October - Disaster strikes!

I can’t quite believe we are through October already, and there are only 2 months left of my 2021 Project. It feels quite sad visiting the locations for the 4th time as I am now doing and capturing the final shots for the project from each location. I’ve really enjoyed having the project to work on through the year so already thinking about what I will do for 2022.

1) Watershoot Bay

October however was a bit of a disaster month, it started well with a really enjoyable astro shoot at Watershoot bay. It was quite a windy evening so I was worried the long exposure shots would not be sharp but I managed to get the tripod secure and was really pleased with the final image. I had always planned to do an Astro shoot for the project at this location as it is one of the darkest spots on the Island. Initially I had thought to capture the Milky Way but it never quite aligns with the composition I wanted so took my second favourite night sky option, Ursa Major.

Ursa Major shining brightly over Watershoot Bay

This is definitely my favourite image from the month.

2) Bembridge Beach

The next location I visited was Bembridge beach. It always amazes me when visiting Bembridge how much the beach changes on each tide and I have never been able to find the same composition twice as sand is moved and reveals and covers different rocks on the beach. On this occasions the light wasn’t brilliant as there was significant cloud cover and the tide was higher than I would normally like. The resulting image is okay but certainly not the best I have captured from this location.

Incoming tide at Bembridge Beach

After that disaster struck, during an early morning shoot on Apply beach my camera fell off the tripod and landed straight in a sea water pool. Unfortunately it failed its bronze swimming certificate and sank straight into the pool. Despite retrieving it quickly it had ingested a lot of sea water and suffered pretty bad damage as a result. Fortunately I have specialist camera insurance, which paid out and a new camera has arrived. It did take a few weeks to sort out though so I was without a camera for a few weeks. I did use this as an opportunity to decide a second camera body would be a good investment so I now have a backup Nikon ZFC camera which will also be a useful camera to use when out walking as it is much lighter than the Z7ii set up. Despite the set back of the camera accident I did still manged to capture 4 images for the project this month using a combination of the ZFC and the replacement Z7ii when it arrived.

3) Compton Beach

Another beach trip later in the month with the Nikon ZFC. It had been an overcast day but the forecast was for the cloud to break up towards sunset. I wasn’t sure this forecast would be right, but as the afternoon progressed there were signs of the cloud breaking up so I took the new Nikon ZFC I had purchased for its first outing.

It was definitely an evening to be patient as when arriving at the location the cloud was still very thick and it seemed there was little chance of any light breaking through. However I decided to be patient and set about finding a composition as the tide retreated. I was glad I waited as the cloud did break through and as the sun sank towards the horizon the most amazing golden light was cast across the scene.

Compton beach at Sunset.

The ZFC performed really well and I was very impressed with the camera. I think I prefer the portrait orientation of this scene that I also captured without the sun actually in frame. The light on the Tennyson Down cliffs is just lovely in the portrait version.

4) Headon Warren

My final location for the month was Headon Warren and the first trip out with the replacement Z7ii. It was a tough first test as I definitely put the weather sealing on the camera to the test as some heavy showers were rolling through during the late afternoon. Despite getting several soakings it was great to be in the right spot as the sun burst through the cloud and lit up the sky and the land in front of me.

Headon Warren on an Autumnal evening.

Away from the project there hasn’t been much other photography this month due to a combination of the camera accident and the weather. I think Autumn I pretty much a write off here on the Island, there was very little Autumn colour to be seen before the first big storm blew through and stripped a lot of the leaves from the more exposed woodland, and as I write this a second storm is blowing through which will probably strip the remaining leaves so Autumn colour will have to wait for next year I think!

Thanks for reading.