Last Stand at Ilkley RFC vs Hartlepool Rovers

Saturday saw the last league game of the season to be played under the shadow of the Old Stand at Ilkley RFC. Stacks Field. Their opponents were Hartlepool Rovers.

Ilkley RFC Stand and Clubhouse due to be replaced 2011

Ilkley RFC Stand

Plans are well under way to demolish the stand/clubhouse and replace them with a new Community Clubhouse, completion of the new clubhouse is scheduled for the end of May 2011. 

The 3.00pm kick off saw the ground bathed in sunshine and more reminiscent of a midsummers day.

Referee leads the Ilkley team onto the pitch

 Ilkley started well and went into the lead 

Ilkleys Chad Shepherd on his way to a try

but unfortunately for Ilkley, Hartlepool Rovers found their second wind later in the game and went on to win.

Hartlepool Rovers in possession

I managed to photograph the game from start to finish without any mishaps.

 

Ilkley Captain Stuart Vincent with Club President Ronald Obank and Chairman Richard Scargill

Photographs from the game can be viewed at Ruggerpix ( an Image and Style Gallery )

Details of the new clubhouse can be viewed at Ilkley RFC Website

I think this is as good a time as any to thank all the clubs in League North 1 East that I have had the pleasure to visit on my photographic quest, for their excellent hospitality, I have enjoyed some superb pies, Thankyou.

Peter W. Clark 11th April 2010

Sunrise Service, Easter 2010, Cow and Calf Rocks, Ilkley Moor

Cecile and I went to The Sunrise Service at the Cow and Calf Rocks at Ilkley on Easter Sunday. 

One of our photographs and an article were to be published in the local paper.

On Easter Sunday Ilkley was still fast asleep when several cars from different corners of the town passed through the empty streets. It was after 6.00 am and they were all going in the direction of the little car park below the Cow and Calf Rocks.

 

Not only cars were there but also on the moors were a few brave walkers heading in that direction. It was still dark when at 6.30am the car park was full and around seventy people representing many of the churches in Ilkley greeted each other heartily. 

Gathered on the slopes by the famous Yorkshire rocks and waving colourfull ribbons everybody joined in the singing of the hymns. As the prayers continued the sun was rising and the group were taking in the light and dawn of the new day.

Rev. Dick Watson leading the service

 For a brief moment betweeen one cloud and another, the warm golden rays of the rising sun covered everything and everybody.

Ilkley Moor, Cow and Calf Area

Rev Dick Watson

On this moment  ' Thine be the Glory ' sounded really joyful on this very special Sunrise Service. 

Rev. Dick Watson, the curator of All Saints church who was leading the service for the first time was as amazed as all the other participants with the wonderfull spectacle nature had shown us. 

As we were departing the sun was hidden again in the thick cloud but below in the Wharfe valley we could see the suns rays coming through illuminating the fields and woodland. 

Very significant, bringing hope and proving 'Every cloud has a silver lining'

Maria Cecylia Paslawska  4th April 2010

Travels to Poland

Sopot, Poland

I think its about time we taked about one of  our more recent ventures, travel photography. After looking through our photographs from holidays we had taken in Poland we realized that many people were not aware of the beauty and character of the country and did not even consider it as a holiday destination. 

As a way of trying to rectify this and to encourage new visitors to Poland we decided to build a website with a view to promoting tourism in Poland, this would also allow us to display and sell our photographs, this hopefully would also make our website self sufficient. Our travel experiences could also be described. Thus 'Imagine Poland ' was born. Although Imagine Poland is in its infancy it is evolving quickly as we visit different areas of Poland and add more photo galleries. We have already visited Krakow and the Tri City area of Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot.

Kazimierz, Krakow, Poland

In Spring 2010 we plan to visit Wroclaw and Poznan taking in a few castles on the way.
As well as displaying photographs on Imagine Poland we intend to add pages displaying usefull information for tourists and travellers visiting the various regions of Poland in the hope that the website will provide a usefull source of information regarding travel and tourism in the country.
In future posts we will describe the experiences of our next trip to Poland, this will include flight details, accomodation, food and all points of interest cultural, modern and historic. To view our progress so far please please follow the link           
 www.imaginepoland.com
I hope you enjoy the photographs and if you have any queries or a venue in Wroclaw or Poznan you would like us to report on please email us at info@imaginepoland.com
Peter and Cecile 

Gdansk, Poland

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sporting Camera Trauma

My dictionary describes trauma as an emotional shock, I think that just about puts in a nutshell my feelings on Saturday afternoon at the rugby game, Gateshead vs Ilkley.
Had spent time preparing cameras, batteries and wet weather clothing, spent two hours travelling to the ground, enjoyed a superb lunch in good company in the clubhouse after which the game started, I managed to get a few shots and then the 'TRAUMA', my camera decided to switch itself off, I tried everything, rebooting, changing batteries, changing memory cards. I now looked as though I was giving a bad impersonation of a circus juggler, panic was starting to set in and the action on the rugby field was hotting up. Any self respecting photographer would now be dipping into his haversack and producing a spare camera body, but oh no, cleverclogs had decided to travel light. I was just about to resort to lump hammer technology, when my prayers were answered, the lights came back on, there was life in the camera, my composure was quickly regained and I took up my position at the edge of the pitch trying to look as though the tantrums of the last ten minutes had never happened.
The camera managed to last out untill the final whistle blew, what a relief, I could now retire to the bar and contemplate future contingency plans.
The final result of the game - Ilkley lost after putting up a hard fight. Photographs that I managed to salvage from the game can now be viewed at www.ruggerpix.com

Gateshead vs Ilkley, Ilkley in possession 27/03/2010

Rugby Moment at Stacks Field, Ilkley. 'More Memories'

One Saturday afternoon (back in 2010) due to the miserable wet weather I decided to take my photographs of the rugby from under the shelter of the covered stand. 

Ilkley were at home playing Durham City and a large crowd of spectators had emerged from the warmth of the clubhouse to watch the game. 

Durham were on the attack when suddenly their hooker John Nichols found himself on his back in the mud after a messy tackle, there was much whistle blowing and arm waving from Mr. Referee and the game came to a standstill. 

It was at this point that a small white terrier hurtled onto the pitch, circled the players and then slowly walked up to John who was still on his back, the dog then sat down and affectionately licked John on the face. 

What a moment, the cries of the crowd suddenly turned from derision and heckling to that of laughter, it was magical and certainly broke the tension of the game, well for a few moments anyway.

I posted the photograph to the Ilkley RFC Facebook page and asked for a caption, the winning one was

" Throw it once more... please... please "

Haworth 1940'sWeekend

Just discovered  new dates for the diary the 15th and 16th of May.This is a not to be missed event "Haworth 1940's Weekend". We shall certainly be there to photograph the nostalgia. Have been to this event twice now, really looking forward to it. I suppose I should take the old box camera to blend in but I think the workflow would be a bit too slow.

Main Street, Haworth 1940's Weekend

More photographs from previous 1940's events can be viewed at our website http://www.image-and-style.co.uk/

Recent History, Poland,Tourism

Where to start?

Wedding photography has always featured heavily in our calendar, Friday is now becoming a very popular day for weddings this is quite handy in the winter season as I always have several weekend sporting events to photograph, these are generally rugby union related and provide a source of entertainment as well as revenue.  

So generally if were not taking photographs we can be found in the office editing images and updating our websites.

We have during this time though managed to take some holiday, destination Poland, to cut a long story short we found it  full of character and with so many varied subjects to photograph we decided to develop a website to display our work in the hope it will provide a resource for travellers and tourists visiting Poland. 

So far we have visited Krakow, The Tatra Mountains, Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot, non of which disappointed . 

If you wish to view the images please visit www.imaginepoland.com . Next to visit is Wroclaw and Poznan, this is booked for May so watch the site for updates.

To view all the photographs in our Albums

 please follow the link.

👇

Peter W. Clark photographer

We do hope you will enjoy the photographs and perhaps find some which will inspire and enhance your article or publication.

They may also help find your next

film/video location.

(downloads and prints are available)

Resurrection

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, lets hope so, must be two years since my last scribblings. Taken a lot of photographs in that time and visited many places, seems a shame not to write about them. Watch this space !

Absence

Sometimes when your busy something has to give, unfortunately it was 'The Blog'.

Been and done all sorts but to busy to talk about all of it it.

Walked over Embsay Moor, for those of you from far and wide thats in Yorkshire.

The image on the right is looking towards Grassington and the little road leads down to Barden Tower where the River Wharfe passes by.

In the distance you can see the smoke from controlled heather burning.

The image below shows a map of the area which can be found at one of the car parking areas, very informative, shows all the footpaths

Battle with Printer Installation

At last, I've done it, after much deliberation a printer has been bought, a Canon PIXMA iP1800 now sits in my office waiting to be unpacked and installed but I'm resisting temptation, tonight going to eat some frozen delicacy and then relax on the settee, maybe watch a little TV.
So battle with the printer installation will commence tomorrow.. ( I will advise the details later ).
Just as an aside, the cost of new printer cartridges for my ancient seven year old printer would have been £45.00, the cost of my stylish new printer was £38.00 including a free 1.8m USB cable.
I'm very pleased with myself, managed to justify lashing out on new technology..

PS went on a good walk over the moors near Embsay, will upload some photo's and details this weekend.

Planning Rugby Website

Another beautifull day in Ilkley, unfortunately spent most of it indoors at meetings or infront of PC. image editing

Its the weekly meeing with K.W. my webmaster at our usual venue 'Costa Coffee in the morning, were making good progress with my new website, should be live within a week. My intention is to eventually use it as a searchable image library for my rugby photographs but untill I come across a technically easy and ecomomical way of doing it I will use it as a 'signpost' to my two other sites.

Still no progress on the printer decision.

Going to do a client presentation on Thursday, the couple are getting married in June 2009, yes 2009, thats what I call organised. Not complaining though its nice to be booked that far ahead, so fingers crossed for Thursday.

Interview, Rugby Snapper (2008)

I thought to give an idea of part of my photography I would show an article from one of my websites

Entitled - 'Rugby snapper!'

Whether the weather is cold or whether the weather is hot we always have our weather whether we like it or not… Well the hot option happens rather rarely for Paparazzi Pete – the official photographer of Ilkley Rugby Club, but whether he likes it or not he is always there – one camera in hand, another hanging on his arm – ready to exchange at any time – and with speed! – as rugby photography requires a good reflex.

– Yes, it does – admits P.P. - you really have to concentrate on the game and be prepared, if you don’t want to miss the action. Not easy sometimes when the ground is slippery and muddy, your fingers are half frozen, the rain is getting under your collar, and the wind blows directly in your face... and your thoughts start to drift bizarrely towards the warm bar and a pint of Yorkshire ale.

Saying so he smiles with indulgence – it is also a part of it – big coat, big boots and last year’s innovation – a hat! – and now he is ready to move around the ground all the time during the match wherever the action leads him. To be as close as possible. Trying different angles.
It wasn’t until about ten years ago when P.P. started to think about photography or - more precisely - about being a photographer himself as about something worth fighting for.

Of course the world of the cameras and pictures was always a part of his – as his father was a well established photographer in nearby Keighley. 

P.P.’s photographic career started on the other side of the camera – he shows me several big boxes– full of pictures of him and his younger brother. They are stored in his home in Ilkley downstairs, while the old cameras - souvenirs of his childhood are exposed on the shelves in the lounge. The collection include his first camera – received at fourteen. 

But though familiar with the equipment it was a long way to become a rugby photographer.

– My family wasn’t a very sporting family and indeed I have never played rugby and scarcely watched it and so knew nothing about it till about 3 years ago, when my daughter called me one Saturday saying she’s going to watch the match with my grandson and she invited me to come and take the camera as well in hope that maybe I’d enjoy it… and I did!! It was the first time I really got the chance to see a rugby match – if we don’t count the one I watched a long time ago with my friends – which was a Ladies rugby team and in all honesty – P.P.’s eyes twinkle as he starts laughing - at that time I was probably more interested in the players’ legs which isn’t any more the case with the Ilkley team…I hasten to add.


Seriously it was this first match Ilkley vs Sheffield that gave him the opportunity to take photos of action. This was mostly striking and challenging and still is. 

While asked what he wants to show in his pictures – what he tries to catch P.P. answers immediately – the character of the game, indeed while looking at some of his pictures we can see it – the rapid movements, the determination in the players gestures and expressions of their faces. Sometimes, passion, anger, pain, hope, joy and disappointment plus the strong will to win in a team spirit!
- When shooting pictures I do it for my own pleasure but I also try to promote the sport through my website and by publishing some of the pictures in the “Ilkley Gazette”. I like the game and I do believe it’s worth promoting among the youngsters – says P.P.
Appreciating the sport very much and with every Saturday of the rugby season on the sports ground P.P. should be the rugby expert and the game without doubt have no secrets for him yet…

- I support Ilkley of course, I met plenty of fantastic people and characters being the official photographer, it’s just that as I’m always in a hurry “to catch the moment” I haven’t still got the time to learn all the rules… - P.P. admits laughing.
Well it looks like he will not have the time to do it – not at least this summer as he’s busy preparing the first exhibition of his “rugby snaps” as he jokingly calls them in Ilkley’s cosy pub “THE YARD”. Looking forward!!

More photographs can be viewed at my website 'Ruggerpix'

please follow the link below

Rugby Photography