Back then the law allowed us to own and use an arsenal of firearms, ranging from 9mm semi-automatics (S&W 5906, Beretta M92F, Glock 17), through to .45ACP semi-automatics (Colt 1911 Gold Cup, Glock 21), revolvers (S&W 686, S&W M29) to over-and-under shotguns used for trap and skeet clays (Beretta 682 and 686 Onyx).
In 1997, legislation was passed effectively bringing and end to the legal ownership and easy access to handguns by law-abiding citizens (of the UK), bringing our family pastime to a fairly abrupt halt.
Shotguns weren't enough to retain my interest as my focus turned towards work, amongst other things.
Since then "Shooting" referred to photography, until today.
One of my colleagues offered to take me to Bisley to try out his Black Powder, single-action revolver this weekend and despite the stormy weather, I couldn't resist.
Black Powder is to guns what large format, plate camera is to cameras.
Although I had been fast-forwarded in time, returning today to a place I used to visit in the past, I was equipped with technology from the wrong era.
The first hour disappeared, accounting for only 6 shots taken in that period. The rest of that time was allocated to setting up the target, loading powder into the 6 individual chambers (in the cylinder), stuffing the wad, pressing the lead ball, crimping and mounting the caps (primers) before we got to shoot.
I miss "shooting" and I'll definitely take my colleague up on future offers to join him but the enjoyment gained now is far removed from what excited me as a teenager. Today it was a chance to get out with a friend, enjoy the fresh air, exchange friendly banter with other shooters and to totally forget about everything else.
We also had heaps of fun trying to capture the muzzle blast out of this gun.
My proudest photo is from my iPhone. Good timing (watching my friend's trigger finger move) and luck got me this result:
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| Sergey (iPhone) |
We struggled to replicate this even using the D700, until it dawned on me that the phone camera was likely using a much slower shutter speed.
So I set the Nikon to Shutter priority and 1/100s and tried again.
Serge's framing was excellent.
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| ISO800, f/4, 1/100s, D700 |
I tried to take another one of Serge again but the framing wasn't perfect as it wasn't easy to see the muzzle blast, even with the naked eye. Still...we got it again.
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| ISO800, f/3.5, 1/100s, D700 |
Shooting shooting; how interesting :-)
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of subject matter where technical prowess, ability to anticipate the event and luck all come together. Nice work!
Hi Björn,
ReplyDeleteI haven't done much "high speed" shooting before but in this case I think the slower shutter speed seemed to be preferable, in order to catch the full muzzle blast.
Given more time, it would have been interesting to experiment with other shutter speeds too, but due to various factors, from the weather, time and our desire to keep shooting, we just wanted to get some interesting results.
It was good shooting on both counts :-)