Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 15:16:38 GMT
The sun was as Stuart said very bright, but we snapped away anyway! Steve H
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 15:20:08 GMT
What a great day out, the memories will have to last until I next see Hayley in September. Steve H
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
|
Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 15:26:55 GMT
The lighting on these early evening summer concerts, is great for catching these type of shots without the harsh shadows you sometimes get indoors. Steve H
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 15:37:07 GMT
Thanks for your support folks! Steve H
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 15:40:09 GMT
and finally .... A wave from Hayley as she leaves the stage. Best wishes to you all! Steve.
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Post by roger on Jul 16, 2006 16:48:06 GMT
Absolutely phenominal photographic coverage. Thank you very much, Steve and Stuart.
Roger
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Post by Stuart H on Jul 16, 2006 17:22:19 GMT
Thanks Roger This was the moment the pianist's music blew away and Hayley turned round to see why he had stopped playing. You can see the smiles of the other musicians in the orchestra. This picture shows the stage tucked in between two of the grandstands. Stuart
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Post by postscript on Jul 16, 2006 17:41:21 GMT
Oh Steve. Such beautifully soft photography it really captures the enchanting essence of that beautiful skin of hers. A skin that seems so appropriate for the wonderful spirit contained within.
Peter
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Post by Caitlin on Jul 16, 2006 17:45:59 GMT
Wow everyone! These are absolutely amazing shots! What a grand thing to come home to after a three week absence. It sounds as though the concert was fantastic. Thanks! <3 Caite
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Post by postscript on Jul 16, 2006 17:49:20 GMT
HAYLEY AT NEWMARKET
Roger has provided not only an excellently concise overall report but seems to be angling for my laurel on lyricism! Since, in my hotel room, absent from the internet all I had written was the general introduction, I can amplify some detail without duplicating anything Roger has written and still keep under 7,000 words. How did you arrive at that number Steve? Sounds to me as if a certain gentleman had done a ‘copy/paste’ on my last report and counted them!’
An initially cloudy day seemed to deny us the expectation of the great day we thought we had been promised but the later after-noon sun proved that without those initial cloudy skies we would have been sweltering under an oppressive sun.
For me, this was an exciting day as I had never been to a race-course before, so I had bought a day ticket to the members’ enclosure (noting their copy writer had had the wit to place the apostrophe after the ‘s’! The race card (in fact a 72paged self cover full colour throughout programme for only £3) provided excellent value for money. More particularly, it was clear from the attendants at the gate as well as the programme designers that this racecourse, arguably the premier racecourse in the country, went out of its way to make newcomers feel welcome.
There was a most interesting page explaining the ‘form’ details available for every horse that was running. This was very helpful as I had been singularly impressed with one or two horses that seemed to be responsible for a large progeny, until I discovered that ‘m’ and ‘f’ stood for miles and furlongs, not males and females! There was a well-laid out map giving full details of the peripheral opportunities that were available. What it did not do, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately as I had arrived most unusually with ready cash in my pocket, was to explain how the tote works. So I never placed a bet.
The rest of us on this occasion consisted of: the terrible twins. Well, were they ever? That expression, if other factors haven’t already done so, immediately gives away my age, although I cannot now recall which comic they appeared in. I was allowed The Eagle but not The Beano etc, which I always thought more risqué, probably only because I wasn’t allowed it and I had to borrow friends’ copies. The younger generation probably do not have a clue as to what I am taking about. Does ‘Denis the Menace’ and ‘Beryl the Peril’ still exist in The Beano? Or are there modern equivalents? However, as usual, I digress.
There were Stuart and Steve, it really is fascinating seeing them together, their family appendages—each please fill us in appropriately, although I recall Matthew. He handled the camera for the key picture superbly well. Then there was Dave, Roger and George, whom it was nice to meet for the first time. Andrew was there in spirit and in something of a doppelganger. There was a guy there in a kilt, but not a tartan one, it was pure black. Any significance, any explanation worthwhile, Andrew?
One of the reasons I like hotels and the advantage of staying over in an hotel for a Hayley concert is that one often meets interesting people—reference the enthusiasm with which the name of Hayley was met when I was in Cardiff. One couple had ordered every racing paper available for their ‘morning paper’ and were intent on studying ‘form’ over breakfast. I remarked that is wasn’t difficult to guess where they were going today! They said they were interested in the gee gees generally but had a special day today as they had been invited to a brunch with a sheik to study his stallion that would be running, so they were having a light breakfast.
They asked if I was going too and I told them, ‘no’ I was returning from having spent an enjoyable day yesterday but having gone there not for the races but the concert with Hayley afterwards. It turned out the wife was a fan. ‘Is she the same live as on CD?’ ‘Better, because there you have the real, live person and if you ever get the chance to meet with her, grab it, meeting with her is an experience you’ll never forget.’
I pointed out that after a live performance the ‘Hayley Live from New Zealand’ was available from Amazon and was a good second prize! Also the biograhy.
Beyond all that, Roger has said it all, at least as far as Hayley is concerned. As for atmosphere, as a newcomer to racing, it was fascinating seeing the ‘empty horses’ paraded by the stablehands, then by their jockeys and after the race the horses in the first four places. The general atmosphere was exciting BUT is there a need to bet and if there wasn’t betting, would horse racing exist? There is the prize money and the licenses for the peripheral entertainments and refreshment bars, so can one not simply enjoy the excitement of the race? I pose the question for there certainly is something about the principle of racing, stud form, background etc which I can well understand fascinating people but the tote doesn't have to come into it, in my view, at all!
Thank you Hayley, for introducing me to yet another different sort of day and yet another new experience, for, although I met with you again, any meeting with you is an experience. Oh and the ‘empty horses’? It is the title of a volume in David Niven’s autobiography and derives from a foreign film director for whom Niven appears not to have been particularly impressed and who, in directing a take for a film, demanded ‘Bring On the Empty Horses!’ He, presumably, meant the ones without riders!
Peter
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Post by roger on Jul 16, 2006 18:05:51 GMT
Hi Peter,
Your interpretation of the events of last Thursday round off the coverage of this remarkable day perfectly. Many thanks to everyone who has contributed. We all thoroughly enjoyed it and that, I know for a fact, includes Hayley.
Roger
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 18:17:21 GMT
Thank you Peter, It's that Minolta Sigma combination again! This one is especially for you! I apologies that the girl in the middle is a bit bleached out, but you and Hayley are fine! Best Wishes Steve
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Post by roger on Jul 16, 2006 18:20:43 GMT
I apologies that the girl in the middle is a bit bleached out, but you and Hayley are fine! Best Wishes Steve I would just like to point out that one of you is finer than the other! Roger
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Steve H
Global Moderator
HWI Management Team / Official Site Photographer & Videographer
Posts: 1,756
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Post by Steve H on Jul 16, 2006 18:30:34 GMT
Thank you Caite, and :Now you can begin MODERATING !Steve
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Post by timj on Jul 16, 2006 18:56:05 GMT
Great Pictures and reviews from Newmarket Racetrack , thanks for posting! TimJ
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