Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Some Panos from Tonbridge

Had a little time tonight to play with the images I took at Tonbridge and stitch a few together to create some panorama type shots. I've also gone through and enhanced all of the other images as all looked a little washed out - ah the wonders of digital photography, we no longer have to accept what the camera provides us with!

So to the panos. This first is of the family cricket match. I think the guy in the bottom left corner should be concentrating on the cricket rather than the camera. A surorise imact from acricket ball can seriously hurt!
cricket

Next up, the children's play area and crazy golf course. Stitched from two photos.
Playground

And finally, the KKF base camp. On the left you can see me with Heather and Will, and in the top right are Bill and Steve.
KKF Basecamp

Monday, June 05, 2006

Tonbridge Festival 4th June 2006

Well a few of us popped over to Tonbridge for the day. It was probably the best day for flying of the year so far. The day was suny and warm, but the breeze was a little iffy.

I arrived at just after noon, and Steve had arrived just before me. When I got to the field, there was Andy from All Good Fun already set up and trading.
IMG_0458 Steve and I decided to set up base in the middle of the field. Plenty of space as there were not a huge amount of people about. After a while, Bill arrived, soon followed by Andy and Will and then Heather, so the KKF base camp was formed.
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After a short while we were joined by a family group who set up camp close by. Unfortunately we can't choose our neighbours, and they were a bit loud and the language left a little to be desired - more what we would expect on the football terraces.
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The wind was a bit up and down all afternoon, which meant we had to keep a constant eye on the kites and junk as they had a habit of suddenly deciding to fall to earth. But eventually, the wind picked up and steadied enough for me to put a camera to a rok and go for a stroll. Got a couple of nice photos too. This one looks across the river towards the bridge and behind it the swimming pool complex.
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and right across the other side of the park, I discovered this family playing cricket.
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But before I could get the photo, the wind dropped and while I was rescuing the rig, the kite landed right by our base camp. So thanks to Andrew for helping me with a relaunch to get me back flying as soon as the wind picked up. I had time for a few photos over the children's play area before heading back to base to recover everything and find out whether we had any useable photos.
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Slowly people started to drift away, until it was just me Bill and Heather left on the field. Unfortunately for those who left early, we got by far the best of the weather conditions, as the wind steadied and kept everything nicely aloft. But at about 7 o'clock it died completely and all kites came gently to earth. Time to pack away and reflect on a really good day. This was probably my most successful KAP outing, and certainly the most pleasant days flying of the year so far. As usual, the useable photos from the day are on my flickr photostream. Follow the link at the bottom of the page.