Summer and Autumn 2021 Outings

[Ian Stedman]

Time to start the discussions on the Autumn outings.

#1 Return trip to Kelsey Park
I've been talking to Chris Nash about this one and we have a provisional date, Monday 27th September.
Similar to before, meet in the Cafe at Kelsey park around 10:00 am and proceed from there.
I hope to join this time, will book some time off and maybe buy another camera lens

#2 Comic con* for Cosplay photos
An idea from Barrie, it's taking place at Excel, London, 22nd-24th October.
http://comic-cons.xyz/event/mcm-london-comic-con-uk/
*Should be possible to blag some entry to photograph people as they enter.

Any Big Bang Theory fans here?

#3a/3b Lea Valley Walk/Whitewater rafting
#3a Whitewater rafting
https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/plan-your-visit/plan-your-visit-to-lee-valley-white-water-centre
A legacy of the 2012 Olympics, the Lea Valley Whitwater centre is in Waltham Abbey (between J25 & J26 of the M25). This would be good for action photos (looking at you Machine Gun Chris). Would want to visit on days when there are events on, ideally car pool due to parking costs/travel.

#3b Lea Valley walk
Whilst searching for alternative walks in London, I found this from TFL:
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/walking/lea-valley
Potentially walks 3-4 may be of interest. Not sure if you can combine the urban and nature elements in Walk #4, if there are any.

#4 Holborn Walking tour.
Possibly the last London based one I have for a while.  I visited Lincoln Inn fields on Open House 2019, but did not explore further.
https://mylondonwalks.com/walks/a-walk-through-holborn/

This is in the early stages.


Thoughts, opinions and ideas welcome.

[Fay]

Sounds good...........    

[Chris Sawyer]

Hi Ian,

All those outings look good to me.  Here's my personal comments for what they are worth.

1) Kelsey Park - Another chance to take a BIF (blurred)

2) Comicon - Actual people to snap + more River Thames if time allows.

3a) Lea Valley Whitewater - Good action photography.  Worth a 2nd visit.

3b) Walk 4 along the River Lea is a good choice.  I expect a bit of industrial decay.  There's a lot of TV filming done at Three Mills and it will interesting to take a look.

4) Holborn etc - I've wandered around here a few times, but happy to do so again.  Pubs are good.

[Bazza]

My thoughts as below

1/ Kelsey park - if we are considering Herons availability then maybe we need to visit End April and Early May to  get young when around nests otherwise perfect for many other species.

2/ visit the Expo centre either by tube or the cable car from Greenwich peninsula. Need to consider timings as the next event is either Sat 24th / Sun 25 Oct. ( prefer Sunday as quieter to travel )

3/ Lea valley - maybe we should try and coincide with future national slalom event, nothing on horizon at present but need to keep checking web.

3b and 4 sound good just timing for me

Few additional thoughts

Most Friday afternoons / early evening at Brands Hatch before a weekend event it’s very cheap (free) to go in and watch practice laps or even in the pit lane

Another good motoring event would be Brooklands eg this Sunday they are celebrating the late Stirling Moss era with his many racing models. NB not sure if I can get a pass though

Finally, once again I would like to try Astro photography but dark spaces are very limited in SE - I have been recommended to try “Iping Common” near Midhurst or Epsom Downs. But this would need a group outing and not suitable for Billy no mates plus short notice on weather makes this very difficult.


Feedback would be worthwhile…..

[Richard W]

To add to points raised by Bazza

1 - Agree, probably best time to see any real bird activity is breeding time

2 - Cant comment, comic strip characters not my scene

3 - Staged events such as we went to are a definite yes! Luckily Barrie and myself managed to blag "press" vests and go inside the ropes. As soon as we see the next "good" event we need to act quickly and apply for vests for all

Now the nights are drawing in how about evening shoot on Southbank either sundown or into dark to get city lights etc.Tripods a definite requirement

Ref star shooting - over to you Fay

[Ian Stedman]

Hi,

Some good points raised.

1) Kelsey park, I agree April/May is best, a reminder for the end of this season?
    I might still try it later this month, want to try something new.

2) Comicon, could be fun, not to everyones taste but again, try new things/subjects. Would also be good to see the before in some of Bazza's photos. :)

3a) Lea Valley rating, can you guys keep an eye out for events and let the group know?

3b) Another walk, will try and find out more. I wonder if it could be a reasonable autumn colours trip?

Bazza and Richard raised some good points about Astro and night photography.

Have you seen this for Astro sites?
https://gostargazing.co.uk/location-map/
and the light pollution map:
https://gostargazing.co.uk/light-pollution-map/
Lullingstone/Eynsford looks like a local spot that could have promise.

With regard to night photos, I like the idea of Southbank, perhaps parts of the west end even?
Is Picadilly too garish? ;)

An idea, for discussion. We have a club night, 22nd March 2022 not allocated to anything, how about a trip up town that evening?

Keep the ideas coming, we can discuss a bit more freely when the new season starts.