When on Sunday morning the light is uninspiring and the temperatures less than inviting, what do you do? As a “normal” person you’d go back to bed and enjoy a long extra sleep into the new week.
As a photographer, it is slightly different. No long hours in bed, nope, you go out and find something to shoot. If it’s not close by, then you go further away until you get something shootable.
So that is what I did a few weeks ago. The morning looked as inviting as a lobster posing as roadkill. There was no reason to go outside. So, off into the car I went and started driving anyway.
The first part of the drive was reserved for an upcoming trip, so no shooting there. It’s just like that. The photographer on a mission, I’d say 
.
Ciel de plomb
Now, there is nothing wrong with being “on a mission” but things can change rapidly or can become completely disappointing, all the while having plenty of good subjects. One can have a specific idea in mind that does not materialise, like going storm chasing and finding only blue skies all day long. But this place is reserved for upcoming mission, I can promise you that much .
Nothing to see?
This time, I ended up on the Digby Neck, a long, thin stretch of land along the Bay of Fundy. Winter was still there, plenty of places with snow and ice. Temperatures around freezing and hardly any wind. The lead picture shows current, not wind-swept waves.
View from Long Island
As you can see, the water and skies were not really awe-inspiring. One of the few things of interest was this pier that seemed to have burned at some point. I didn’t venture out on it, I was too far from any place that could help with broken bones. With the current going through that strait, the mainland you can see in the background might as well have been on the moon.
Calm and agitated
A different Sunday, same conditions. It seems that Spring is slow to arrive this year so I might as well get used to that . Many times I have driven past this area, always cursing that there is no place to stop and there is always someone too close behind me to do anything “radical”.
Agitated in the distance
This time, there was nobody on the road. Probably, nobody was inspired enough to go out at all. Anyway, I finally was able to stop at the one single parking place available. It looked like a scene from Jurassic Park, without the velociraptors. I think I must have spent at least an hour or so in this place. Both sides of the road were extremely beautiful.
The other side of the road
As a photographer, I could say that these pictures should never be shown as the sky is just plain grey. Nothing to see and no drama. But I will argue that awe-inspiring skies are not that common. You shoot them when you can, but bland skies are much more common and they do have a place in your photographic library.
Foggy
It’s too easy to refuse to shoot for a big part of the year because the sky is not dramatic. It makes me think of a guy I met long ago on a campground in Southern France. When he asked where we were from, I told him we were from The Netherlands. To which he answered: “Oh that’s the country that has nine months of autumn and three months of no summer in the year!”
Reflections
At the time we laughed at that, but there was some truth in it as well. The same can be said for any maritime climate. Clouds, wind and rain are always on the menu. In summer they are not the main course, but for much of the year they should be expected at any time. So I photograph them when they are here and make the best of it.
Splashing up
This last picture was taken on the same day as the Jurassic pictures, just in a different place. The wind had picked up and, well, you can see the result. Never go home because the sky is not inspiring.
Until next time…