Big sky...

Although I've been told that the subject is taboo until the month of September, I'm going to say it anyway: today I got the first hint of autumn light. It is still warm enough - and will, hopefully, continue to be so - for a good while yet, but it is definitely there.

I had planned on a walk along the sea front - keeping an eye out for the local kestrel - but got no further than the cliff tops of Southbourne. It is a clear day with a brisk southern breeze, and the cloud formations alone were deserving the attentions of my lens, this afternoon.

It is odd that I seem to be taking so many photographs from one particular spot at the moment, but it does afford me a sweeping vista of Poole Bay, Dorset; the Isle of Wight and the distant hills of the Isle of Purbeck. Maybe I chose the location instinctively, as a starting-off point, and whilst writing this it has given me the idea for an ongoing project.

Anyway, back on topic; the upper and lower level clouds are moving across the sky at different speeds, and the wind shear in the upper atmosphere is producing some spectacular results, as with today's image, taken from the same place as this shot, except with a wide angle lens as opposed to a super-telephoto. I have the sun in the shot, so I need to be careful I don't end up with a grossly underexposed photograph. Even so, using Aperture Priority mode, I only need to add ⅔ of a stop extra to the camera's suggested exposure to produce a workable RAW file.


12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/1250 second at f/8. + 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 200


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