Commemoration

 This might look like something of a photo dump but I have been trying to find time to sort through my shots from the recent 80th Anniversary Commemorations of the Battle of the Atlantic at Liverpool at the end of May, and now I have done I wanted to share the best of them.

On the day there were flypasts from a small selection of aircraft; an exceptionally rare  Supermarine Seafire, a version of the Spitfire designed for flying from aircraft carriers, a Fairey Swordfish which was a submarine hunter that would fly low and slow before releasing its torpedo ( a tactic that left the crew very vulnerable). My grandad worked on these planes when he was in the Fleet Air Arm during the war. And then of course the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight consisting of a Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and an Avro Lancaster, always a magical sight to see these legendary aircraft in the sky.

Saharan Sandstorm

Today Ireland and the West Coast of the UK have been battered by the tail end of Hurricane Ophelia and sadly three people have died in Ireland as a result of the storm. Driving conditions have been tricky and in places homes are without electricity so it is a dramatic change from the lovely weather we had over the weekend.

Fortunately here in Wirral things haven't been too bad and apart from the strong wind this afternoon has been quite warm and sunny.

The day did start off however with a very unusual phenomenon, a red sky and a very pale sun. By now as it is late in the evening as I post this no doubt there will be lots of pictures of this rare event circulating the web but what kind of photographer would I be if I didn't whip out the Canon and take a few shots and share them with you.

I have used my 150 - 600mm lens, the first image was shot at 600mm f40 at 1/125s ISO 100 and the second was shot at 600mm f40, 1/400s and ISO 400

The red sky is a result of sand from the Sahara whipped up by the storm being lifted into the atmosphere and as a result of the dust absorbing the blue light allowing more red from the spectrum to penetrate... or something, that's all a bit too much science for me.  

Anyway I really love these shots, I love the halo around the sun in the first picture and I love the smoky effect of the clouds in the second. I hope you like them as much as me.

Past and Present

Yesterday's pictures were of the Typhoon and F-15s in flight, today the planes are all on the ground and there is a contrast between the old and the new with the 2nd World War Hurricane which is part of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight based at RAF Coningsby, and the Typhoon  of 3(F) Squadron, the first operational squadron of Typhoon fighters.

I really like the old aircraft but I also really like the new.  The sleek design, amazing technology, the speed and power is so impressive.  I grew up with regular flights of military aircraft flying over my house as they went on practice bombing runs on Wainfleet Marsh, I miss the sounds and smells of these amazing jets.

I particularly like the last of today's shots, the heat haze from the engines and I remember the sense of anticipation as the plane strained against its brakes before springing forward to take off.