Nikon Owner Issue 11
My Favourite Image
John Archer-Thomson is Assistant Warden of the Field Studies Council’s Dale Fort Field Centre in Pembrokeshire, West Wales, where he has slowly, and happily, taken root over the last couple of decades. When he is not SCUBA diving, walking, drumming, playing with boats, running, writing (books, articles, lyrics, poems and scientific papers) he is taking photographs above and below the water. If he didn’t have a mortgage to pay he would take pictures nearly all the time. He is a highly commended photographer in the BG Wildlife photographer of the Year competition. Whenever possible he and his wife Sally go abroad to indulge in even more landscape and natural history photography.
When asked to choose my favourite image for Nikon Owner I was delighted. I did not realise that I would lose hair and nails in the process! The proverbial wailing and gnashing of teeth occurred rendering me a pale shadow of my former self. However I did get the job done, just.
Why this one? I love all aspects of natural history photography but I think the discipline and pace of “landscapes” suit me best. I chose a Pembrokeshire image because I believe that to do justice to a location photographically you have to live there (local knowledge, opportunity, timing, empathy with subject matter all play their part). This particular image, Equinoctial Sunrise, Milford Haven Waterway, was selected because I normally try to photograph natural or semi-natural areas where human interference is muted. This time I chose to portray a subject that I would normally consider ugly in a sympathetic way. Every inch of the canvas is doing something for the whole. I think my favourite touch is the light at the water’s edge that anchors the composition successfully. I waited until the sun was behind a thin veil of cloud to reduce the risk of flare. Most importantly, I suffered for my art by getting up early for the sunrise!
Equipment:
Nikon F5, 80-200mm f/2.8 AF ED Zoom-Nikkor lens, tripod
FILM: Velvia 50
john’s FAVOURITE LENS: 20-35mm f/2.8D AF Zoom-Nikkor