Tiny island...

This morning I decided to chance it: unable to draw any solid conclusions from weather satellite images, plus the fact that the sky was overcast before dawn, I set out on my bike - purely for the exercise if nothing else.
It's during the ride that the cloud begins to break up and the sun begins to shine, creating perfect light as I reach Poole Harbour, Dorset.

 At first there's nothing too inspiring to point a lens at, but with a little perseverance I find some reflections to work with and produce today's photograph, made just before 6am at the North Haven area of Sandbanks. It's intriguing how the grass on the small island survives as it does, considering it is submerged at high tide, though the fact that the harbour gets between six to eight tides a day perhaps plays a significant part.
Obviously hardy stuff.

12-24mm f/4G Nikkor. 1/125 second at f/11. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 640. 0.9 Grey Grad filter.

© 2010

July morning...

Over the past few weeks the weather has been more in keeping with the British summer: unsettled - and it is often the case that there are just a few minutes of good light around sunrise before the cloud rolls in for the best part of the day.
Today's example was photographed on Canford Cliffs beach, Dorset, at 5:22am, shortly before the sun broke the horizon, and is the result of two images blended together in Photoshop. Normally I would use a grey graduated filter to hold back the sky - having exposed for the foreground - but this time I used the technique of "bracketing".
This involves making several exposures in quick succession at different exposure values - in this case normal plus one stop over the meter reading. This allows for two parts of the scene to receive adequate exposure (in this instance sky and foreground) which then can be blended together using software.

Cheating? No. Multiple exposures in photography are almost as old as photography itself. It is only in the last twenty years - since the advent of Adobe Photoshop - that the public in general have become aware of such techniques; techniques which were an integral part of darkroom working, but subsequently made easier and quicker with the use of computers.

I rest my case.

24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/400-1/200 second at f/8. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 640.

© 2010

Marquee peaks...

It has been almost two weeks since I've been out with a camera: my energies have been spent engaged in other activities - some more pressing than others - so it was a welcome change to be out before dawn, hell-bent on shootring something.
The weather has also been less than spectacular over the past week - a stark contrast to the mini-heatwave experienced by the UK last weekend - but today the winds have dropped and the rain clouds have dispersed.

The sixteen mile ride could well have proved fruitless but for the chance discovery of the marquees erected on Sandbanks beach, Dorset, for the Beach Volleyball Tournament over the next two days; part of the Sandbanks Beach Festival 2010.
Straight away I'm drawn to the play of light on the canvas and stop to make a number of images at 5:55am, using a super-telephoto lens to isolate specific elements of the scene.

300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/1600 second at f/4. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200.

© 2010

Summer field...

Now that we are past the solstice and summer is well established - we are even getting appropriate weather to support this - there is little to inspire me from a photographic point of view. There are several organised events in the coming months that are on my schedule, but unless there are unusual weather conditions in the offing I have no real reason to get out before dawn, or stay out late, until the end of summer/autumn comes around.

I will, however, continue to take a camera kit with me when out on my bike and will stop to make an image if I feel the need, just to record the passing seasons if nothing else (and give me something to post on this blog).
Although very much a token shot the photograph of an English oak in a wheat field at Hurn, Dorset, is a typical country scene at this time of year.

24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/11. -0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400. Polariser

© 2010