Photography Blog
Red Arrows and Rainbows.
7th September 2009
The Red Arrows made a welcome return to Plymouth recently. First time in eight years apparently. The Red Arrows have a reputation as one of the top aerobatics display team in the world, and they put on their usual spectacular show of loops, formation flying and death defying stunts. Plymouth Hoe is a great venue, as it forms a natural amphitheatre over the harbour.
However my attention was divided between the aeroplanes in front of me, and the weather behind me. I did get some strange looks as I suddenly sprinted down to the front of the crowd and turned away from the display. I had spotted a rainbow. Red Arrows or not – the chance to photograph a rainbow over Smeaton’s tower was not to be missed!
The show finished, the Arrows headed home and the crowd did likewise. Then it started to rain, heavily, and the Hoe became almost deserted. But I didn’t leave. The rain cloud was small and I fancied a chance at another rainbow.
Sure enough, after a wet fifteen minutes, the inky colours seeped back into the sky. This time the rainbow tailed off right into the harbour, and now there were no crowds to get in the way of the shot.
Perfect. For me, the real show was just beginning…
The waiting game.
15th August 2009
A comment I often hear from people viewing my work is ‘you must wait for ages to get the light’. The quick answer is “yes and no”.
I often have a picture in mind for months – sometimes even years, waiting for the conditions to be perfect – the sun has to be in the right place – the tide at the right height, the flowers in full bloom etc.
But on the day? Well I tend to plan the day around the photography – so I will know I need to get to location X, at Y o’clock in order to shoot photograph Z. The hard part in fact is getting there in time!
Sometimes I manage to get there early, especially when the weather is unpredictable – and this means I will need to wait. Great! For me, the waiting part is one of the most enjoyable bits of landscape photography. I can relax and enjoy the world around me. Immerse myself in my subject, and feel the excitement build as the light develops.
However, as the pressures of modern life and a young family dictate – I rarely have time to be so indulgent. So as often as not, it is a race against time to get to location X before the light passes completely.
This shot from Chapel Porth is a good example. I have wanted to photograph this viewpoint for some time. The tricky point is that it needs a very low tide to be able to capture the old mine buildings on the cliffs from the beach below.
Finally, the conditions looked perfect. The internet predicted a very low tide, and the sun was shining brilliantly as it sank towards the horizon.
I parked up in the car park, and raced across the beach. I found my spot, got the tripod set-up, camera out of the bag, attached the N-D grad filter, hot shoe spirit level and remote release. Got the shot composed and focused – reached for the shutter release – and the light went! A cloud had leapt ninja like out of nowhere and stole away the sun. What is this - Wimbledon? I must admit I did not take it very well at first, and spent the following few minutes jumping up and down, cursing every god I could thing of. I may have even kicked a pebble or two.
Then I calmed down, and took the shot. As you can see, this shot does lacks the warm, contrasty light that was there seconds before. But maybe this is a good thing? The cloud cover has given a much softer, subtle light, and I find the tones from the beach are very pleasing.
Did I wait for ages? No – but maybe that’s a blessing in disguise….
7th September 2009
The Red Arrows made a welcome return to Plymouth recently. First time in eight years apparently. The Red Arrows have a reputation as one of the top aerobatics display team in the world, and they put on their usual spectacular show of loops, formation flying and death defying stunts. Plymouth Hoe is a great venue, as it forms a natural amphitheatre over the harbour.
However my attention was divided between the aeroplanes in front of me, and the weather behind me. I did get some strange looks as I suddenly sprinted down to the front of the crowd and turned away from the display. I had spotted a rainbow. Red Arrows or not – the chance to photograph a rainbow over Smeaton’s tower was not to be missed!
The show finished, the Arrows headed home and the crowd did likewise. Then it started to rain, heavily, and the Hoe became almost deserted. But I didn’t leave. The rain cloud was small and I fancied a chance at another rainbow.
Sure enough, after a wet fifteen minutes, the inky colours seeped back into the sky. This time the rainbow tailed off right into the harbour, and now there were no crowds to get in the way of the shot.
Perfect. For me, the real show was just beginning…
The waiting game.
15th August 2009
A comment I often hear from people viewing my work is ‘you must wait for ages to get the light’. The quick answer is “yes and no”.
I often have a picture in mind for months – sometimes even years, waiting for the conditions to be perfect – the sun has to be in the right place – the tide at the right height, the flowers in full bloom etc.
But on the day? Well I tend to plan the day around the photography – so I will know I need to get to location X, at Y o’clock in order to shoot photograph Z. The hard part in fact is getting there in time!
Sometimes I manage to get there early, especially when the weather is unpredictable – and this means I will need to wait. Great! For me, the waiting part is one of the most enjoyable bits of landscape photography. I can relax and enjoy the world around me. Immerse myself in my subject, and feel the excitement build as the light develops.
However, as the pressures of modern life and a young family dictate – I rarely have time to be so indulgent. So as often as not, it is a race against time to get to location X before the light passes completely.
This shot from Chapel Porth is a good example. I have wanted to photograph this viewpoint for some time. The tricky point is that it needs a very low tide to be able to capture the old mine buildings on the cliffs from the beach below.
Finally, the conditions looked perfect. The internet predicted a very low tide, and the sun was shining brilliantly as it sank towards the horizon.
I parked up in the car park, and raced across the beach. I found my spot, got the tripod set-up, camera out of the bag, attached the N-D grad filter, hot shoe spirit level and remote release. Got the shot composed and focused – reached for the shutter release – and the light went! A cloud had leapt ninja like out of nowhere and stole away the sun. What is this - Wimbledon? I must admit I did not take it very well at first, and spent the following few minutes jumping up and down, cursing every god I could thing of. I may have even kicked a pebble or two.
Then I calmed down, and took the shot. As you can see, this shot does lacks the warm, contrasty light that was there seconds before. But maybe this is a good thing? The cloud cover has given a much softer, subtle light, and I find the tones from the beach are very pleasing.
Did I wait for ages? No – but maybe that’s a blessing in disguise….
