(and I would hopefully
frame). It was quickly
agreed the captain
would give me a
countdown over the
radio when he thought
the nose of our aircraft
would be in line with
the vessels and that
was when I would hit
the shutter release.
With both aircraft so
low, the submarines
lashed past in a
fraction of a second.
It was made even
more tricky because
the mirror inside the
Hasselblad (as is
the case with many
cameras) pops up and
you can’t actually see
through the lens at
the critical moment.
So, although I was
fairly conident I had
achieved what I had
intended, you never
completely know what
you have until the
ilm is processed. It’s
different nowadays
of course, with digital
cameras you can check what you have
captured straightaway.
Here’s a little tip for estimating camera
exposure, particularly with snow in the
background or luffy white clouds – howeverbright it may seem to you, don’t be tempted
to close down the aperture or select a faster
shutter speed. The relective light from your
subject is no brighter than if it was sitting on
grass on a sunny day, so stick to the sameexposure you would
use in that situation.
We made more
passes over the
submarines than I
was expecting, so I
was conident that I
had plenty of good
photographs to cover
this extraordinary
event. After
explaining that to the
captain we headed
back toward Andøya
for another over-
night stay.
I was invited up to
the light deck during
the return journey
to chat with the
captain and cockpit
crew about how the
whole assignment
had come together.
I told them how
much I appreciated
the tremendous
co-operation of both
pilots in positioning
their aircraft in the
right place at the
right time.UNEXPECTED OPPORTUNITY
The next morning, as we boarded our
Nimrod at Andøya, one of the pilots
suggested there would be another great
photo opportunity to capture the otherThe Nimrod lying along the coast of Norway with a dramatic backdrop.24 Aviation News incorporating Jets October 2018