Although I had every intention of shooting with just a 50mm prime lens all week, sunrises / sunsets just don't cut the mustard unless a telephoto is involved - the sun's disc is just too small, otherwise.
Conditions are near perfect when I arrive at the seafront of Southbourne beach, Poole Bay. There is no cloud or wind; the sun will rise on the horizon.
At 7.48am a sliver of the sun's disc appears over the Isle of Wight and I start to make images, working quickly. The luminosity of the scene changes dramatically once things start happening, plus there's the risk of ghosting in the lens (unwanted reflections bouncing off of internal glass elements) once the sun becomes large enough in the frame. This picture was made at 7.50am - after that ghosting and flare begin to ruin subsequent exposures.
Sometimes a planned shoot can only last a minute or two.
The title of this post finds its origins in Act III of Henry V, by William Shakespeare. I chose it deliberately as today is St. Crispin's day - the 595th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt - where Henry V's outnumbered army defeats the "flower of French chivalry".
It is also the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade (1854) - a somewhat less-than-spectacular military manoeuvre.
300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/1000 second at f/8. +0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400
© 2010
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