Often seen, but never photographed by me, today I was lucky enough to witness military training at Sandbanks, Dorset. I first spotted the Lockheed C-130 Hercules transport plane circling overhead from Bournemouth pier as I was out for an afternoon ride. I took a few token shots from a distance, and without a second thought carried on my way west. It wasn't until I arrived at the western end of Poole bay some 20 minutes later that I realised the aircraft was still in the area; still circling.
I began to make a series of photographs as the plane made a number of passes in the hope that its contents were still onboard, but despite the aircraft's main door being open there was nothing forthcoming. Finally, the Hercules disappeared into the distance, so I spent time making attempts to photograph gulls in flight.
Around 35 minutes later, to my surprise, it returned and continued the same flight pattern that I had witnessed earlier. Nevertheless, I kept a watchful eye on the plane, and was eventually rewarded with what I had been waiting for. The photograph shows a number of British Army Marines on a training exercise, jumping from the rear of the aircraft and parachuting into the sea near Old Harry Rocks on the Dorset coast.
300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14E converter. 1/2000 second at f/8. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400
© 2011
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