The second month of the year had a very eventful start, with a visit to RAF Coningsby. I was privileged to be able to visit with one of the Eurofighter Typhoon squadrons stationed there, and after some strict instruction, was allowed to walk about on the pan where many of the aircraft were being prepared for their sorties.
After overcoming the initial challenge of where to look, I quickly got the hang of what action would go on where. The main thing on my mind was then just to double check where autofocus landed, as all the people and aircraft moving around often threw it off, and create compositions which wouldn’t get my camera impounded.
Top left: Typhoon ‘334’ has its covers and tags removed. Top right: A Typhoon executes a performance take-off. Bottom left: see below; 1/1000s, f/5.6, ISO 320. Bottom right: Four Typhoons do a run in and break prior to landing.
The shot in the bottom left was taken from inside one of the Hardened Aircraft Shelters. I deliberately over-exposed the sky to add to the minimalism of the shot, and desaturated it in post-production to remove most of the remaining blue tones. Those two effects combined give the picture the sleek and almost dangerous atmosphere that I was aiming for.
I also did a little burst shooting, creating almost forty images in the course of getting the timing just right for this one conjunction. I consider it to be one of the best photos of my career so far, and show it off at any given opportunity.
The middle of the month saw me taking a weekend to visit several locations across north Norfolk. The first stop was Blakeney Point, where the small boat taking me to the seal beaches also gave great views of the harbour itself. Of course, the main challenge here was that the boat was constantly moving, so I struck a balance of contact points between myself and the boat by having one foot on the floor and the other leg kneeling on the bench. This, with my elbows tucked into my chest and my body moving to counteract the swell, as well as a fast shutter speed (though no faster than 1/1000s) and shooting on auto mode, provided enough stability for clear images.
Next I visited Happisburgh, where the main attraction was their landmark lighthouse, and I played around with various perspectives. I first shot from a nearby car park, giving me a pleasant amount of lens compression with a focal length of only 56.2mm, then moved to the end of the road leading to the site itself. There, I used the absolute minimum focal length available to me of 18mm to create a wide viewpoint up the hill, also taking in the texture of the clouds, and making even the large lighthouse seem small. I also worked with the pair of unavoidable telegraph poles, framing the lighthouse between them to add to the perspective of the shot.
The final stop of Saturday was Horsey Gap, which is well-known for its seal population and didn’t disappoint. The beach was packed with seals, laying about doing not much- until, with no warning, one would strike a pose, but for just long enough that once my camera was focused, it was already laying down again. The technique I eventually used was to single out seals which did a lot of moving, then sit and wait. Despite this, I took about two hundred photos of nothing in particular, with a handful of gems.
Sunday’s focus was on Thurne Mill, a disused windpump on the backwaters of the broads. The day was extremely dark and grey, not doing the mill and its surroundings full justice, but I did my best in the circumstances- mainly by increasing the exposure by 1.00 in post-production. Whilst I was framing my photos, many were designed to hide the base of the mill deliberately, as it has a footpath, information board, and door which didn’t add to the photos I was trying to get. Instead, I chose to obscure them with the reeds growing nearby, and make sure not to fall in the river as I did so.
The river also had a short offshoot ending in a marina in the village of Thurne itself, which was heavily populated by ducks. Mentally making the switch from landscape to wildlife mode, I tried to orchestrate some good compositions, but the tussle of waterbirds fighting over handfuls of duck food refused to cooperate, instead striking poses on the bank whilst waiting for more feed.
Finally, a quick roundup of the best incidental photos from the weekend. Left: blackened and twisted bracken is the product of a bush fire. Middle: A peacock caught moments before disappearing over the wall. Right: A quaint cottage is reflected in the River Thurne.
This month wasn’t heavy with major projects, so there are quite a few uncollected images- some of which I shall now collect here!
Left: A seagull using a telegraph pole as a watchtower.
Below: Top left: Sunset brings out the mist on the fens north of Cambridge. Top right: A daffodil in a patch of dappled shade. Middle left: A dog looks mischievous after wading into the river. Middle right: A sunset viewed from the road shows starkly contrasting clouds. Bottom left: A sunset paints the sky in many hues. Bottom right: The rarely-seen head of a snowdrop bloom.
