Lately, I have found myself watching the odd old movie here and there of the black and white variety. You know the kind!  Where the family still consists of “Ma, Pa and Sis”.  The pooch is inevitably called “Skip” and words like “golly-gosh, gee-whiz and jolly good show” are used with reckless abandon! (We all know what they are really trying to say…) 

I am drawn to the lighting of some of these old films.  The stage like drama and complete focus on detail, shape, texture and motion.  Notably I keep thinking of Ingmar Bergman’s ‘The Seventh Seal’, particularly the chess game!  The Lighting! The Drama! The Atmosphere!

It’s with these thoughts in mind that I found myself out on the green-black Atlantic on a bitingly cold and misty morning.  From my usual perch on the bow of the boat I glanced at the dour faces huddled in the back.  The cruel reality had struck them that the “Blue Sky” brochure had neglected to inform them that it was not always sunny and warm in Africa!  Their cameras looked just as listless and dejected as the owners.  As one of the  “Brochure Worshippers” in a stern matter of fact voice pointed out to me… “de weather …. ‘s no good for de photo making! No!”    I already knew what I was going to do.

On the one camera body I cranked up the ISO for extra speed.  The added ‘noise’ would only be a bonus as I planned on adding grain to the image to give it that gritty - “real life” feel! On the second camera, I did the opposite.  The ISO came down, as did the corresponding shutter speed.  This little camera was turned into a blurring machine of unpredictable magnitude!  And the rest…well you know what they say in the movies…(the rest…history…etc)

I rode the bow and shot everything that came my way a bit like that old western character…John something or the other!  I bobbed from one side of the boat to the other and got drenched by the spray of Dolphins breaking the surface in a whoosh of air and water.  I even managed to baptise one of my cameras and lenses as I hung over the side of the boat…always pushing that little bit more for a better angle! 

“Don’t panic, my camera is used to this! I do this ALL the time! Stand back! Give us room”, I said to the shocked faces around me…secretly I was blubbering away convinced my faithful digital sidekick had processed its last string of binaries!  - We both pulled through OK though!

By mid morning the sun broke through and I shamelessly (and immediately) sold out and started shooting those conventional images so favoured by the producers of those glossy “Blue Sky Brochures”!  What can I say (the machine needs feeding)... “Take it while you can!”  But for two hours that morning I had fun, shot hundreds of pics and came away with a handful I am rather pleased with.  And I can just hear the little “Jimmy” in me uttering those memorable lines: “Gee-whiz Ma, I sure did have a jolly fun time today!”…………..Oh yes these images go well with a tub of Ben and Jerry’s… To the fridge!  - Enjoy!

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