It's a ship...

Temperatures remain low, even for December in many areas of the UK, and although the high pressure that was dominant over the south for the past week has now moved away the conditions remain settled.
The image, shot today, shows an occasional break in the clouds as the sun highlights a passing ship. I decided a mono treatment of the photograph was more appropriate as there is little colour variation in the original image.

85mm f/1.4D Nikkor. 1/1250 second at f/4.5. ISO 200. +0.5 exposure compensation. Converted to monochrome in Photoshop.

© 2008

Boscombe surfers...

Today's plan was to photograph the sunrise with a super-telephoto lens - except that the conditions were not as I was led to believe. At 4:30am the sky was clear, but by the time I was ready to leave the house three hours later, the sky had unexpectedly clouded over.
Sunrise for this time of year at my location (Lat. 50˚ north) is shortly after 8:00am, but cloud on the horizon obscured the event. I did take some token shots once the sun broke over the cloud bank, but by then it was too high for the images I had in mind.
I eventually wandered toward Boscombe pier, where some surfers were active on the west side. This gave me my best photo opportunity of the morning, and although the surf was nothing special I get a number of action shots from my vantage point on the pier head.

300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor with x1.4 TC. 1/1000 second at f/5.6. ISO 400 (all images).

© 2008

Coastal erosion...

A recent report by the National Trust tells of around 200 miles of south-west England's coast that is crumbling into the sea, but despite this the National Trust is intent on letting nature take its course. This natural action of both wind and waves has had a similar effect on the graded sand that was being used in the construction of Dorset's artificial surf reef. The pile was bulldozed flat during mid-November after work on the site was suspended, and now it is beginning to disappear due to longshore drift. I can only surmise that the sand will have to be re-graded once construction resumes again in April 2009 - adding to the overal costs, no doubt.
The image, shot just after sunrise today, is of frost covered sand at Southbourne, Dorset.

12-24mm f/4 Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/11. ISO 400.

© 2008

Dorset knob...

Having spent the last few days peering through the viewfinder at the grossly distorted images of ultra-wide angle lenses, I make use of the remaining good light of the weekend by photographing with a 50mm lens. This focal length produces a normal perspective very much like the human eye sees, and it's ideal for detail shots as it has the ability to close focus. The use of such prime optics requires forward planning, as well as some contortions on behalf of the photographer, but the results can be worthwhile if you are prepared to get in tight.

I concentrate on the door handles and paintwork of the local beach huts on the Dorset coast, lit by the late afternoon winter sun, as these can make interesting subjects, especially the ones that show the results of weathering such as the image here.

50mm f/1.8 Nikkor. 1/60 second at f/10. ISO 200.

© 2008

Still something fishy...

OK, as I said in yesterday's post, too much fisheye can become overindulgent, but this chunk of glass is a breath of fresh air to my photography; so indulge me. With an angle of view of 180˚ it becomes easy to include various body parts in the image, such as my feet or arms, so it requires careful handling to get good results. But on the plus side, the depth of field is huge, so images from just a few inches from the lens to the end of the universe are sharp!
The photograph was taken on Boscombe pier this morning, looking east.

10.5mm f/2.8 Nikkor fisheye. 1/250 second at f/11. +0.5 exposure compensation.

© 2008

Boscombe Manor update...

After a year's break work has started on the renovation of the exterior of Boscombe manor, Dorset. The image shows the current state of the work where the rendering has been removed, exposing the original brickwork. As well as a medical centre, the site will also contain several residential appartments.
The building, which dates back to 1801, is the former home of the son of poet Percy Bysshe Shelly (hence the building being known locally as Shelly Manor) and his wife, Mary. She is best known as the author of Frankenstein.

18-35mm Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. + 0.5 exposure compensation. ISO 200.

© 2008

"Fishing" on Boscombe Pier...

A break in the erratic weather gives me the opportunity to use a new acquisition to my lens collection, so it's off to the local pier in the search of some graphic images. Fisheye optics have limited appeal, and persistant use can quickly diminish the impact of such lenses, but used judicially they have a place in the photographers bag. One virtue of such extreme optics is the fact that I don't have to worry unduly about converging verticals or level horizons as the distortion inherent in the lens banishes the straight line, except for those at the centre of the image. There is software available to correct such aberrations, but that would be boring, would it not?

10.5mm f/2.8 Nikkor fisheye. 1/100 second at f/13. +0.5 exposure compensation. ISO 200.

© 2008