Experience and guesswork...

It has been a funny old week. At this time of year I usually find myself in the photographic doldrums: no real inspiration or motivation. In fact, I have been out shooting during the past two days and deleted everything. Instead, I find myself wanting for that glorious autumn light more and more. I do have one or two projects to shoot before all that happens: the annual Bournemouth Air Festival at the end of the month, for example, but otherwise my camera may just as well stay in the bag.

I do, however, have a moment of clarity through it all, as I consign this morning's early (and fruitless) set of images to the trash on my computer; and that is to photograph the fireworks display - held every Friday during August - on Bournemouth pier. I quickly dismiss the idea of rubbing shoulders with the multitudes that will gather near the event, and opt to work from a distance: a much greater distance.

A bit of an experiment, actually, as I want to use a super-telephoto lens for the job, and shoot over water, as it will have the added benefit of producing reflections for the foreground of the picture. This can have its drawbacks, especially with long exposures needed to capture several bursts on one frame. The slightest vibration will ruin the photograph. I'm lucky. There is very little wind - if any - on the cliff tops of Southbourne, where I set up, and visibility is excellent. I can see the white flash of the lighthouse at St. Catherine's Point on the southern tip of the Isle of Wight, some 24 miles away, so I know the 2.8 miles between me and my subject will cause no problems at all. The fireworks are launched at 10pm, and I start making exposures based on experience and guesswork. No other way to do it.


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor (VR off). 3½ seconds at f/8. ISO 200. Bulb exposure and remote release. Tripod


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