The sun has got his hat on...

After the dismal summer weather of the past week or so - heavy rain and leaden skies - things have turned around over the bank holiday weekend and we have had some sunshine. Although it's not a case of too little, too late - it is always nice to have a bit of good light to work with - this weekend does in many ways mark the end of the summer holiday season in the UK.

Sunrise and sunset are now at more civilised times, so I don't have to be up in the middle of the night, or stay out too long, making more time for dinner (or breakfast). Having said that, the temperatures during the pre-dawn have an autumnal nip about them and there are already the signs of seasonal change. The horse chestnut tree leaves have been turning a rust colour for several weeks and the black-headed gulls are taking on their winter plumage (they loose the black head feathers).

Today's photograph was made shortly before the sun set over Poole Harbour, Dorset. Shooting directly into the light does cause exposure problems due to the brightness of the sun, so I add two neutral density graduated filters to the front of the lens to try and get the contrast under control. This runs the added risk of lens flare, so I wait until the sun's disc is partially obscured by a convenient cloud before shooting. Contrast is reduced and there is no flare.
Result!

24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/60 second at f/11. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200. 0.6 and 0.9 grey graduated filters.

© 2010

Rain stopped play...

The fourth and last day of the Bournemouth Air Festival 2010 and again it was marred by the weather. Apart from the unexpected arrival of the Breitling (where's my watch?) Wingwalkers opening the show there was precious little flying to follow. Although conditions were an improvement on yesterday - why, even the sun made a brief appearance for a few minutes - low cloud and several bouts of rain presented safety issues for flying jets. As a result there was no display by the Avro Vulcan or the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Red Arrows cancelled for the second day running.

There were several late displays before the weather closed in at 4.15pm - at which time an end was called to proceedings - including the Pitts Duo, one of which I include here, mainly because of its amusing registration.

It must be stressed that the organisers, pilots and ground crews did their level best to put on a show, but they were just defeated by the English weather.
Roll on next year.

300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with x1.4 TC.

1/1000 second at f/5.6. +0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400

© 2010

Grounded...

Day three of the Bournemouth Air Festival and there were no aircraft flying - the British weather being the culprit. With a cloud base of around 200/500 feet, plus a brisk wind and light rain, the Red Arrows were the first to cancel their 12.30 performance. Pilots stated that 1000 feet is the minimum cloud level for jets to fly safely. Only a solitary Lynx helicopter from the Black Cats managed to give a display before proceedings were called to a halt at 3.00pm.
Hopefully (and it does seem promising) the weather will improve somewhat for the last day tomorrow.

As a result I'm posting two images from the festival that I shot yesterday. The Breitling Wing Walkers are the worlds only formation wing walking team and performed last year (although under a different name). The top photograph shows an attempt for the girl wing walkers to touch hands, but the wind on the day was too strong to fly safely at close range and the endeavour failed. Apparently, the effort was successful the day before.
The bottom image shows one of the many poses taken up on each pass of the Breitling team (perhaps if I mention their name enough time they'll send me one of their watches. Yeah, right).

300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with x1.4 TC.

Top: 1/1600 second at f/4. +0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400.
Below: As above.

© 2010

Bournemouth Air Festival 2010...

The third annual Bournemouth Air Festival, the largest of its kind in the UK - free and by the sea - got underway this week and today I visited the event with a camera. The weather was not the best for display flying and a cloud base of around 1000 feet forced all team displays to fly a reduced program.
Even the Red Arrows, making the first of three visits over the weekend, were forced to fly only eight aircraft instead of the usual nine because of a cockpit component failure.

However, individual aircraft were still able to deliver an entertaining performance for the crowds gathered along the coastline of Poole bay, including a Dutch F-16 Fighting Falcon (top), seen here in its familiar orange paint scheme, after-burner on, moisture condensing over the wings and dropping flares as it climbs.

The second photograph is of "Miss Demeanour", a Hawker Hunter British jet of the 1950s and 1960s, painted in an unusual colour scheme, making its first appearance at the festival.


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor lens (VR off) with x1.4 TC.

Top: 1/3200 second at f/4. +0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400
Below: 1/1000 second at f/4.5. +0.67 EV compensation. ISO 400

© 2010

Air display season...

I had been planning this shoot for almost a year. It dawned on me last September that Ballard Down, which overlooks the town of Swanage, Dorset, would make an good vantage point to photograph the RAF Red Arrows display team during the town's Regatta and Carnival week.

On this occasion I want to use two lenses: a standard zoom and a long telephoto and opt to use two camera bodies instead of fumbling about changing lenses and missing shots - but it presents a problem...a weight problem. Not only that but the backpack I need to transport the chosen gear will prove too cumbersome when riding a bike, especially over rough ground and uphill (raising my centre of gravity and all that - causes balance problems, you see). I finally cobble two bags together, making a much more manageable rig, but it still weighs in at 18lbs (8.2 kg) - something you begin to notice during a twenty five mile round trip.

The Met Office weather forecast predicts "sunny intervals" but there is a good deal of grey cloud by the time I get into position. It doesn't look too promising, but the cloud breaks shortly before showtime and the Red Arrows do their stuff like no others.

Top: 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/7.1. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200
Below: 300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor (VR off). 1/3200 second at f/6.3. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320

© 2010

Two stops under...

Now that the British summer has settled into its true weather pattern: changeable - often cloudy with outbursts of rain - there is the opportunity to capture dramatic scenes at either end of the day.
Today's photograph was made at 5:21am before the sun had risen and to get a sharp image I have to press the camera against a makeshift jamb - in this instance a convenient flagpole.

Now, light levels at this time of day are low, and most camera metering systems will try to average-out a scene to give what it thinks is the best exposure, but this is not always the case. This is where the photographer steps in. Had I left the camera to its own devices I would have ended up with a rather bland image of Bournemouth Pier, albeit with a dramatic sky. So I switch to manual control and take a meter reading from the beach. This is the basis for my exposure, but I then modify it by setting the exposure compensation to give two stops less exposure than the meter reading. This produces an image far closer to what I saw at the time, not what the camera designers deem correct.

There is no such thing as "correct exposure", although for the majority of photography modern metering systems produce results far superior than your best guess. It's at either end of the day when the sun is below the horizon that the system needs the most help.

24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/15 second at f/8. ISO 640. - 2 stop EV compensation.

 © 2010