Last night I was invited by a previous attendee of one of my Photo Experience Days to visit a friend of his who has a “proper big” telescope set up in his back garden.

His rig was all computer controlled, and at the click of a mouse button he was able to automatically move it to view the moon.  Impressed I was.

Not nearly as impressive was the clouds that had magically appeared just a few seconds after we arrived, however patience paid off and about an hour later we got 20 minutes of nearly clear sky.

Not having got a lens attachment for my camera (to enable camera and telescope to connect and work as one) I had to hand hold my mobile phone and camera up to the eyepiece of the 12″ telescope and hope for the best.  Results were a bit hit and miss, but given the limitations of how I was working I was really rather pleased with some of the photos.

The first photo here is taken with my Blackberry mobile phone, and the second with my Fuji X100.  Neither photo has been cropped.  The third photo is of Saturn, and it’s been very heavily cropped.

I don’t think I have the patience to take up astronomy as a hobby, but it was a very interesting experience.

The highlight of BodyPower 2012 for me, I’m almost ashamed to admit were the buffalo burgers that I might have eaten 3 of over the 2 days I was there.

Friday was fairly quiet, I think it had been set aside as an “industry” day, which in effect means not much was happening in the way of events, but it was much easier to walk around and chat with people.

Saturday on the other hand was insanely busy, with so many people the phone networks gave up working and it was all but impossible to find the people you were looking for asides for meeting accidentally, which of course never happens when you’re actively searching for someone!

I don’t really do crowds, so I had to retreat outside of the halls for a couple of hours around the high point of the day.  I ended up in Wetherspoons where I sat for an hour with a few friends waiting for food we’d ordered that never actually turned up.  I was only disappointed for as long as it took to get a refund and realise that it meant buffalo burger number three!

The show itself was bigger and better than ever, with lots of different stages and event areas for all kinds of sports from Brazilian Jui Jitsu, Strongman, Arm Wrestling, MMA and of course Body Building.

Top stars included Mr Olympia Phil Heath, and Arnold Classic winner Branch Warren.  With other big names like Kai Greene and one of my favourite models I’ve had the pleasure of shooting twice, Larissa Reis.

Dates for BodyPower 2013 are already set – all the details on the website.

I was out on one of my New Forest Photo Experience Days earlier today with a group of 14 eager photographers when half way through the morning we discover a cow sitting quietly on her own.  It took us a few minutes to notice that she was in labour.  That was when I had to tear up the days itinerary.

Not sure what to do I phoned someone in the know for advice, and they simply said give it some space and leave it be.

We stayed and watched until our stomachs got the better of us and lunch at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel beckoned.  One of the group wanted to stay with the cow, so we left them both together.  A couple of hours or so later the group returned.  The cow had moved a bit but still no baby.  Forty-five minutes later and the status quo had not changed.  It was time to call an end to the Photo Day and we all went our separate ways.

Several hours later after a meeting about a wedding and then an ice cream in Lymington I returned to Lyndhurst and trekked over to where the cow had been.  One of the Agisters and the local farmer who owns the mother were there, and the calf had been born just 10 minutes earlier.  It had needed help from the farmer, and when I told him that the labour had started before lunch they were really surprised the calf had made it.

Asking what I should have done, their answer was if you have any doubts, report it to the local police who’ll get in touch with someone who can help.

The farmers granddaughter named the calf “Lucky“.  I’m really glad I decided to pop back, and so very pleased for the happy ending.

30 seconds on the M27 near Southampton.

Photo by Paul Buecta – www.paulbuceta.com

I only found out that Bob K was sick a few days ago having seen many people wishing him the best on his Facebook page.  Today, 13th April 2012 I found out about his passing.  It’s been an emotional few days with Tosca (his wife) keeping everyone updated via her blog.  Although I’ve not spoken to Bob much over the last few years, his death by cancer has hit home big time for me because it comes nearly a year after I lost my Dad to it.  It’s a terrible way to die.

Although I didn’t know Bob all that well, I’ll always be in debt to him as he published my first ever photo.  Still to this day the model in question,  Jaime Koeppe is my all time favourite.  It was featured as a double page spread in Musclemag way back in 2003.  It was such a privilege to see my work in print like this for the first time.  Thank you Bob.

I bumped into Bob a few times over the years, mostly at various fitness events / expos, even visiting him in his office a couple of times.  He was always very forward in telling me exactly what he wanted from the photos I submitted for publication in his magazines (Musclemag & American Curves) and over the years I had quite a bit of success and lots of photos published because I listened.

My favourite memory of Bob was in the middle of the Toronto Expo centre at the FAME World Championships, when in a packed Expo hall he got down on all-fours to demonstrate a couple of the poses he liked to see the girls do.  If only I’d had a camera.  Just thinking about it now puts a smile on my face.

I was originally introduced to Bob by photographer Skip Faulkner who sadly died last summer.

Life is short.  Get out there and make the most out of it.

Bob, you might have gone, but you’ll never be forgotten.

Peace & respect to Tosca and family.

Thankfully I’d noticed the day before that Saints were at home that evening so I’d pre-warned all 11 attendees that traffic might be a issue.  Only one was late and she’d come all the way from Surrey so we’ll let her off.

We did actually loose a few people before the end of the evening…  One was due to a dead battery (always bring a spare) and two more needed to warm their hands on cups of hot coffee!

Probably the best accessory you can buy for cold night is a good pair of gloves that not only keep you warm, but that you can also operate the camera with.  You will thank me for this advice. 

We met on Saturday at the Montagu Arms Hotel, and in the process I think I just may have found the most expensive cup of tea in the New Forest.  At £3.95 for a small cup and a half of tea, even the barkeep seemed too embarrassed to actually say the price as he just handed me the receipt.  Meh didn’t even begin to sum up my thoughts on this one.  Charging high worked against the hotel, I was going to take the group back there for lunch, but instead we opted for the much friendly and cheaper Steff’s Kitchen at the garden centre at the top of the High Street.

We wondered around the lovely little village of Beaulieu for the morning, before heading down the road to Beaulieu Road Station for the afternoon.  We had to do a bit of creative parking to squeeze 10 cars into the already full up car park – see picture below!

Sunday was a complete arse of a day.  After setting off from the Lyndhurst Park Hotel in only light rain, the heavens soon opened making it all but impossible to continue.  Thankfully everyone kept their sense of humour as re retreated to the warmth and dry of the hotel bar.  Big thanks to the hotel for looking after us so well, and hopefully the days everyone has rebooked will be much nicer.

It’s a feature on Miss Galaxy Universe competition run by Sarah Donohue.  For more information on the event, do please check out the website.

As always it makes me very happy indeed to see my work in print.

NB.  I’ve deliberately saved the images at lower quality than normal, and also greyed out most of the words.  If you want to see the article please support the magazine and buy a copy.  It’s a small publication and needs everyone’s support to continue.  It’s also available as Apple & Android Apps, so no excuses if you can’t find it in the newsagent!  Thank you    Link is here – www.fitnorama.com

11 photo enthusiasts all armed with tripods met me at the Holiday Inn in Southampton for the start of the photo walk.  It being the first one I wasn’t quite sure of the timings, but I had a rough plan in my head of where I wanted to go.

Our first stop was on top of the old wall overlooking the Devere Grand Harbour Hotel where everyone tried their hand at long exposure car light images.

The second stop was to set up camp in the middle of the Mayflower Roundabout.  We must have looked a strange sight indeed with 12 tripods all set up…  but it was the best place to photograph the pretty lights that lit up a part of the old wall, so what could we do?

Next up was a short walk up to the High Street where I asked everyone to ditch their tripods, turn up the ISO, and shoot with the widest aperture they had and to hand hold their cameras.  Results differed as everyone had different lenses…  some of the kit lenses are quite slow.  I highly recommend that everyone get hold of a bog standard 50mm lens.  For under £100 it’ll probably be the best lens you ever own.

Finally, we ended up in Mayflower Park overlooking the water.  It’s the only place I know in the centre of Southampton that is properly dark.  The aim of this part of the evening was to try some light painting.  A couple of people got really creative, drawing stick men with torch light….  Fun stuff!

I didn’t have much chance to take photos, but here are a few of my favourites.