Sunday 2 September 2012

'People and Places' at Glorious Goodwood

The end of July/beginning of August is traditionally the time for one of the most famous race meetings in the country - Glorious Goodwood. Situated on The South Downs the race course enjoys wonderful views of the countryside to the north and to the south, distant views of the sea and even the Isle of Wight on a clear day. I am not a seasoned race goer and definitely not a gambler buts its hard to resist the allure of Glorious Goodwood which attracts the famous, the not so famous and those that are simply there to win some money or have a good day out.

My reason for going this year was as part of a 'People and Places' photography course I was attending at West Dean College which is just down the road from Goodwood. I would thoroughly recommend West Dean College to anyone interested in an arts or crafts course held in a beautiful house set in quite superb grounds. The course was being run by Jacqui Hurst and in addition to myself there were five other participants. I will say more about Jacqui and the course in a forthcoming post.

At the outset of the week I set myself the objective of 'seeing' in black and white. We had to produce a portfolio of work by the end of the course, so however good some of the images might appear in colour the final selection would all have to be in monochrome. At Glorious Goodwood I wanted to capture the atmosphere of the place and its people, and whilst we were not in the 'posh' Richmond or Gordon Enclosures, the Lennox Enclosure would provide just as many photo opportunities.

I should just mention that a couple of weeks before attending the course I made the decision to buy the Olympus OMD EM5 with the 12mm to 50mm kit lens. The body and lens are weather sealed and having enjoyed the E-PL3 so much together with the three prime lens (12mm, 20mm and 45mm) I couldn't wait to see how this new camera performed. Being on a photography course for a week was the ideal opportunity to find out. I can tell you now, I was not disappointed, to the contrary the results are quite fantastic and I am now wondering when the Nikon D90 DSLR will get its next airing?

Here are a selection of the images taken at Goodwood. They were all taken with the OMD and one of the prime lenses. Shot in RAW, imported into Lightroom with minor adjustments before converting to black and white in Silver Efex Pro2; a dedicated B&W plugin by Nik Software

Racing to the line
Olympus OMD 20mm f8 1/500 ISO 200
Racing for the line


Required reading for the day - The Racing Post
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/2000 ISO200
The Racing Post

Watching the race
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/1600 ISO200
Cheering them on

A family day out......could that be the winner of the next race?
Olympus OMD 45mm f3.2 1/2500 ISO400
Family outing to the races

Lining up to place a bet.....I'm happy with those odds
Olympus OMD 45 f3.2 1/640 ISO200
The odds are looking good

Typical headgear at Goodwood
Olympus OMD 45mm f3.2 1/1600 ISO200
20120731-P7310153-Edit.jpg

Losing her shoe and losing her balance
Olympus OMD 45mm f4.5 1/200 ISO200
Losing her balance and her shoe!

Fingers or fork?
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/2000 ISO200
Fork or fingers?

Candid portrait
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 at f1.8 1/160 ISO 400
Candid portrait

A day out at the races - fun for all the family!
Olympus OMD 45mm f4.5 1/800 ISO200
A day out at the races

Entertainment from a steel band 
Olympus OMD 20mm f8 1/125 ISO200
Caribbean band playing the drums

A band called Squinty McGinty play feet tapping music in the beer tent
Olympus OMD 45mm f1.8 1/160 ISO400
Guitarist of Squinty McGinty

......and Goodwood wouldn't be the same without a Rolls Royce in the car park.
Olympus OMD 45mm f7.1 1/200 ISO400
20120731-P7310243-Edit.jpg

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