2 megapixels, Expeed2 processor, dual memory card slots, ISO from 100 to 25600, burst rate of 6 frames per second, magnesium alloy body (vs plastic of all others), all weather proofing sealed, autofocus motor, 39 focus points, 1080HP movie, 30 second to 1/8000th of a second shutter speeds, shutter tested to 150,000 actuations, dust cleaning CMOS sensor, multiple scene modes, kit lens 15-105mm Nikkor build, live view through the lens, pentaprism, 100% viewfinder image (wysiwyg) and to cap it off the price off all this amazing technology for £1000.

This is a serious bit of kit. The key for me was spending a lot of time taking pictures with my little CoolPix and my Android phone, the joy and fun of taking pictures was what mattered, not the kit. Discovering an inner creative side, the peace and calm of just wandering around eyes wide open and discovering new and interesting things, or discovering really dull and boring things, the art of discovering and framing and composing has awakened something within and is very welcome.

Oh, and the CoolPix and Android are always at the ready. Next post, all going according to plan, an order will be placed and delivery taken a week later, watch this space.