See the light...

Having pleasantly surprised myself (previous post) with the performance of a budget-priced Nikkor lens - an optic that has languished unused in my collection for at least six years - I'm itching to get out and use it again.

Of course, the weather is against me for most of the day: an extended period of rain followed by more rain after that, but by mid afternoon it has stopped for long enough to encourage me back to the seafront of Poole Bay, Dorset. Calm as it seems inland, it is somewhat blowy by the time I arrive on the cliff top at Southbourne, and not only that, it looks like it might rain (again).

Deciding to commit myself for a walk along the windswept promenade that runs almost the entire length of the 8 miles of sand that make up the shoreline of the bay, I nervously eye the ever darkening sky out to sea, expecting the heavens to open once again.

But they don't. In fact, I am treated to a short break in the clouds that produces the light in the photograph. It lasts but a minute or two, but I am ready, and make a series of exposures as the gull, balanced on the wind, dances across the grey sky and into a suitable position in the frame.

Watch the birdie... click!


28-80mm f/3.5-5.6D AF Nikkor. 1/1250 second at f/8. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400


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