Three weeks ago we enjoyed presentations by members Jim Gibson and Peter Skears.
Jim’s presentation mainly covered the topic of motorsports but he also shared some astrophotography and travel images, while Peter delivered images from the Falkland Islands spanning almost 40 years.
Jim showed us the gear that he uses to capture motorbike images from the Isle of Man road races, which are published in magazines, books and on his Ellan Vannin Images Facebook page. When fully loaded with everything he needs for a day’s racing, his shoulder bag weighs 17.5 kgs and several members tried lifting it during the refreshment break.
In addition to two camera bodies and a selection of lenses, Jim showed us his ‘gizmo’ remote trigger for capturing images from kerbside and inaccessible areas of the TT course – but always with permission from the sector marshall, he stressed.
A talking point was the sequence of images showing a rider coming off his bike. While Jim tracked the rider as he slid across the road and came to a safe rest, his bike continued onwards, hit a wall and cartwheeled towards Jim, missing him by inches thanks to a quick-thinking bystander.
We also enjoyed Jim’s commentary on a selection of astrophotography images, something he has increasingly enjoyed during the last couple of years, and he finished with a selection of travel images from Paris and some of the superyacht ‘A’ when it visited the island this summer.
After the refreshment break, Peter Skears stepped up to share a fascinating selection of images from the south Atlantic. He worked in the Falkland Islands in the early-mid 1970s and began with a series of scanned slides from that period.
He worked on several of the small islands in Falkland Sound as a ‘roustabout’, handling sheep and other livestock and turning his hand to the variety of tasks required in a small remote community.
The second half of Peter’s presentation included digital images from his return to the islands in late 2012.
Peter’s competition images during the last 18 months have reflected his love of nature, so it was no surprise that we were treated to a series of high-quality wildlife images accompanied by often amusing commentary.
We were also given an insight into the features and landscapes of the islands and the evidence of former residents, trades and conflicts.
Peter’s plans to re-visit the Falkland Islands last year were thwarted, but he hopes to return in future and we look forward to seeing more images from his next visit.
Everyone who was present will agree that both Jim and Peter shared some excellent images with informative comments. They faced lots of questions too and we owe them both a vote of thanks for their time and effort in compiling and sharing their images.
A selection of images from both presentations can be seen on this page.
