1066 and all that...

Day two, and we are off to Battle in East Sussex - the site of possibly the most famous battle in English history -  and for tea and cake, naturally. Having been suitably refreshed at the Pilgrims Rest, a building that dates back to 1420, we set out to find the site where King Harold mixed it with the French invaders, 948 years ago. Unfortunately, despite the significance of such an event we found it somewhat poorly - and confusingly - signposted, and managed to wander well away from the site where legend says it all took place.

Having doubled-back - and finding the entrance to the abbey that was built on the spot where the fighting happened - we are dismayed to discover that it is closed for the week due to some school event taking place within. Our fault, really, as I suppose we should have checked their web site before setting out (it did say it was closed), but disappointing all the same.

However, all was far from lost (unlike events on that fateful October day, so long ago), and I set out to find a place that has recently been suggested as the real location of the battle (above). Nothing has ever been found on the official battlefield; weapons; armour or bones, that indicates anything of significance taking place there at all, but a recent archaeological study by Channel 4's Time Team (UK TV), suggests that the area where the small roundabout is positioned in the photograph may well have been the true whereabouts of hostilities between the English and Norman armies, due to its strategic location at the time. Of course, it is too involved to go into it all in this post, but should it have piqued your interest, you can watch the programme on YouTube here.



12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/11. ISO 400



© 2014

Outside the wall...

It has been a while since I paid a visit to Nic; the scheduled trip having been postponed two weeks ago due to all the bad weather, so we both intend to cram in as much as possible during the four days I am in Kent.

Folkestone is our first port of call - literally - and although I have seen the town on a number of occasions from afar, today is my first visit. To be honest, I wonder why she hasn't taken me there before now, as it has a delightfully photogenic harbour, with views away to the east of the White Cliffs of Dover. What's more, the tide is out when we arrive, so it is possible to walk out of the harbour entrance and along the beach.

By the time we reach the Martello tower - one of many originally built along the coast to resist the advances of Napoleon at the beginning of the 19th century - the clouds draw in and the  heavens open with a hail shower. We shelter in the remains of a grafitti-covered World War II gun emplacement for the duration, and emerge to photograph a spectacular rainbow as the storm passes. However, today's photograph - seen and shot with a black and white conversion in mind as I fired the shutter - shows the harbour wall, and St. Peter's church spire on the cliff top.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/11. ISO 320. Lightroom conversion



© 2014

Like watching paint crack...

It's a warm, sunny afternoon on the south coast, and spring is definitely in the air. This far into the year I doubt that we will now get any real cold weather to speak of, but the wind still has a bite to it, despite the sun.

I'm looking for colour to shoot during the golden hour - that period of time photographers, and probably artists as well - refer to the hour after, or before, sunset. Such light can create images out of nothing, such as the flaking paint on this seafront wall. With such subjects all you need to do is look, and often you can find something reminiscent of something else. In this instance I was merely attracted to the hue and textures.

Oh, yes, the review I promised of the new camera strap mentioned in the previous post: It's great! 


24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. ISO 320



© 2014

8 days without a storm...

It has been eight days without a storm on the south coast, and funnily enough I found myself beginning to miss them in some odd way. Not that I wish for any more - well, not yet, at least - but the relatively calm weather seems to be more out of the ordinary than the rough stuff, so much have we become used to it.

Again, odd, that nature seemed to have been holding off in making its appearance whilst the winds battered and the rains flooded, but since calm prevailed blossom is starting to festoon trees, and daffodils, in places, are in full flower. Hopefully, this week, I will be out and recording the herald of the new season, and also turning in a review of a new camera strap that I have recently acquired - the BlackRapid RS-4.

Watch this space.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/500 second at f/11.  - 0.33EV compensation. ISO 250



© 2014

Nearly there...

Now that the weather appears to have calmed down somewhat, I felt it was time to visit a local nature reserve and see if there were any further signs of spring. Crocus and snowdrops have been around for a while now; daffodils are starting to bloom, while insect activity has never really stopped this winter, such has been the mildness of the season, but I wanted to see what else was beginning to emerge.

Unfortunately, flooding is still causing problems, and most of the paths running alongside the Dorset Stour (above), were submerged, making access to parts of the reserve difficult, if not impossible. However, in the small sections I was able to gain access to, I noted that hawthorne was beginning to flower, and catkins were hanging from tree branches. The showery weather was responsible for the wonderful sky in the photograph.

Nearly there.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/640 second at f/8.  - 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 200



© 2014

Walking into a photograph...

I wasn't going to bother to go out today, but I'm glad I did. After all the turmoil of recent conditions the day broke with clear blue skies, and I had planned to shoot at low tide during late afternoon, but no sooner had I started to pack my camera bag it clouded over. Without some action in the heavens it could be a futile exercise, but cutting it somewhat fine in getting there, I decide to go anyway.

It is not very often that I can walk into a photograph, but today I did. I saw a sizeable flock of gulls on the shoreline as I walked - camera at the ready -, and thought it might make a good image as they rose up agains the setting sun, but before I got into position a dog being walked by its owner spooked them, and they were gone before I got the shot.

Up to that point there was little happening in the sky, but within moments the above opportunity presented itself as cloud built from the south west. I made a number of frames in both landscape and portrait formats, changing the composition slightly for each frame, but when the lone gull flew into the scene I knew I had what I wanted.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/8000 second at f/5.  - 1 stop EV compensation. ISO 400



© 2014

They think it's all over...

By all accounts, last night's storm was the worst of the lot, although I see little evidence of it until I reach the seafront, where the brunt of it was taken. For the first time to my knowledge, the local authorities had closed a section of beach for public safety. There were a number of beach huts strewn around the promenade, mostly floated off of their bases and deposited elsewhere, but several of the wooden structures had been smashed, no doubt, by the waves overnight.

By mid morning it was all but spent, although the winds remained strong until early afternoon. The Met Office are telling us that this is the last of the series; so numerous were they that none had a chance to be individually named. A shame, as it is something we have been good at in the past: The Hurricane of '87, or The Great Gale of 1824, for example. Not exactly creative, and it is only recently that one has been given a specific moniker - that of St Jude, last October.

I take the obligatory shots of rough seas and angry skies, but decided to use the one above. It has an untroubled quality about it, and I, for one, have had just about enough of it all. At least for the time being.



70-200mm f/2.8D Apo Sigma lens. 1/1000 second at f/5.6. ISO 320



© 2014

The last of the series...

With a month's worth of rain due to fall over the next 24 hours, the weathermen are suggesting that the current storm I am sitting through as I write will be the last one of the current series. After that, we should get back to typical British winter weather, which usually consists of wind and rain; maybe even cold. I'll be glad when it all stops, to be honest, and I can dispose of the use of the skylight filters I have on my lenses. These are things I don't normally use as I feel they take the edge off of premium glass, but they do make the cleaning of the front element that much easier and safer in the field when they become coated in airborne contaminates, such as salt spray.

The effects of spring are beginning to show in a local park - crocuses have been out for several weeks - but today I saw the first daffodil in full bloom. It was just the one head flowering, but a bit more colour nonetheless, unlike most of my photography of late. I am really enjoying producing black and white photographs when the image lends itself to the treatment, and this is mainly due to the versatility of Abobe Lightroom. I had dabbled with monochrome in Photoshop, but find Lightroom suits me better in the way I work.

I make no apologies for today's image being similar to that of last Friday's post (and almost from the same spot), but I liked the light and made the photograph.


24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/125 second at f/8. ISO 640



© 2014

Through the square window...

With the first "red warning" of the winter in place, and winds reaching 108 mph (174 km/h), across parts of the UK, it is business as usual for the foreseeable future as far as the weather is concerned. On top of that some parts of the country are told to expect a month's rain before Friday, so flooding is not going to stop anytime soon. In fact, some are predicting anther three months of of all this, and although I can get some drama in my photography it is beginning to wear a bit thin. In fact, Nic and I have decided to postpone a visit until next week, in the hope that travelling conditions will improve.

Today's storm merely grazes Dorset, from what I can glean on the evening's TV weather forecast, before heading up the western side of the UK, but it is still severe enough to make shooting very difficult, especially with a long lens. But it's not only trying to keep everything steady and dry; there are no subjects anyway. At its peak, I am the only person brave/daft/determined enough to be on the seafront for several miles, so getting anything other than the usual stormy sea images is proving fruitless.

The rain eventually stops by early afternoon and the sun appears, but the wind continues to howl. A few people that have emerged towards the end of the gales still shelter behind windbreaks on the local pier... and then I see him. A lone figure sweeping the beach with a metal detector, in search of anything of value that has been churned-up by the heavy seas. What kind people, I always think to myself, looking for valuables that they can then reunite with their rightful owners. Very public spirited of them.



70-200mm f/2.8D Apo Sigma lens. 1/1000 second at f/4. ISO 400



© 2014

Through the gap...

It has been the wettest start to the year in the UK for 200 years, the TV man tells me on the 6 o'clock news, and I believe him. There has been more poor weather today - although nothing like storm conditions where I am - and it is estimated that if it stops raining now then there will still be flooding for the next three to six months. There is more rain on the way.

There are days of respite, at least if you want to be outdoors, and today has a feel of spring about it. It is far from cold - despite the brisk wind - and the days are growing noticeably longer, and for the first time this year the setting sun shines through a gap between nearby buildings onto where I sit and work.



70-200mm f/2.8D Apo Sigma lens. 1/1250 second at f/5.6. ISO 320



© 2014

New boots and telephoto compression...

I'm breaking in a new pair of walking boots, so any excuse whatsoever at the moment to get out of the house - with a camera - and get shooting. Not that the boots need it. As long as they are the correct size then modern boots should cause no problems from the start.

There is a welcome break in the winter storms, today - such things now becoming "the norm" for the time being - and since my telephoto-zoom lens is no longer giving me problems (previous post), it will get some exercise. Despite the calm and sunshine, it is potentially a showery day, with the light constantly changing, and it is this that is the real subject for my lens today.

I'm also making full use of one of my favourite long lens effects: telephoto compression. It gives the impression that all the buildings are piled on top of each other, when in fact there is 350 yards (320 metres), between the foreground structure and the buildings at the top of the frame.

The next storm is due in overnight, with plenty more from where that came from, it seems.



70-200mm f/2.8 Apo Sigma lens. 1/1600 second at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320



© 2014

That sinking feeling...

Last week, whilst shooting with a telephoto-zoom lens, my camera LCD displayed the fEE error. This occasionally happens if the aperture locking switch gets inadvertently moved and the ring moves off the minimum setting. It is usually an easy fix, but everything was locked in place. I could stop the error by slightly twisting the lens on its mount, and made the mental note to clean the electrical contacts once I got home.

Having done this the lens still produced the error, but trying it on my spare camera the fault never showed, and other lenses mounted on my main body didn't display the error. I put it down to the lens mount of the zoom having become worn, plus the fact it is a third party optic. There is always some rotational play with longer lenses to allow for expansion in hot weather, so I wasn't unduly worried and forgot all about it.

Until today, that was, when a super-telephoto (my 300mm f/4 Nikkor) also started to create the error, and that sinking feeling of an expensive repair loomed large on the horizon. Once again I was able to get around the problem by applying some rotational torque to the lens whilst shooting, but having to constantly do that resulted in missed shots.

Once again I checked all the electrical contacts of both body and lens when I got home, but all seemed okay. I went online to see if there were any fixes available, but other than "lock the aperture ring to the minimum setting" - the first thing I checked - nothing helped.

Then I noticed a tiny lug around the lens mount on the body. I had never seen it before, but then I had no reason to look, and realised that it was moved by the action of a lens being mounted, and pushed it gently round with a finger as far it would go without excessive force. I repeated the move twice more and remounted the offending glass... and it worked! The error was gone. Woohoo! I put it down to the soaking the camera had endured over the past few weeks, and despite all the weather sealing some water or airborne contaminants had preventing the aperture coupling from going fully home if there was any slack in the mount.

                                                                                        ****************

It was still blowing a gale by mid afternoon, and apart from one heavy shower the rain held off. Strange that the wind and kite surfers should call it a day once it did start (above).



12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/1000 second at f/6.3.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400



© 2014

Here we go again...

The calm between the storms: The wind has dropped and the sun shines, today, but it will only be short lived. The next low pressure system awaits its turn over the Atlantic and will sweep across the country overnight. Winds up to 70 mph (113km/h) are predicted, but it is not expected to bring as much chaos to coastal regions in the south west as Wednesday's offering, since when it hits the tides will not be high.

All of this must seem like a bit of a whinge, as there are other parts of the world that suffer much worse - and probably for longer - but we are simply not accustomed to this sort of thing in the UK; well, not all at once. But I'm sure we will deal with it in much the same way as we have done so with adverse situations in the past, and one day old men will talk about such times in hushed tones to anyone willing to listen.



24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S Nikkor. 1/250 second at f/8. ISO 200



© 2014

Blow the wind southerly...

What was part of seven miles of sandy beach that lined Poole bay, Dorset, now appears to have gone as a result of the recent storms. All of the area to the left of the groyne posts in the photograph is usually sand, but nature is seemingly rampant at the moment, with no signs of the bad weather coming to an end.

600,000 cubic metres of sand were dredged-up and pumped ashore along three miles of coast in the winter of 2005/6 as an ongoing replenishment scheme, but having lasted this long the majority of it has now been washed away. Fortunately, the sea walls have (so far), held up.



70-200mm f/2.8 Apo Sigma lens. 1/1250 second at f/8.  + 0.67 EV compensation. ISO 640



© 2014

This can't last forever...

A watery sun peers through the growing cloud bank of an advancing storm, this afternoon, and as I write the umpteenth gale of the year blasts in from the southwest, causing more disruption and misery for those most susceptible. Global warming may be a contentious subject, but one thing is clear: climate change is very real and happening right now.

This weather pattern is set to continue for the rest of the week, but next week looks promising as it is only supposed to be "very windy". That'll be a nice change.



70-200mm f/2.8D Apo Sigma lens. 1/1600 second at f/8.  - 1.33 EV compensation. ISO 400



© 2014

Close enough...

A stiff southerly breeze and high tide combine to produce an interesting sea this afternoon, and I'm back - fuelled-on by yesterday's success - for some more bird photography on the beach. Conditions are ideal, with a bright but steely-grey sky, and more importantly, no rain. However, the wind does make it tricky to keep a big lens steady, even on a monopod. With such rough seas and such small subjects, the autofocus on the camera at times struggles to lock on to what I consider important, and as a result my hit rate of successful image is quite low. Ultimately, there are enough useable frames to make the shoot worthwhile so one again I chalk-up another successful day.

Post processing: I am using a trick employed by Hollywood film makers to make the subject more appealing to the viewer on this one, where the shadow detail is blue tinted and the main subject a warmer, orangey/brown hue. Although not direct opposites on the colour wheel, they are close enough to have a similar effect. That, and the translucent feathers on the wing of the Herring Gull, make the shot.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/640 second at f/7.1.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 200



© 2014

Tick follows tock (slight return)...

Today I made my own luck to get a photograph. Intending to prowl the local cliff tops in search of the local kestrel, I arm myself with a big lens and go out. The timing of my arrival at first seems to be perfect, with said bird hanging motionless on the wind not 50 yards away, but by the time I have unpacked a 300mm lens she has decided to fly to a different location to hunt. Sometimes that can be it for many hours, especially is she makes a catch in the mean time, but like the surfer mentioned in last Monday's post... I wait.

And wait. I pass the time photographing passing gulls, whilst all the time keeping a watchful eye for that signature stationary speck in the distance. I deliberately avoid any conversation with passers-by so as be not distracted and miss my quarry, and after an hour or so of watching the sky I am rewarded.

Still over a hundred yards away, I hope she will oblige and fly to me, but sensing it will be last opportunity today I elect to chance it and close in; something that not always works. However, this time I am lucky and get a good number of useable frames before the light goes and she moves off on the wind again.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/500 second at f/5.  + 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 320



© 2014

At last...

As if the perpetual wind and rain isn't enough, hail storms add yet another dimension to the endurance test that has become the British weather. What's more there is no sign of it letting-up during the forthcoming week, and more unfortunate souls will be subjected to flooding. I think we can count ourselves lucky that temperatures are staying well above freezing, otherwise that would compound the misery.

The good thing - at least at present - is that it is showery rather than constant rain, and this can be wonderful for the landscape photographer, creating constantly changing light and skies. Having dodged several intense bursts of the aforementioned hail the cloud moved on during late afternoon to produce some very welcome colour. There you go, Spanner, the English coast does have its moments.



12-24mm f/4G AF-S Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/8. ISO 400



© 2014