I had decided before I left home that I wanted to try and show the weather more rather than the subject. I was looking to try and convey the elements as much as possible and make the viewer feel what I was experiencing! The weather forecast had suggested that early in the morning the winds were going to be 40-50 mph at the same time as it would be high tide. All the portents were looking good as I set off from home.

I was headed for a very popular location of mine at Boscombe Pier which is about a 20 min trip. When I got to the location I could tell the conditions were going to be really perfect! The rain was sheeting down and the winds were very strong and I could see that the surf was really high.

I had planned on working under the pier so I did have a little shelter, especially if I stood beside one of the pier supports. I had only taken down my camera as any more equipment wouldn't have been able to be used in these conditions.

I set the camera on shutter burst and waded out into the swell. It soon became obvious that I had to create a strong stance in order to avoid being toppled over in the elements! The only thing you can't cater for is a rogue wave which tends to come out of nowhere unannounced! When I'm looking through the viewfinder I feel very detached from my surroundings and I become unaware of any danger. Luckily I had just the one rogue wave which certainly put me on my guard.

My intention was to get into the composition to try and fully capture the elements and exhilaration of being in this storm. There really was no way I was going to shoot on a long zoom lens from the beach and I started taking images with my 10mm lens. I needed to show the water as a moving item and I deployed a slow shutter speed. The downside to this is that the main pier structure would, I knew, be blurry and out of focus. Now whilst I'm happy with this look I'm not sure my readers would be!

I have, therefore, a question for you: do you feel that these images really give you a better feeling of the conditions? If you were going to purchase an image, would one of these be in consideration?

Please email me you thoughts as I'm really interested to learn what others think Email Roy

All the best,

Roy