Earlier this month, the annual Round the Island yacht race took place. 1,533 boats set off from Cowes to circumnavigate the Isle of Wight.
It's a spectacular sight, literally a sea of sails. Rather excitingly, I had the opportunity to shoot the race from the air, from a helicopter owned by Phoenix Helicopters, Goodwood.
It wasn't my first time shooting from a helicopter without doors so I wasn't phased when we took off and headed out over the Solent. I love flying in helicopters!
Phoenix had obtained a low fly permit for me so we were able to fly fairly close to the yachts, although there are of course limits and I was glad to have my 70-200mm zoom with me.
Using two cameras, the other one with my 24-70mm lens, enabled me to capture wider views as well.
I had particularly wanted to photograph the yachts rounding The Needles, arguably the Island's most iconic landmark and certainly one that looms large in my memories from a childhood spent sailing the Solent.
In addition to the big 'race' shots, I hoped to capture some closer pictures that would work in black and white for a more timeless feel.
In addition to all the many yachts on the sea, the RNLI lifeboats were kept busy attending to boats struggling in the challenging conditions on the day.
It was an exhilarating experience, and one I hope to repeat. Many thanks to Max from Phoenix for his excellent piloting.
One of the clients on my most recent workshop pointed out to me that it has been a long time since the last post on this blog! Shame on me! So here's a little summary of what I have been up to in the last few weeks, and some of my latest images.
In my last post, I shared some pictures from Birling Gap, and I have been back there, as well as other locations nearby, a few times since. My eye seems to be particularly drawn to chalk cliffs at the moment. Having been brought up on the south coast, they are very much the landscape of my youth and I now enjoy rediscovering them with my camera.
While beguilingly beautiful, the South coast can also be dangerous, as I was reminded on one of my recent trips to Birling Gap. I was, fortunately, standing out on the sand at low tide, when a huge chunk of the cliff came crashing down. No-one was hurt although there was a group of very shocked foreign students on the beach at the time. It was a sobering sight and, from now on, I will be more careful about heeding warnings not to stray too close to the cliffs.
Last week, I spent a few days in another chalky place, the Isle of Wight. Although the weather was trying, to say the least, there were some moments of good light and, let's face it, it's hard not to get a picture when at the coast. It will take me a while to get through all the images I took, but here are a few 'tasters'.
In other news, I was delighted to find out that one of my pictures has been selected for inclusion in the Outdoor Photographer of the Year book. It is a year since I first submitted work to Outdoor Photography Magazine, easily my favourite photography publication. Since then, the magazine has published several of my images and commissioned a short article. I have been bowled over by the enthusiasm and support I have received from them.
Regular readers will already be familiar with the work of my friend Jenifer Bunnett, who continues to be a great pal and enthusiastic companion on our photographic expeditions. If you haven't seen her work before, you can access her website by clicking on her name above. I have also recently enjoyed outings with two other photographers, Sarah Medway and Lorraine Heaysmon, both committed landscape shooters with impressive portfolios. Photography can be a solitary activity and, while I really enjoy that solitude, it is also nice sometimes to share the adventure.
My spare time (what spare time?) continues to be filled with judging at Surrey camera clubs and giving talks. I recently presented a new talk, 'From Canal to Coast' to Guildford Photographic Society which was well-received. As a judge I am obliged also to compete in camera club competitions, which is fair enough when you think about it. So, last month, I was pleased to win the Best Image trophy at Surrey Photographic Association's 2015 Open Print competition. I have shared the picture here before but I think a second airing is justified.
Of course, this is also the main season for f11 Workshops and we have had some great days out with our clients. Our last workshop of the year was in West Sussex and, although the weather seemed determined to be gloomy, our persistence was eventually rewarded with some really special light. My business partner, Tony Antoniou, and I will not make our own images when leading workshops, so I have no picture to share, but I have seen a few of our clients' shots and am glad to say they did it justice.
The location of our workshop, but taken on another occasion.
Finally, Jen and I have had a couple of productive meetings about our pro bono project with the Basingstoke Canal and there will hopefully be some big developments on that front in the near future.