Disaster in Wassenaar
24th June 2011
Whilst a bronze for the guys and a silver for the gals was a good result in the EuroHockey finals, it was a bad weekend for me.
I love the Dutch, but they sometimes seem to be quite myopic if you are carrying a heavy load, like two camera bodies, three lenses, a monopod, a folding stool and a wheelie camera bag! I had a close call at the KO16 in Bloemendaal over Easter when I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to go up to the media centre. There were people standing on the stairs chatting who had not noticed me and so I had come to a halt. Whilst I was standing there I was nearly sent flying by a Bloemedaal player making his way back to the changing rooms at speed - he was not a happy man as they had just been knocked out - and it was a close call that none of my kit was damaged.
My luck ran out in Wassenaar a couple of weeks back when two people barged past me in a crowd and knocked one of my camera bodies to the ground. That has cost me a cool £530 to repair. Most of that is insured but my first impressions of the claims procedure is that the insurers are operating on a very slow shutter. I had the camera repaired by Fixation before the claims form even arrived. The outcome of the claim may make an interesting posting. Keep watching this space.
I have since purchased one of the hugely expensive Black Rapid camera straps and I may post something on here about that when I've had a chance to test it out.
It's off to Amsterdam for the last three days of the Women's Champions Trophy soon.
I love the Dutch, but they sometimes seem to be quite myopic if you are carrying a heavy load, like two camera bodies, three lenses, a monopod, a folding stool and a wheelie camera bag! I had a close call at the KO16 in Bloemendaal over Easter when I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs to go up to the media centre. There were people standing on the stairs chatting who had not noticed me and so I had come to a halt. Whilst I was standing there I was nearly sent flying by a Bloemedaal player making his way back to the changing rooms at speed - he was not a happy man as they had just been knocked out - and it was a close call that none of my kit was damaged.
My luck ran out in Wassenaar a couple of weeks back when two people barged past me in a crowd and knocked one of my camera bodies to the ground. That has cost me a cool £530 to repair. Most of that is insured but my first impressions of the claims procedure is that the insurers are operating on a very slow shutter. I had the camera repaired by Fixation before the claims form even arrived. The outcome of the claim may make an interesting posting. Keep watching this space.
I have since purchased one of the hugely expensive Black Rapid camera straps and I may post something on here about that when I've had a chance to test it out.
It's off to Amsterdam for the last three days of the Women's Champions Trophy soon.
