Grrr...weathermen (grrr)...

I haven't been doing much photography as of late, so I was rather pleased with myself when it struck me that Friday evenings were firework display evenings in Bournemouth. Weekly displays start around mid July and finish at the end of August, so I have plenty of opportunity to experiment - which was just as well.

Having checked the weather forecast for the appropriate time I pack my camera bag with just the one lens, since I already have in mind where I am going to shoot from. The pyrotechnics are set off from the town's pier, so to kick the season off I would photograph from some distance (just over 3 miles), and across the sea.

Shortly after 9pm I get on my bike and ride to the beach and set up at my chosen location. I make several test images - just to get things flowing - about half an hour before the 10pm start time, one of which can be seen right. The tethered balloon is known as the Bournemouth Eye, and flights are timed to coincide with the fireworks, no doubt at a premium price. Using such a long lens gives the appearance of it being pasted into the frame, but I assure you it is not.

It is while I am doing my tests that I notice bright flashes over the horizon to my left. Lightning! My estimate is that is nearer France that where I am, and since I only hear the faintest rumble of thunder I don't let it worry me. Not, that is, until about four minutes before show time when I feel the first spots of rain. This wasn't mentioned in the forecast. Cloud, yes, but not rain. I curse the weather people under my breath (yet again) and hope that it is just a few drops from the gathering cloud... but it isn't. With just a few seconds before I start shooting the rain intensifies and the wind gets up.

I don't stop to consider if it is such a good idea to continue: I just start making exposures. Concentrating on my subject makes me more or less oblivious to the rain, but I do worry about water getting onto the front element of the lens. Fortunately, the deep hood of the 300mm super-telephoto does its job admirably and it stays dry. The problem now, however, is camera movement. Had I known that things were going to deteriorate as they did then I would have chosen a more sheltered spot to work from - I am more or less on the surf line - but once everything starts I have little choice than to stay where I am.

There is movement in the images - the wiggly-line effect - but I feel that this time it adds rather than subtracts to the final result. Not what I would have wanted, but better than no shots at all.

Having managed to fire-off some 30-odd frames in the unexpected conditions, it is all over inside ten minutes, although the same can't be said for the rain, which is becoming decidedly stormy. I dump the camera in the bag; collapse the tripod and secure it to the back of said bag and cycle back. I'm about as wet as it is possible to get since I have no waterproof gear with me, although the rain obligingly stops just before I arrive home.

Thank you, Accu-Weather.

300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 

Top: 1 second at f/2.8

Middle: 10 seconds at f/8

Right: 4.2 seconds at f/11

ISO 200. Tripod and remote release.

© 2013