Company of Wolves

I will probably do a little series here with a few more wolf pics, because I finally got to see them out in all their glory yesterday, after several visits to the Highland Wildlife Centre.

I am spoiled for choice with good literature about wolves, so I will find a good one for a future post. In the meantime, hope you like this pic.

Spooky Tree

I saw this tree while out walking in Glentanar, and it really caught my eye. The contrast between it and the healthy green trees around it is very marked.

I found this poem that I thought might go well with this picture:

The Dead Tree

My life is a dead tree;
Spring is a mockery to it;

But in the winter it shall bear the snows
And rear aloft its stark and hopeless branches
As bravely as another.

^__Thomas E. Moore.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/poetry/hoopes/deadtree.html

Radio Waves for Jason

I would like to tell you about a woman I have come to admire tremendously, although I have never met her.

She is immensely brave, dedicated to her cause, and always carries herself with dignity and courtesy. She has helped change laws in America, has appeared on television, on radio, and at public rallies all over the States. I suspect, however, that she would prefer to live forever in anonymity if it meant that the catalyst which propelled her to this fame had never happened.

You see, one day Kelly Jolkowski's son Jason stepped out of the house to put out the trash, and never came back in.

There was no evidence of foul play, and none of the usual things that accompany runaways. He has simply vanished. Since then, on top of dealing with her loss, Kelly (and her family) has campaigned tirelessly to help improve things for families who are living without the knowledge of what has happened to a loved one.

Kelly and her family set up Project Jason, which has the support of the '18 Wheel Angels' - drivers who carry images of missing persons all over the nation. They worked to help establish Jason's Law; establishing from that the Missing Person's Clearinghouse. Project Jason established the 'Adopt a Missing Person' campaign to provide assistance to other families in desperate need of getting information out about their loved ones. Kelly started a blog to highlight the terrible situations families find themselves in, and how they are preyed upon by self-interested vultures. The list goes on, and it can easily be seen that because of Kelly, and Project Jason, much has been done to help families of missing people.

The latest project for Kelly is a much more personal one, and just as deserving of support. I can't imagine what it must be like to live every day with such a gap that must be left when your son just vanishes. I can't imagine all the years spanning out without contact, or information, or closure. There is nothing in me that can begin to understand the highs and lows of such hope and disappointment. Recently many of us read about two separate cases of children returned alive to their families after years on lists of the missing. This must impact a family like Kelly's so much more intimately and intensely than the rest of us - how can that not lead them to hope for the same outcome, and soon? I know that Kelly prays, and I hope it brings her the strength and comfort she needs.

What she also needs, are resources. Her son was keen to get into the radio industry, after an internship with a local station. The latest project is hoping that should he currently be active in making a life for himself, he would be involved in a radio station somewhere. Project Jason has a list of radio stations, and an email template already written up, and all they need are volunteers to work through the list, sending in the email to various stations. It provides a photo, a vocal clip and an aged photograph of Jason, in the hopes that he might be recognised. If you have some time to spare, and the ability to copy, paste and send information to a subset of this list of stations, Project Jason would love to hear from you.

You can read about the project:
http://www.projectjason.org/

and volunteer by emailing your interest to:
radiowavesforjason@projectjason.org

Let's see if we can help bring Jason home, or at least get information to his family about what has happened to him in the past five years.

Pat Cash - for my sister :D

These are the shots I managed to get as Pat Cash arrived, and then as he posed for us as he left again at the end of the afternoon.

He was in great form, despite some moments of frustration at the umpire, as previously mentioned. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself, and welcomed all input from the crowd in attendance. He thanked the audience for their support at the end of the match, and promised that they would be returning to Belfast again. I hope this is the case, and look forward to making an annual trip back 'home' to watch these superstars of tennis.

Doubles Delights

Henri LeConte showed up for the tennis with a rather ick David Beckham hairband type affair, but thankfully it didn't impact his sense of humour.

One of his doubles opponent was David Fleming, and each of them was partnered with a local star. These are the two young gents in the second picture - David O'Connor and Niall Fitzgerald. I was most impressed with Fitzgerald's skill, and his attention to the match despite the best efforts of LeConte to distract everyone. I shall be watching for him in the coming years with a similar interest to the one I developed in Andy Murray two years ago. Here's hoping his career takes as high a turn as Murrays.

Questioning the Umpire

Following from my earlier post about the tennis and quality of line calls:


I think the frustration in Wayne Ferreria's face is all too apparent. In the second photograph he was getting back up from having dropped to his knees in shock at the decision made.

A need for review - cameras at events - Part 2

So, the next day I trotted happily to my seat with my camera, having gained entry without comment - not even a search of my bag.

Early in the afternoon, I heard the heavy footsteps approach from behind. They stepped to the seat behind me, and a hand touched my shoulder. I turned and the security guard leaned over to ask if I would mind putting the camera away. I held it up for him to see, and pointed out that there was no flash attached. He told me that it was not the flash - it was the lens. It was considered a professional lens, and the press didn't like it. I should point out I have a good telephoto lens, but it was back in Scotland at the time. I'm having problems carrying it and some other kit around just now due to a neck injury from a minor fender-bender in January. I was using a standard lens, with a little zoom, but not much. I told him about what had been said to the photographer the previous day, and he told me that there had been a meeting called by management that morning. I was surprised, and asked him "They change the rules overnight, and don't put any information up about it?". He said yes, and smiled sympathetically. I used to be door staff myself, so I realised it wasn't worth arguing with him further - he was only acting on his remit. Besides which, the players had returned to court, so chattering on was not an option.

I grudgingly switched the camera off and set it down for the rest of the afternoon. Assuming that the press would only be concerned about saleable photographs, I took the chance of grabbing a few shots of the players when they were leaving the court, and wanted in particular to get a shot of Pat Cash for my sister. Pat Cash was in great form, and paused by the exit to pose for several people who begged him to smile or kiss in their direction. I rushed over with my camera to grab a quick shot as my sister got his autograph. Someone stepped between us, so I missed the photo of her receiving her autograph from him, but I ran off a few as he smiled around at the rest of the cameras. Just as Pat was turning toward me, a loud voice boomed in his ear. "Hey you! You were told not to use that camera. Put it away!" shouted the security guard (a different one than had spoken to me) at Pat's side. Pat was as startled as the rest of us, and glanced at the guard, to follow his gaze. I had been about to argue, but on seeing Pat's reaction I realised that I had no desire to make a scene in front of him - particularly as the scorekeeping and umpiring had been so poor in his match. What must he think of the whole setup in Belfast?

I lowered the camera, and showed the guard I was putting the lens cap back on and switching it off. He continued to shout at me, but I was too mortified to hear much of it, and could only blush pathetically at Pat Cash as he looked at me, clearly uncertain as to why I was being singled out. I waited for my sister, and we both left the venue with a weird mix of elation for the tennis, embarrassment for the shoddy and unprofessional umpiring, and fury at the jobsworth who obviously felt it was more important to act like he was the big man in front of Cash, than have consideration for descretion in his job. The upshot of this - I now feel I have every right to use the photos I got as I see fit, where normally I would keep them for personal use only. I will not publish the photo I got of Cash and his son together, as I see this as an infringement of their right to privacy. I am not part of the papparazzi wolfpack. I will however bring you some shots from the tournament that I was able to get in the next few days. It was a public event, and initially there were no restrictions on the types of cameras allowed. I brought my camera in in an open topped bag, and was not challenged on it on entry to the venue, which is where those sort of checks should really occur. I adhered completely to the no-flash rule, and am infuriated at the way this was blatently ignored by much of the audience, and was not enforced by the security staff.

I feel it is time now, with the advent of smaller, cheaper, higher standard cameras, that event management reconsider this ridiculous rule about 'professional' lenses. There should be consistency about use of cameras - either without flash, or not at all, but this discrimination against people who prefer to use SLRs should stop. The arguments against them don't add up, and new technology is making the whole point moot anyway.

If you manage events - anywhere - please think this issue through properly. All cameras, or none.

Please support me in encouraging venues to allow all of us the same chance to take home permanent memories of these wonderful events.

A need for review - cameras at events - Part 1

As mentioned, I was recently at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast for the Blackrock Tennis Legends tour.

I have attended other tennis events, concerts, and so on at other venues before, and so I am aware that although tickets state "no cameras permitted", they tend to be allowed in most places these days. I know that in most places there is now a tolerance for smaller cameras, and the only diktat is normally that flash is disabled. In my own local arena I had checked the rules with the security staff before my events, and was informed that although smaller cameras were allowed - flash free - that SLR cameras were not permitted, which ruled out my Canon 350D (at the time - I have since upgraded).

I asked why, and was told that they were considered as professional cameras, so the press did not like to compete with them after they had paid extra for their press passes. I reminded them of the advertising campaign for Canon, showing young people using the 350D anywhere and everywhere, for all manner of snapshots. I also explained that there were more than a few of the smaller handheld cameras that have higher resolution and more zoom than the 350D. I even offered to sign a waiver that would prevent me from selling the pictures. They were unmoved, and as a result I have no decent photos to remind me of my times watching the wonderful Andrew Murray. I feel this rule is unfair, and as it turns out, press passes are not as expensive as I was being led to believe - in some venues they are free! Meanwhile plenty of people with their little cameras were flashing away all through the events.

I went to the Belfast Arena without my camera initially, as I was uncertain of the security setup there. On entry, there were no search procedures at all - a new thing to me; particularly in Belfast. There were notices up that flash photography was no permitted, but that was all. I saw several people with good SLR cameras in the audience as I looked around, and one lady sat near me so I went over for a chat.

As I approached, she looked up somewhat irritated at my approach, but softened as we spoke. Her problem was that staff kept coming to tell her to stop taking flash photos. I could see that her flash was closed down on the camera, and that she had it set for no flash. She told me that she had not been searched, and had made no effort to hide that she had a camera on entry. She said that she was getting really annoyed at how she was being isolated for constant harassment from the security guards for something she was innocent of. Indeed, when I was back in my seat I watched them speak to her a further 2 times. She explained patiently to them that the flash was disabled, and asked why they were singling her out. They left without answering that, but giving her a stern reminder not to use the flash.

The ridiculous thing is that there were flash cameras being used all over the place - even during service, which is incredibly rude, and annoying to the players. I was able to easily identify several offenders in various parts of the arena - none of whom were approached by staff. What was funnier, was that while I spoke to this poor woman, an older lady in the row in front of her turned to us and explained to me that it was not the young woman's camera that was flashing - it was hers! I saw her speak to the security staff also, but she did not appear to be reprimanded about her little instant camera.

The younger photographer also told me that she had attended the day before, in a better seat, and had even met the players, but had not brought her camera that day. She had checked then that it was ok to bring her camera (I think it was the 350D), and had been hoping to get some of the shots she had missed the day before. She had been as excited as I was at the prospect of viewing such great tennis up close. Now she was angry, and wasn't sure it had been worth the hassle to get the shots she had done so far. She had clearly been discriminated against, and no action was taken against those who actually ignored the rules, and the courtesy to players.

As I was due to return the following day, I decided to bring my camera along. I figured that I could easily handle a few conversations with staff - particularly as my camera does not even have a flash unit mounted on it at all. It is visibly incapable of taking flash pictures. I was thrilled at the prospect of getting some shots to take home and enjoy in the future when I wanted to think back on that trip.

My experience will follow shortly.

Professional Tennis, Amateur Umpires

Last week I went to Belfast to watch some of my childhood heroes play tennis.

The Blackrock Tennis Legends Tour takes place each year, but this was the first trip to Ulster, and it was hosted at the Belfast Odyssey Arena as the kick-off event for the whole tour.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/other-sports/article2198823.ece

I loved watching McEnroe and Connors when I was younger. They inspired me and excited me, producing some of the best matches I have ever seen - even to this date. Unfortunately Connors was not in this tour, nor was my other tennis idol, Ivan Lendl, but John McEnroe was, along with Henri LeConte and Pat Cash, which went some way to making up for Connors's absence.

As expected the tennis was high class, and the showcase doubles matches in particular were great fun. Henri LeConte stole the show in the doubles - mock-arguing with the umpire about the pronunciation of his name (which he changed a few times), and ambling around the court as if he was bored waiting for a bus, making faces at the audience and ballboys.

Pat Cash and Karl-Uwe Steeb (Charlie to the locals) were the prime jesters in the singles matches. Their sense of fun and enjoyment in the game ensured that the audience were happy to shout and cheer as they played. Pat Cash paused several times to pose for the ladies or shake that still-firm booty for the crowds.

McEnroe was as fired up as ever. The first set of the match I watched was fantastic - to a point. There were of course tantrums at line calls and umpire decisions. However, at some point the mood turned, and the tantrums became more vitriol than bluster. I wasn't particularly surprised to note this, and heard a few comments around me as people began to realise this wasn't just the usual display of frustration on court. McEnroe was really angry.

The situation came to a head when McEnroe sat down and refused to play on. He told the umpire he was forfeiting the match and threw his racket on court. The crowd laughed at first, and the was a mixture of cheering and jeering. It was very awkward, because most of us could see that he was correct in his initial point of argument. Most of us however had never had the chance to see a player of his calibre play live before, and may never see it again. We wanted to get the most of the time we had with him. I was seated close behind him, and tried to shout encouragement, telling him he could still take the match. Others did the same, and finally he returned to the court. Unfortunately he initially punished his opponent for the delay and disagreement, although his problem actually lay with the linespeople and umpire. Play soon returned to 'normal', but he lost the match after putting less effort into the second set. The crowd were quieter also; concerned about pushing him that last bit too far, perhaps.

The argument was over line calls - what else? But the point he tried to make was valid. The linespeople did not call loud enough. In fact, on several occasions they did not bother calling out at all - just raising their arms for the umpire to see - if she was looking in the right direction. The same umpire overruled a point in a match between Steeb and Cash the next day - despite the fact that Steeb admitted it was out, Cash could clearly tell it was out and the linesman had pointed it out. She overruled all three people because she had been unable to hear the linesman's call (which I heard from the opposite side of the court). The point had been an important one, but thankfully both players recovered well.

Last month I watched the Australian Open Tennis Tournament, and was embarrassed for my home town at the difference in quality of the match peripherals. The players had to remind ballgirls to pass balls down the court after games; the ballgirls and ballboys threw badly to the players as they waited to serve; the linestaff with one noteable exception called too quietly when they called at all; the scoreboard was repeatedly incorrect; and the umpires regularly corrected themselves for awarding points to the wrong player. Some of the linestaff and ballgirls looked as if they really wished they were elsewhere, and didn't pay appropriate attention to the match or players. After a point all this began to seriously detract from the matches, and both the audience and players became more subdued as several matches progressed, losing the fire to frustration at poor judgements.

Pat Cash made a point of thanking the audience, and promised they would return. I was overjoyed to hear this, because I would not have been surprised if he had complained at he amateur nature of the court staff and vowed never to return. I am glad he feels that the audience, us lovers of the game, are worth the additional chance, and I can only hope that the venue takes note of the problems raised those nights and does better next time.

Photographs and more to follow.