Just not trying...

They were right (the weather people): the summer has come, and it is taking no prisoners. Today reached 26º C on the South coast (tomorrow is forecast to be hotter still), and that is more than enough for this particular outdoor photographer. I fear the worst as the humidity is set to rise later in the week. Oh dear!

It is gone 6pm before I venture out with my camera, and even then - stood in the sunshine on the cliff tops of Southbourne, Dorset - it is bordering on oppressive to me. I'm in search of the kestrel.

I get everything but: gulls aplenty, sparrows and crows -   I even watch swifts catching insects in the still air of the early evening - knowing I have no chance of photographing them without a huge slice of good fortune. I elect not to try on this occasion. Yes, fortune favours the brave, they say, but I'm not really in the mood. Kestrel or nothing!

I get nothing.

I struggle, photographically, at this time of year, and unless there is a particular event to shoot I'd sooner not bother, but with a bit of perseverance I do come up with something. The yacht, becalmed, it seems, is some distance from the shore, but it's the subtle hues of the sea and atmospheric haze on the horizon that catches my eye: the boat itself relegated to a small (but significant) focal point.  


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/1250 second at f/5.6. + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320


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