The inimitable Chinook

As I said in the previous blog: When opportunity knocks... In photography (as in most things in life) “luck” is a convergence of preparation, experience and opportunity.

For photography groups that I present to, I use the letters of the word L U C K as an acronymic for:

Light

Urgency

Composition

Knowledge

Recognise the light and what it is doing for the scene

Work with a sense of purpose and urgency in the limited time you are allocated

Bring all your composition skills to the scene; work it and react to changes in it Draw on your knowledge and experience of method and technique to produce a compelling, atmospheric and technically accomplished interpretation of the moment.

Chinook over Fishbourne Channel

Nikon D810, 70-300mm Nikkor at 300mm , 1/250 second, f9, ISO 1600, tripod

19.55, 8th September 2016

I was on the estuary of the Fishbourne channel, shooting a sequence of images for a commission for a client and I heard the distant but unmistakable sound of a Chinook. Before I actually saw it, I switched lenses, removing the wide angle and fitting a telephoto, de-activated mirror lock-up, raised the sensitivity of the camera from 64 to 1600 ISO so I could shoot at 1/250 of a second and watched for the chopper. It flew steadily past on the western horizon, handily silhouetted in profile against the darkening vermilion skies of sunset - and as its flight path converged with the dip in the treeline, I snatched the shot.