Kite Flying
Photographing spinnakers is just fantastic, there’s so much more for the camera: colour, canvas, texture, and with luck some waves for that bit of jeopardy. I managed to get a few hours at Dartmouth Regatta this year to catch some of the Cape31 class. The south west doesn’t see these type of boats very often, and having seen only photos I was intrigued.
Originating from South Africa, these boats are sheer machines, designed and refined to sail in pretty much anything. Add a fresh Devon breeze and you’ve got a great opportunity for the camera. As the name suggests, only 31 feet, a one design, with approx a 35 square metre mainsail, 115s.m asymmetric spinnaker and a 25s.m jib. That’s a lot of canvas..!
Having checked the entry list already, I knew what I was looking for, and guessing the few entries would be at the front of their class fleet, it didn’t take long to find ‘flurgstagram’. Not being the event photographer for this regatta, I was free to roam Start Bay, so I positioned the rib half way round the downwind reaching leg.
What I hadn’t quite appreciated was the speed of these boats, so where I chose to go was pretty much non negotiable to change, you just can’t get in the way of one of these boats. I wanted a shot coming towards me, but not so slight as to have nothing for the camera to lock onto. The camera’s focus points have to connect somewhere other than a horizon and of course like photography afloat, everything is moving. With the boat often bearing up and away to maximise speed, the composition changes constantly.
Luckily, they were having a few issues getting their kite settled, which was great for me as it added something in texture, with more folds in the sail but also some anxious expressions from the trimmer. There is of course a limited time for the shot, so you kinda have to settle down and concentrate on the basics, pre focus, tracking, decide on an f stop and start clicking. I prefer not to shoot continuous, going for a frame per second. Looking through a telephoto can also be disorienting, so you have to decide when enough is enough, yes, I like to get close, but closing speeds and few escape routes for me means get what you can and get out..
300mm / ISO320 / f2.8 / Exposure 1/8000
