Tag Archives: Fuji

Birthday Bike Ride at Hicks Lodge

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I had a fun bike ride today at Hicks Lodge, with Jen, the boys and Partho. Hicks Lodge is Henry’s favourite place to ride at the moment, especially as the playground has just been refurbished, and the cafe does a good hot chocolate. I had also noticed the cakes in the cafe, so a plan was hatched for my birthday weekend – for me it does not get better than a family bike ride with a cake stop! My best friend Partho also came along too.

We woke up to rain, poor weather is one of the downsides to a December birthday, but the forecast was improving and Owen was super keen to ride – he actually hurried me along to get the van loaded up, asking me what he could do to help. The weather was pretty grim driving up the M42, but the rain had stopped by the time we were ready to set off. The trails were still wet and muddy though. Both boys were riding well, despite the conditions and lack of snack stops. I think we have also got to the point where Henry is faster than Jen on a mountain bike trail.

Photo: Partho

After most of our first lap Partho and I left Jen and the boys at the new playground (next to the yet to open skills area) and set off for a second faster lap, Owen had been keen to join us, but decided to stay at the playground. Stopping for a breather after the first few sections of trail, we spotted a lone rider catching us up, then noticed the bright red helmet peak – it was Owen. He had instantly regretted his decision not to join us for a fast lap and had ridden as fast as he could to catch us up! We finished the lap, taking it in turns to lead out each section – when it was my turn to start, I could just hear Owen saying “I’ll give you a bit of a head start”. Hopefully he was just copying what I do, rather than being cheeky, but he did not catch me up. On the section that Partho led out he was able to get enough of a lead that he could get a photo of Owen and I at the end of the section. There are not many pictures of us actually riding together, so that was really nice to have. Owen started to tire towards the end of the ride, but perked up when we came across the new section of trail, linking what was previously the final to sections in to one long final section – some nice flowy berms replacing a section of fire road.

By the time we had finished the ride the sun had come out, so we sat outside enjoying our drinks and cakes. The cakes from the Hicks Lodge cafe tasted as good as they looked on our previous visits – I had a gingerbread millionaire, a festive take on one of my favourites, and a white hot chocolate. As we could see the playground from our table, we could carry on chatting whilst the boys enjoyed exploring the newly refurbished playground – they seem to have kept all of the best bits from the old playground and added lots of new equipment, and the boys loved the new set up. Henry was really in his element – he is not the most confident mountain biker, but he really loves Hicks Lodge, it is a lot calmer than other trail centres we go to, but I think that suits him. I am pleased to see that it is seeing some investment, as it is such a great facility for the littlest mountain bikers. Even with “tame” trails, with a lot of water on them, I still had a great ride – sometimes it is who you ride with that matters more than where you are riding!

Coventry Ring Road Photowalk

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In Coventry we are proud of our ring road, which loops around the city centre, just outside of where the old medieval city walls were, it is notoriously tricky to drive on, with junctions merging into each other. The secret is to ignore usual best practices and stay in the right lane unless you are leaving at the next junction. When I heard that a group of local photographers were going on a photowalk around the ring road I was keen to join them, and somehow the stars aligned such that I was free on the day, and it was not raining either! It was a dry day, but the weather was pretty dull, so I made the decision early on that I would try to shoot in black and white, feeling that it would work well with the grey skies and grey architecture. I considered using my X100V, as it is a camera made for street photography, but I wanted the flexibility of switching lenses, so opted for the X-H2S, mainly with the 35mm f1.4 prime lens.

We met at the canal basin, and took some shots around that area whilst waiting for the whole group to arrive. I like the canal basin, it is just across the ring road from the city centre, but feels so much calmer, especially on a chilly Saturday morning, when the canal was as flat as a millpond, which made for some great reflections. That is until a couple of swans swam through and spoiled my fun.

As we left the canal basin for the ring road, my inner car photographer was coming out – I was trying to combine a silhouetted person walking across the bridge with a car driving under it. Then I saw this hot rod truck approaching – it did not quite give me the shot I was aiming for, but in my view an interesting truck makes for a better shot than perfect timing/composition with a Toyota Prius.

We crossed over to the inside of the ring road, and walked around anti-clockwise, stopping to take photos. Our first main stop was Nauls Mill Underpark – somewhere I had not been since I borrowed an X100V from Fuji a few years ago. It is an underpass which has been done up as a park, with seating, a climbing wall and logs planted into the ground. I used some of these logs as framing, and waited for someone to walk into, or out of the shadow of the bridge – my plan worked! Although I think I would have been happier with a slightly faster shutter speed, I think having the slight motion blur works for this image.

Our next main stop was the abandoned housing estate at Spon End – the flats have been empty for a while now and are due to be demolished, it felt strange to be walking around what would have once been a busy area. Hopefully something nice will be built there soon, as it is a good location near to the city centre, with the River Sherbourne running alongside.

From Spon End we carried on round the ring road, criss crossing through the many subways on the south side of town. I liked this composition with the light and the square hole, I just needed to wait for a subject to walk into frame. We did not have as much time here as I would have liked, but it is somewhere I can revisit.

I thought I knew Coventry well, but I had never previously noticed the Frank Whittle building at Coventry University, with its hexagonal patters was pretty spectacular. I have driven past it loads, but you cannot see if from the road, as it is hidden behind the old Whitefriars monastery. I felt like I could have done better here, I had some shots with cyclists riding past, but I needed either a faster shutter speed, or a much slower one to get more motion blur. Another area to return to…

I did not take many photos on the last section of the ring road, but I did notice a few areas which would be good for some static car photography, so next time I have a free afternoon and a clean car I will give those a go. As we got back to the start we stopped for a well earned hot drink and cake at the Transport Museum cafe – we had been walking for more than four hours and I had done over 16,000 steps! It was great to get out exploring my home town, and to meet some other local photographers, the fact that I got home and was pleased with a number of my images from the day is the cherry on top!

Owen and Henry Race at Northampton Bike Park

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Last weekend I took the boys to Northampton Bike Park for their first junior race event. Owen and I have ridden at Northampton Bike Park a few times in the past, and it is one of Owen’s favourite places to ride, so he was entered into the “Intermediate” category, racing on the blue graded trails. Henry had not ridden there previously, so he was entered into the “Beginner” category.

Henry’s race was up first, and was held in the skills area, it consisted of a run down the “turns” line, a short back climb back to the top and a run down the “jumps” part of the skills area. After a few practice runs Henry had the downhill sections of the trail sussed out, but still had not managed to complete the climb. When it came to time for race runs, Henry was last to drop in, so had a bit of a wait, watching everyone else. Fortunately Owen was able to do some practice laps ready for his race, so was not also left waiting. Henry did well on his race run, even making the climb! However, when it came to the awards presentation, the reality of being a five year old racing in an “under sixteens” category meant that he was way down the order. However, this was not the end of the racing for Henry – there was also to be a dual slalom race, on the “1460” dual track – which Henry had not previously ridden. Henry’s finishing position meant that he had to qualify, against some of the other smaller children, so his first run down the track was actually a qualifying run – which he won! Hies second run, in the quarter finals, was against a much bigger rider (probably three times his age), so although he rode well, he stood no chance. The most important thing though was that Henry really enjoyed himself, particularly on the dual track. We will be returning to have some races amongst ourselves in future.

Whilst Henry was racing dual slalom, Owen had gone up to the top of the bike park to wait for his race run – which would be one run down the “Blue Nunn” trail, taking the jump line. As soon as Henry was knocked out of his dual slalom race, we rushed across to the bottom of the blue trail to try and catch Owen. We made it in time, as Owen was also one of the last riders to drop in. Unfortunately, on of the riders before him had a fairly big crash, so the racing had to be stopped for a while, with only a few riders left at the top. When racing resumed we did not have to wait too long for Owen to come down. It looked like he also had a good run, and really enjoyed it. He said that the wait at the top had not been too bad, as he was chatting with the start marshal and other riders, and doing star jumps to keep his muscles warm. Again, this was an “under sixteen” category, so Owen was one of the smallest riders, amongst a field of teenagers, so his finishing position reflected that.

Owen also had a dual slalom race after his downhill race. This time there were no qualification races, and Owen was straight up against a teenager. I know from experience that Owen is pretty fast down the dual track – if I give him half a ten second head start we are pretty close at the end. Unfortunately he did not get a head start in this race, and he was up against a teenager, so did not stand much chance. The only silver lining was that he had a swimming party to be at, and would have been late if we had to hang around for a second round race. Not only did Owen ride well, but he showed great independence and resilience doing his own practice, and getting himself up to the start line for his race whilst I was with Henry.

The team at Northampton Bike Park are doing a great job of maintaining the trails, and generating excitement about the bike park with events such as this – I wish that there was similar at the Bedworth or Newbold Comyn trails which were built before/after Northampton Bike Park. Whilst it was frustrating that all the categories were “under sixteen”, with five year olds (and younger) racing against teenagers, I understand why they did it. Hopefully they will be able to tweak it slightly next time they run races. Having the fun dual slalom racing after the main race was a nice touch, especially as there is space for everyone to gather around the track to cheer the riders on. The most important thing though was that both boys enjoyed themselves, and Owen got to his swimming party on time.

Back to School 2024

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This year Owen and Henry are starting back at school on the same day, so I am doing a combined post and an elusive picture of both of them together – easier said than done!

Owen’s First Day of Year Four

After a busy summer holiday, I think Owen is glad to get back to school for a rest. For someone who reads a lot, Owen left his holiday homework until the last minute, and was reading “How to train your Dragon” well past his bedtime last night.

In addition to the mandatory photo by the front door, I asked Owen some questions, to record how he changes over the years:

  • Height: 123cm
  • Shoe size: 2.5
  • Bike(s): Vitus Nucleus 24 for mountain biking and United Recruit 16 BMX for riding to school and at the skatepark.
  • Favourite colour: Red
  • Favourite food: Flying Cows bacon cheeseburger
  • Favourite book: How to train your dragon
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Hot wheels let’s race
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Going to the Wave waterpark in Coventry
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A chemist

Henry’s First Day of Year One

Henry is keen to go back to school, although I am not sure that he prepared of the structure of being in a proper class, rather than the play focussed reception. Henry does not seem to be as academic as Owen, but I think he may play it down somewhat, as he sometimes reads quite long words unprompted. He was so keen to go in a meet his new teacher that he did not even look back or say bye to me.

Henry also answered the back to school questions, at least he has a more realistic career aspiration than last year…

  • Height: 101cm
  • Shoe size: 12
  • Bike(s): Orbea MX20 (Owen’s old bike) for mountain biking, Frog 52 for cycle speedway and riding to school (until the brake get removed) and a Haro Frontside 16 BMX for the skatepark and riding to school once the brakes are removed from the Frog.
  • Favourite colour: Pink
  • Favourite food: Spaghetti bolognaise
  • Favourite book: A squash and a squeeze
  • Favourite thing to watch on TV: Sofia the first
  • Best thing we did over the summer holiday: Our holiday in the South Downs (blog post coming soon)
  • What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher

Owen’s Eighth Birthday

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Owen turned eight earlier in the week, although his birthday party only happened today. His actual birthday started off fairly low key, opening his presents, then going to school. After school all his grandparents came to visit for tea and cake, and of course, more presents. Then we went to Hickory’s Smokehouse for dinner – it was not in our plan, but Owen had mentioned to a few people that it was his favourite birthday tradition, and Jen and I did not really take too much convincing!

Rather than a big party, like the last couple of years, we took Owen and a couple of his best friends to Laser Quest and then for lunch. I joined the boys for Laser Quest, and we had the place to ourselves! The boys decided that they were going to team up against me – I did not get off to a good start by starting in a dead end, but I did manage to get the highest score of the game, albeit lower than the boy’s combined score – probably because I had more targets to shoot at. After our games of laser tag we did a round of the space themed mini golf, which is the reason there is a photo of Astronaut Owen), it was only a small 9 hole course, but we enjoyed it. Finally we went on the VR experience, I went on a car race one, which made me feel a bit sick, and the boys went on an underwater adventure – which must have been very realistic judging by how loud Owen screamed when the shark swam up to him. After Laser Quest we joined Jen and Henry at Pizza Express. I think that the smaller party worked well, as Owen could spend more time with his closest friends, their only disappointment was that they could not carry on the celebrations into the afternoon.

Rallynuts Severn Valley Stages 2024

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After going to the Dukeries Rally with Owen earlier in the year, I was keen to get to a “proper” forest rally – and the next one scheduled was the Rally Nuts Severn Valley Stages, in Mid Wales – a round of the British Rally Championship. Even better, it was just after I had bought my Fuji X-H2S, so it would be a perfect opportunity to put it through its paces. My dad was also keen to watch a rally, so a plan was hatched.

As an early start was needed to catch the cars on the first loop of stages, I stayed at my parent’s house for the night so we could make a quick getaway. Usually I would relish an early morning blast across to Wales, but due to logistics we ended up going in the van. It was still a decent drive though, and we stopped for bacon sandwiches as a second breakfast, shortly after crossing the Welsh border. First we went to Sweet Lamb, as it seemed that it would be the easiest stage to get to and park at. It felt strange being somewhere that I have seen so much on television, it always looked like a cold place on television, and the reality matched that. As we waited in the spectator area low clouds drifted over, occasionally clearing. We would hear the cars coming before we saw them coming down the hill, round a corner, through the water splash, over a jump, then round a couple of hairpins and across the finish line. Whilst it was great watching the cars, we were stating to get cold as the last classes of cars were coming through. So we decided that we would watch the afternoon loop from the Myherin stage – via a third breakfast at the cafe in Devil’s Bridge.

By the time we arrived to Myherin, and had parked up on the side of the fireroad, and walked up to the viewing area, the sun had come out. I am not sure if it was the weather, or the better location, in the forest, but spectating at Myherin was one of my favourite motorsport experiences. Seeing the cars drifting through the back-to-back right angled, right hand corners and hearing them continue down the stage was exactly what I imagined rally spectating to be. The classic Escorts were mostly sideways (predictably), but it was also impressive seeing the top drivers in their modern four wheel drive machinery being millimetre perfect on the apex of the corner. There was also a Mitsubishi Evo VI who just brushed the large rock on the apex of the first corner, to gasps from the crowd – caught perfectly with the 20FPS of the X-H2S. However, my favourite car of the day was the classic 911 driven by Seb Perez (photo at the top of the post), it was good to see the mix of classic and more modern machinery on the rally. Also of note was that Jos Verstappen, ex-F1 driver, and father of current F1 world champion Max Verstappen, was taking part in his first gravel rally.

It was a good first test for the X-H2S, paired with my Fuji XF 50-140mm lens, the autofocus locked onto the cars, with the car subject detect mode activated. And the 20FPS shutter ensured that I could select the prime frame in Lightroom when I got home. I felt like a came home with way more keepers that I would have done had I been shooting with my old Fuji X-T2.

Spectating at a gravel rally in a Welsh forest really lived up to the hype, it was defiantly worth the early start, the long day in the van and spending the morning on a cold Welsh hillside. Seeing the cars sideways on the gravel, especially at close quarters was such a great experience. It was also nice to spend the whole day just with my dad, something that we do not manage to do enough.

Ox Stones – Throwback Thursday

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Last August I went on a Peak District photography workshop, with James Grant. I had a great day, and took some images I was really happy with. The only problem was that it was only a few days before we left for our summer road trip, so I did not get round to processing the photos. Fast forward to the present day, and I am arranging a bike ride with Partho, and I notice that we would be passing close to the Ox Stones, which reminded me about the unprocessed photos in my Lightroom catalog, and I processed them.

The portrait version was my first composition, and I think it is my favourite of the two, despite the sky in the landscape shot being better. In the landscape composition I had tried to use the clumps of heather as a leading line, but I feel the foreground works better on the portrait shot, with the nicer light on the heather. Hopefully I will be able to share a few more processed photos from the workshop soon.

Wales with Owen

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A few weeks ago Owen and I finally made it to Bike Park Wales, we have been wanting to go for ages, but various things had got in the way. We came close to going last year, we had passes and a hotel booked, but then Owen had to go to hospital. Earlier in the year we won a competition, on the Little Rippers Facebook group, for a “parent and child pass” at Bike Park Wales, which is a new offer which makes it cheaper to ride there with kids. One of the dates coincided with an Orange Bikes event, also in South Wales, so a plan was formed.

Owen and I drove down the afternoon before, taking a detour to Porthcawl for fish and chips, and some photophotography/playing on the beach. The fish and chips from Beales were good and we enjoyed exploring the seafront. I got a couple of good photos. Owen had play on the beach, but unfortunately he missed out on his favourite seaside activity, as the arcades did not take contactless and I had left my wallet in the van. We stayed at the Premier Inn at Caerphilly, ready to hit Mountain View Bike Park in the morning.

After a fairly restrained visit to the breakfast buffet, we drove the short distance to the Orange Gathering at Mountain View Bike Park. We got there early, before the event started, and hit the pumptrack after signing on. Owen managed about three laps before ending up on the floor. Not the start we wanted, especially as we still had the main event later in the day. We thought it best to leave the pumptrack and explore the trails, the short green loop went well, so we added on the “8 ball” blue trail, which was a bit rougher. Owen seemed to be struggling, he was not feeling 100%, but I could also tell that he had not been riding his bike much. He should have been fine on the trail, he has ridden worse, but his confidence was knocked. Fortunately, after a rest, and a look at the Orange bikes back at the event, a session on the skills area, practising drop offs, helped, and Owen rode really well on the “Twister” blue trail, which to me felt harder than “8 ball”. As we climbed back up to the start we noticed another trail, alongside the huge jump lines that looked fun. It was the “Jamming” red trail, and after another family told us that it was fun, we decided to give it a try. Owen loved it! We did another lap of “Twister” and “Jamming”, then went back to the event for pizza before the short drive to Bike Park Wales.

I was not sure what to expect at the Orange Gathering, but must admit that I came away slightly underwhelmed. I had hoped that they would have some merch on sale, but it just seemed like they had their demo fleet to test and I definitely do not need another Orange bike! The new, made in the UK, MsIsle hardtail looked great though. And seeing the bikes in different colours has made me rethink my plans for the Clockwork Evo, which I was going to get powder coated in “Norlando Grey” to match my Four. Now I think I will go for a brighter colour. There did not seem to need too many other Orange riders at the bike park, but maybe the afternoon was busier. However, I was really impressed with Mountain View Bike Park, the trails were compact, but well maintained and the cafe/bike shop were nice. If we were ever in South Wales again I would call in for an afternoon. I thought that it would be an ideal place to break the journey if we went to Bluestone again.

As good as Mountain View Bike Park was, we were both excited for our afternoon at Bike Park Wales. As we arrived we saw people parking on the approach road, but decided to risk driving up nearer to the car park, hoping to find a space, which we did. We also got checked in quickly, I guess most people had been there since the park opened at 10:00. The deck outside office/cafe/shop was buzzing with people, it reminded me of spring days at a European ski resort. The food looked good too, but we had already eaten and we were there to ride!

We took the green trail down to the uplift pick up point, which was further away from the cafe etc than I had expected. There was a push/climb to get to the uplift too, which was also unexpected. I was pleasantly surprised that despite it being a sunny, sold-out, day, we got straight onto an uplift bus without waiting. The system they have in place is very efficient. The uplift seemed to go on forever, much longer than at 417 Bike Park, which is my only previous experience. From the top of the uplift there was also a short, fairly flat, pedal to get to the trailhead.

We chose the green-graded “Kermit” trail for our first descent, as it is the easiest trail in the bike park, but also one of the longest. After dropping in we had the trail to ourselves. It started off twisting between lines, then there was a traverse out in the open, with scenic(?) views over Merthyr Tydfil. With a few more curves before a sneaky short uphill section which spat us out at the terrace. As unwelcome as the sudden climb was, it showed how much thought had gone into the park, as it slows the riders right down before joining a busy area.

We rode straight back to the uplift pickup for another lap, discussing which trails we would ride, settling on “Melted Welly” into “Roller Disco” into “Blue Belle”, all blue-graded flow trails. As we were about to drop in, Owen said that he was not feeling well and that he did not want to do another lap after this one, which as disappointing, but not surprising as he had not seemed himself all day. We enjoyed our second run down the hill, well maybe not the surprise climb on “Melted Welly”, but the downhill bits were great. It was a shame that we had to leave after only two runs, but Bike Park Wales was even better than I had expected, and I had very high expectations! I am sure that we will be back there later in the year to do some more runs!

New Camera – Fuji X-H2S

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After trying a Fuji X-H2S last year, it was inevitable that I would end up buying one, I just was not expecting it to be so quickly… After buying a XF 50-140mm lens last year I was mostly happy with the performance upgrade over my old telephoto lens and was enjoying photography. Thoughts of upgrading my camera had been pushed to the back of my mind. When Owen was frustrated with the performance of “his” camera at the Dukeries Rally, I started looking at options for either a cheap Fuji body to use with my old telephoto lens, or even a Canon lens to use with my very old Canon Eos 20D body, an upgrade for me was not on the radar. However, the more I looked the more I realised that there was not really such a thing as “a cheap Fuji body”, and then that my X-T2 was probably the best of the “cheaper” Fuji bodies, and that I would be as well upgrading my body and letting Owen use the X-T2, but the idea was filed away for later in the year.

Then over the Easter holidays we visited Leeds Castle in Kent, and I figured it was as good a time as any to let Owen try the X-T2, to keep things simple for him I fitted the FUJINON XF35mmF1.4 fixed lens, whilst I used my X100V. Not only did Owen absolutely love it, he was careful with the camera and took some good photos. My plan would work. When we had guests round over the Easter weekend, rather than taking photos myself, I handed Owen the X-T2 and put him in charge of photos, once again he did a great job, capturing some lovely photos of his cousin. He had proven himself, but a camera purchase still was not on the cards.

What tipped me over the edge was learning that the price of the X-H2S was going to increase by £500 from April the first. Now I had three reasons to buy the camera, on their own better autofocus performance for shooting action sports, being able to have a spare camera for Owen or avoiding a £500 price increase would not have been enough to get me to buy the camera, but all three together was a compelling case. The only catch was that it was Easter Sunday, and the price rise was the next day. Usually I would buy from London Camera Exchange in Leamington Spa, as they have always provided good service, and I feel it is important to support bricks and mortar camera stores, but I had to settle for ordering from LCE online.

The camera arrived in the middle of a busy week at work, so I did not have much opportunity to try it out and work my way through the multitude of settings, although Owen and I did get out for a brief, muddy, walk on Coundon Wedge, where I took the photo above (of course Owen had the X-T2). From a photography perspective it was not the most productive, but it was nice to get out with Owen.

It was not until the weekend that I got to really try the camera out properly, and even then it was only a quick walk around the War Memorial Park, whilst Jen did Parkrun. I only had about thirty minutes, so did not want to waste time switching lenses, so fitted the 50-140mm and went to see what I could find in the park. First I found squirrels, and being park squirrels they were used to humans, so even with a relatively short lens, I was able to get close enough to them for some decent photos. More importantly it was a good opportunity to experiment with the animal detection autofocus, which worked really well.

Over the next few days I was able to take photos of the boys at Junior Parkrun, and also Henry at Cycle Speedway. In both cases the improved autofocus over my X-T2 was noticeable, and I was pleased with the photos. After each time using the camera I continued to tweak the settings to my liking, which I feel will be an ongoing process. I may also have made a mistake setting up the custom modes too early, as now if I want to change something globally on the camera, I then need to change it eight times, once as the default, then once again for each of the seven custom modes. I have got a busy few months ahead, and will have plenty of opportunities to put the X-H2S through its paces, so hopefully there will be more photos appearing on this blog soon.

I Won a Photography Challenge

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Most months I enter some informal photography challenges, mainly to force me out of my comfort zone and encourage me to do some photography. And last month I won one! The theme was “Backlit”, and as we were able to use old images, I knew the backlit jogger I took on the War Memorial Park Sunrise Photo Walk last year.

It is only a bit of fun, with the prize being to set the theme of the next challenge, and judge it, but it is nice to see one of my favourite photos getting some recognition from a third party.