Things I am shooting....a photography blog by Taipei based photographer Duncan Longden.

An opportunity presented itself this weekend to take my camera and a trusty, nearly 20 year old tripod down to Brighton and get a shot or two whilst there. What joy I felt as I dragged my sleep deprived self out of bed at 06:00 (it was still dark) to see a very overcast sky. Checking the dawn time I decided to grab 40 winks on the couch and wait for at least a touch of light.

The gloomy sky began to relinquish a mild glow, and optimistically I set out toward the sea front and pier. As I got there it the drizzle had started and a fog began to come down. At this point it is easy to think "blugh, there is no point even getting out of the car", turn around and head back to the comfort of the couch. I however have made a decision to follow the mantra of, and I quote the late great Roger Hickman, "a photographer makes a photograph, everybody else just takes one". I had an idea of what I wanted to achieve, with this in mind stepped out of the car, got my gear, set my alarm to get back before I'd get a ticket and set off. I looked at the Brighton wheel, set up a shot and made a 3 minute exposure. Looking at the result I was none too impressed so packed up and moved on.

"Stick to the plan Duncan, better one good shot than two mediocre".

I trudged across the wet pebbles and was surprised to see two swimmers in their trunks walking up the beach. Well I assumed they were swimmers, that or it was a good night and perhaps they need to find new friends!

I found a spot near to where I thought the shot would be. Getting out my camera I started to have a look at the best way to work the scene. The sea was murky and fairly flat, the sky totally white and flat and the fog was almost covering the far end of the pier, splendid.

Feeling glad that I brought my sturdy Brembo monster tripod I set up, composed the shot, locked everything down solidly and put my hat on the camera to protect it from the rain. to a casual observer it must have looked like the worst scarecrow in the world built strangely to protect a pebble beach. I didn't have long, maybe enough time for two exposures. Not wanting to make any errors and miss my chance I ran through the checks; iso 200, f16, view finder shutter down, bulb, remote shutter release connected and no rain on the lens. Stopwatch ready and click 8 minutes.....

It is exactly the photograph I had imagined and set out to create, thank you Roger, you are and always will be a great inspiration...