A Valuable Lesson in Photography which changes everything
When a moment occurs and you wished you had your camera is when you think I wish I had brought it with me. for me I have my camera with me most of the time and it allows me to catch fleeting moments or opportunities if they occur near where I am at a particular time. Today was one such occasion while working in Tralee it was close to sunset and looked like it could all kick off, and kick off it did
Having your camera bag with you in the car when possible can open up so many opportunities for your photography and can ensure that if something happens on any route you are ready to grab the shot at a moments notice. here is noting worse than seeing light develop and wish that you had your camera with you, yes you might have your phone with you in your pocket but the reality is that your phone simply wont cut the mustard when it comes to quality, dynamic range and general overall feel to an image.
I had been secretly keeping an eye on the weather during the day and while it looked good in theory I knew that weather being weather and Ireland being Ireland not to rely on it totally, however when it came within 1 hour of Sunset I was able to look west and see that the drama was building and it could indeed lead to some fantastic conditions. Thankfully as I had my bag with me, I was already ready to pounce and head to a location that I had in mind earlier that day just in case.
The Blennerville Windmill is a 21.30 m high, stone, reefing stage, windmill in Blennerville, Co. Kerry, Ireland. The mill has five floors, ground floor, intermediate floor, grinding floor, stone floor and cap floor. Long since disused it now stands as a superb subject to photograph right on the bay and withe Dingle Peninsula mountains behind it and out to the west, it form a totally pleasing composition
Upon arrival I was able to take up position and fire off a couple of test shots, now only were the conditions going to be good but I had a feeling they were going to be very good, and it wasn’t long before that bore thru, the sun broke through the clouds and flooded the entire scene with the most glorious light, the clouds that had been building caught this light and the entire scene came alive. I was there ready and not with my phone camera, I had all my gear.
Because I was prepared I had also my video recording gear with me, and was delighted that I did as I heard off in the distance what sounded like the rotors of a helicopter, was it going to come near me or was it going to be flying by I thought and what type of helicopter was it ?
I didn’t have to wait long to discover that it was coming towards my direction and as it grew closer I could see that it wasn’t any ordinary helicopter, it was in fact and Irish Coast Guard helicopter and it was coming right towards me. Now when I say right towards me I actually mean directly over my head, the sound from this was insane and I was able to quickly change out lens to my longs lens in time ( having my bag with me advantage number 3) and fire off some photos from underneath.
Now my thoughts of course turned to wonder and hope that it wasn’t on a rescue mission for anyone, or even me for that matter as I was at the edge of the jetty, however when I could hear that it was no longer fading in volume but also now increasing again I knew it was just after coming into turn around and head back out again into the bay to continue its training exercise. This then gave me a second bite of the cherry as it again came back over me, and while it was good to try and photograph it again, I was more interested in photographing the thousands of starlings and other birds that were now flying for their lives up and around the windmill trying to escape this thunderous noise.
One thing however was I forgot my external mic so had to make so with the inbuilt camera mic, not ideal but better then nothing at the end of the day I got some nice conditions and of course shots of what ended up being a fantastic shoot, and all because I had my camera bag in the car with me just in case.
Now my advise here is to be prepared, have your gear with you when possible, however common sense needs to prevail above all, keep it in the boot, out of sight and locked away, the last things I want to happen as I am sure the same for you, if for your camera to be the subject/ temptation for a break in and it to be all ruined in one swoop.
I hope you enjoyed coming on this adventure with me, you can watch how it all panned out in the video below.
