This photo was taken on one of the
last sunny but very windy days of last Autumn (September
2017). We had actually gone out with the intention of shooting
wildfowl at Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve at Meon Shore, but
they just weren't playing ball. I am guessing they were
sheltering from the conditions, and those that were visible
were just too far away for my lens even on a crop sensor.
So we
packed up our gear and walked back to the car which by this
time was getting wet due to the waves breaching the sea wall.
Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a storm but a high tide
combined with a brisk south-easterly wind does have an impact
on the waves.... My colleague just happened to look West and
saw these shapes in the sky and suggested popping along to see
if we could battle the light and the weather to get some
workable shots.
We parked
in one of the car parks at Hill Head (midway between Meon
Shore and Lee on Solent) and walked across the shingle beach
with realisitically no hope of finding a sheltered spot. There
were several sailboard and kitesurfers enjoying the conditions
on this day and performing some pretty cool aerial stunts
which saw them spinning and somersaulting several tens of feet
up in the air - we managed to get quite a few action shots
that we hadnt planned on when we went out.
It was
however this shot that I most loved once I had gotten home and
uploaded them to my laptop... with the moody looking clouds,
the tumbling sea and the green 'kite' perfectly positioned on
the top and left third of the frame. The conditions weren't
kind so this image did require a little post processing to
boost the colours, but it was a struggle to make the scene
look natural therefore I elected to give this an HDR painterly
treatment - I hope you like it. |
