Lucky break

Uniform grey skies keep me in the for most of the day, and when I do decide to go for a beach walk during mid afternoon it starts to rain almost as soon as I am out of the door. It turns out to be only a shower, and I while away half an hour while it passes, talking the the chap that drives one of the local the cliff lifts (there are three situated along the cliffs of Poole Bay, Dorset),

This turns out to be significant as the delay keeps me in the area long enough to see the clouds part, giving me some glorious light shortly before the sun sets. It is all too easy to just point the lens at that, but sometimes the view in the opposite direction can produce something equally spectacular, or better.

Looking East, The Isle of Wight polar bear can be seen on the horizon, illuminated by the last rays of the sun, while the remnants of a rainbow lingers in the sky.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/100 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  -1 stop EV compensation, ISO 400



© 2015

A long shot (or two)

Taken three days ago, these images remind me of why I have two 300mm prime lenses as part of my photographic kit. Smaller and somewhat lighter than its f/2.8 big brother the 300mm f/4 Nikkor also has stellar optics and presents no real problem if I decide to add it to my camera bag, along with one or two other lenses, when roaming on foot.

Photographed from 8 miles away the top image shows the start of the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast:  a UNESCO World Heritage site. It runs south west for 95 miles, revealing 185 million years of Earth's geological history from one end to the other.

The second photograph - taken from the same spot but looking south east - shows The Needles rocks and lighthouse of the Isle of Wight. It also features what is known locally as the polar bear: an optical illusion formed by the chalk cliffs of Alum and Scratchell's bays. Only visible as such from certain parts of the beaches of Poole bay, it is some 12 miles distant from the camera.



300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. Matrix metering. Monopod. ISO 200

Top: 1/500 second at f/5.6
Below: 1/800 second at f/5.6. - 0.33 EV compensation.



© 2015