Brogborough Lake – Only Occasional Gusts

Having not been to the lake for some time, I decided to go despite the wind being fitful and not overly strong. When I arrived there, there were a surprising number of sailors out on the lake, but after only a short while the wind lost much of its power, and the clouds began to roll in.

However there were some reasonable gusts every so often, so patience was required, it was the opportunity for some of the more skilled to practice general control and gybing, and here the wilful wind took its toll, the sailor would choose to initiate a turn only to find that at that precise moment the wind needed to complete the action, had deserted him! I was watching one person in particular and he was caught off-guard several times and I avoided taking the last moments out of compassion, but finally, I decided just the once to keep my shutter-finger pressing for the dying moments when the sail hit the water; full marks for perseverance though!

Due to the numbers on the water, I also tried hard to take shots of groups as much as individuals for compositional purposes and for the picture that would head the piece on the blog. I did take short series of one sailor with outstretched arm, and later found it to be Mark Maryan, who through his company has helped sort out my pensions situation, I love his sense of humour in choice of company name – Gee7; it has a certain resonance for me, for it was during the time of that summit in London, I was airborne in a Twin Squirrel helicopter taking photos over the city, which can be seen by using the blog’s Search box and entering: ‘Aerial London’ (omitting the inverted commas). It was a wonderful experience that came about because an aerial photographer for whom I was giving Photoshop tuition offered to take me up with him, and he generously gave me a spell controlling the pilot, to get some specific shots I wanted, using: “Nose Up, Nose Down, Nose Right, Nose Left…” and so on, to allow me to compose less randomly. It was a wonderful experience I would love to repeat, though I imagine it is less easier to do with the current situation regarding security.

The shots from this afternoon will likely not be too exciting, but might at least be of personal interest to those participating, as a record of their enjoyment.