Check the bag

I have an hour or so this afternoon to take some photographs, and since the weather is constantly changing, I head to the beach. The idea is to take some images using long exposures, but I am three quarters of the way to my chosen location when it suddenly occurs to me that my 10x ND filter - vital for what I have in mind - is in a different camera bag to the one I'm using.

Buffoon!

No point in going home to collect it, I conclude, as the light will have changed by the time I get back, and I may miss the best of it. Besides, it will take too long. So, I watch a passing cloud crawl across the horizon (above), and take a number of exposures when I deem the waves pattern on the shore to be right. Then I call it a day. Nothing special in the can, but at least I was out shooting.

It wasn't until I got home and unpacked my gear that I espied the missing filter, nestling in an internal accessory pocket of the camera bag. I had it with me all along, yet I never bothered to look.

You'd think a photographer would be good at that, wouldn't you?

Looking.



12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/125 second at f/11. Matrix metering. Tripod and remote release. ISO 100



© 2017

Okay, enough is enough

Okay, the last one of the local pier - for this year at least - but the monochrome conversion turned out to be too much to resist.



12-24mm f/4 Nikkor. 10 seconds at f/8. Matrix metering. 10x ND filter. Tripod and remote release. ISO 100. Monochrome conversion in Silver FX Pro 2



© 2017

Worth the wait

It's a wonder we weren't getting in each other's way, there were so many photographers on the beach at dusk tonight, and no wonder; the light was stunning. Although the tide had already receded this far by the time I arrived at around 3:15, I waited until the sun had disappeared before making any exposures.

The shot of Boscombe pier was taken 15 minutes after sunset.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/6 second at f/11. Matrix metering. Tripod and remote release. ISO 100



© 2017

On the woodland floor

The fog predicted by the weather people didn't materialise, but overnight sub-zero temperatures lure me outside shortly after dawn for some photography. Frost-tinged leaves are to be my subject, but even though they remained on the trees well into November this year ones on the ground have degraded quickly, making it difficult to find a suitable composition.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/8 second at f/8. Matrix metering. - 0.67 EV compensation. Tripod and remote release. Mirror lock-up. ISO 100



© 2017

A long time coming

Out early and out late, today, and two different approaches to the same subject. This morning (previous post), I took the shots in real time, but with this image I used a long exposure to give photograph a more etherial look.

As with the earlier shot, the sun was below the horizon at the time.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 30 seconds at f/8. Matrix metering. 10x ND filter. Tripod and remote release. ISO 100



© 2017

Out before sunrise

As the start of the astronomical winter draws near, there is less than 8 hours of sunlight available at my latitude. Not that I need it to produce photographs, as with the two images here, both shot before the sun had risen.

Apart from one or two photographers on the beach when I arrive, the lone kayaker is the only other sign of life on a cold morning.



24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor.

Top: 1/160 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering. Monopod. ISO 200
Below: 1/250 second at f/2.8. Matrix metering. Monopod. ISO 100



© 2017

Just enough

I have the beach more or less to myself an hour before sunset, probably due to the cold. Early rain makes way for clear skies during late afternoon, but there is just enough cloud on the horizon to make things interesting.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/500 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 100



© 2017

Just above zero

Standing around on a beach with the thermometer hovering just above zero Celsius does have its drawbacks, but all that glorious light offsets it by a country mile.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100



© 2017

Chancing our arm

The Folkestone Harbour Arm (The Place To Be, claims their web site),  juts out into the English Channel, not only providing spectacular views of the town when you reach the end, but it also offers the visitor a selection of clubs, restaurants and local businesses, as well as a bakery and brewery. Of course, on a crisp, clear, winter's weekday like today there is little sign of any of this activity, but Saturdays and Sundays, apparently, are a different matter.

The lighthouse (top) - built in 1860 - is also the venue of the Folkestone Lighthouse Champagne Bar. I'm sure they know best, but to Nic and I it seems like a recipe for the occasional disaster, with the unwary patron tottering out onto the pier after a drink or two too many, and ending up in the drink themselves.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor.
Top: 1/100 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100
Below: 1/200 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  - 1.33 EV compensation. ISO 100



© 2017

Supermoon: Now 7% bigger

Cloud cover prevented Nic and I from photographing the supermoon rising yesterday, but early morning clear skies today gave us the opportunity to shoot it setting.

Although around 7% larger than usual this time around, the fact it appears larger when near the horizon is an optical illusion. Of course, using a super-telephoto lens to photograph a supermoon adds to the effect.

There are two more such events in the near future, and both in January next year - on the 2nd and 31st, to be exact. So, not only will the latter be a supermoon, it will also qualify as a blue supermoon, since there are two full moons in the same month.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/20 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  - 1.33 stop EV compensation. Tripod and remote release. Mirror lockup. ISO 100



© 2017

Heart of the sunrise

It's cold, today. In fact, there's a frost on the ground when I set off into the pre-dawn to photograph the sunrise from the cliff tops. The sky is clear but the clouds on the horizon - and half way to France - are what I had hoped for, just to add texture to the image.

But waiting in the cold for the sun to appear is starting to get the better of me, and I shoot for a mere two minutes before packing up and heading home for hot soup.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII. 1/3200 second at f/4.5. Matrix metering. - 0.33 EV compensation. Monopod. ISO 100



© 2017

(Still) in search of the perfect sunrise

Dawn on a cold morning: Poole bay, Dorset

24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/160 second at f/5.6. Matrix metering.  - 0.33 EV compensation. 0.9 Lee ND grad filter. ISO 100



© 2017

Autumn colours

It's not just the trees that provide glorious displays of colour at this time of year, as with this image taken late afternoon on Boscombe beach, Dorset.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. Matrix metering. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 100



© 2017

Let it blow

Although not classed as a storm it was somewhat wild today, with winds predicted to reach 50mph along the coast. Although I doubt they actually materialised at such strength there was enough of it to blow the cloud away for some good light during late afternoon.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/800 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100



© 2017

Surprising

I am somewhat surprised at how many trees still have leaves on them come mid-November this year. The norm is for the first gales of the winter to blow them off - usually by mid October - thus robbing me of any spectacular displays of colour.

It hasn't been too cold of late, and clearly nature still thinks its too early to let go.

This photographer is grateful.


300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 1/500 second at f/2.8. Matrix metering. - 0.33 EV compensation. Monopod. ISO 100



© 2017

On the water's edge

Half way through November, and although there have been one or two days where it has been somewhat cooler, it is still generally mild for the time of year. On top of that I get a decent sky to photograph at sunset, along with a low tide whilst on the beach.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/640 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100



© 2017

Pre-dawn

It's a cold ride into the dawn, this morning, with temperatures hovering just above freezing. There isn't enough cloud in the sky to make things really interesting, so the shots I take before the sun breaks the horizon are the ones I used.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor with TC-14EII converter. 1/800 second at f/5. Matrix metering. Monopod and VR on. ISO 200



© 2017

Novel idea

I've seen many things washed up onto beaches, but never before have I come across a book. To be honest, I don't think it was washed up; more than likely dropped by a walker, but it was enough to catch my attention and photograph the waterlogged novel on Camber Sands, East Sussex.


24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/4.5. Matrix metering. ISO 400



© 2017

Whoops!

I had planned today's shoot on Monday, having realised that low tide and sunset would co-incide this afternoon. However, when reading the tide times I incorrectly adjusted the reading for British Summer Time, which ended last weekend.

Being an hour out in my calculations meant shooting earlier than planned. Not that it was any real loss; the sky wasn't happening, and a dog playing in the water stole the show anyway.


12-24mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor. 1/320 second at f/8. Matrix metering. ISO 100



© 2017

You keep me hangin' on

                                        A misty morning in the park, and there are those that just won't let go.



300mm f/2.8 AF-S VR Nikkor. 1/200 second at f/4. Matrix metering. + 0.67 EV compensation. Monopod, and VR on. ISO 100



© 2017