Portland Bill by Andrew Pattenden
Andrew Pattenden has won £250 of Castle Cameras vouchers in the quarterly prize in association with the Echo Camera Club Dorset. We loved the beautiful night sky he captured, with Portland lighthouse shining its light out across the sea, protecting ships from the cliffs. Andrew went to some effort to get this shot, as we found out when we asked him a little bit about the photo and his journey into photography.
Here is what he had to say:
"I have always had an interest in photography, from a young 18/19 year old man through to now!
My first camera being a Zenith 35mm i think it was? I progressed to a Pentax and then brought my first DSLR a Canon 450d. I have had an 80D and now have a second hand Canon 5d mk4, which I really enjoy.
My step father was a keen photographer and we often went out together taking photos and learning! However 35mm film often left me disappointed after waiting for them to come back and seeing perhaps 1 good photo!
This interest continued as my career took me to being a Police Officer. Photography stayed with me professionally as an evidence gatherer.
Using video to film crime scenes and disorder around football and demonstrations across the South of England. High profile incidents as well as day to day issues of Policing. At time being right in the thick of it and often targeted but those who objected to being filmed. I would often be filming whilst being attacked!
I also had my photo taken numerous times filming! But my love was always still photography. I learnt that a photo can tell many stories!
Since retiring from the Police I find myself with my camera strapped to me whereever I go, looking for that shot that gives me the wow factor! I delete a lot!
I have stuck with Canon as it is a brand I have used for some time and I have always been happy to use without re-learning a completely new system! I have never been disappointed!
I can't really say which part of photography I most enjoy. As long as I am outside, I am happy. I like to try new things and learning something each time!
I have taken a lot of shots of extreme windsurfing during storms mostly at Avon Beach. I love the challenge of getting the wind surfers flying off the waves and performing stunts to challenge my skills! I have had some good success and provided photos for this to those that want one of my photos. I guess seascape would be in my top 5 of favourite types of photography!
I have dabbled a little in night time photography and trying to get the best shots with limited equipment and relying on traditional long exposure to get something I am happy with.
For this shot I spent a sunset to a sunrise at Portland Bill in Dorset. It was a lovely clear evening and as the night progressed the sky was clear and it was cold!
I took some sunset shots and went to sleep in my camper van, setting my alarm for the early hours. With no one else around I ventured out with my 5D and my Samyang 14mm lens and of course my tripod! I tried many different settings.
When I got home to process the shots I chose this one to enter into the Echo competition. It is a 25 second shot at ISO 1250 at F2.8.. I edited it a little in Lightroom and ended up with this picture! The light house now being LED gave it a different look! Not the traditional circulating beam! The clouds giving it the feeling I was after."
Thank you to Castle Cameras for sponsoring this completion. I look forward to spending my first competition prize with you!"Andrew won £250 to spend at Castle Cameras. If you would like to enter the monthly or quarterly competitions then join the camera club here.READ NEXT: Landscape Photography - The Complete Guide
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Posted by Karen
2nd August 2021
