Day 288: Grey clouds, grey water

After yesterday's rain came even more rain, leaving gusty easterly winds in its wake. It was late afternoon as usual when I wandered out to look for a photo. I had a couple of ideas in mind, but the strong wind and dull light put paid to them. I ended up walking out to the rose garden again because I could see the dark grey forbidding clouds over Howe Sound. The angle isn't too good from there so I crossed the road and walked up onto the embankment outside the Museum of Anthropology for a better view. Knowing how digital cameras treat large expanses of grey, I kept the ISO setting as low as practical, but I had to zoom in quite far to get the view I wanted, and was faced with an exposure time that is really too long for the conditions (about 1/20 of a second). I noticed a floatplane fly by and took the shot as it reached the centre of the frame. I quickly reviewed what I'd taken and I laughed out loud to myself: the plane was pin-sharp! Well, my steady hand and image stabilization really works wonders doesn't it. I was mightily pleased with myself until I got home and viewed the photo on the computer. Sure, the plane was perfectly in focus with no signs of blurring, but the backdrop was noticeably blurred - somehow as I wavered, I managed to move the camera in the same direction that the aircraft was moving. A beautiful panning shot, without even realizing it! How about that?

Forbidding weather in Howe Sound