Many of my photographs are taken on cycle rides. A big part of both photographing and cycling is the weather. This blog post is about one particular aspect of the weather – the wind.
For a cyclist the wind can be a hindrance or an assistance. It can blow you along the road encouraging you to go further than you should; then you will find yourself working extra hard to get back. It can push you up a hill which can be very helpful; sometimes though it can force you to pedal downhill which is so unfair!
The worst type of wind for a cyclist is a crosswind when you suddenly find yourself buffeted from the side. It’s this sort of weather that can dramatically affect the outcome of a road race. You might have seen professional cyclists riding in echelons across the road all trying to get meagre protection from each other and taking turns at the front. If a contender has missed out and is not in that group they will find it very hard to get back into contention as they will be exposed to the wind.
A cross wind for mere mortals out cycling might mean avoiding exposed roads on high land close to the coast. This was not what I did recently when I cycled from the village of Abbotsbury close to the Dorset coast in the south of England. I took the road up out of the village and along the coast; the wind was coming off the sea stirring up the waves far below. Up here nothing much was growing so there was little protection. All I could do was hunker down as low as possible on the bicycle and look out for a turning that would take me into the sheltered countryside further inland.
The wind can play a part for photographers, too, especially landscape photographers. It means that the lighting is likely to change regularly very quickly; if the sun isn’t shining where you would like it to be, give it a few moments and it soon well be. Also, strong winds and high clouds can give a dramatic backdrop to any landscape photograph.
The wind can almost animate your pictures in other ways too. Waves on the shore or trees in full leaf look dramatic when the wind hits them. Slow the shutter speed down to turn them into a blur.
So, if you are looking to take dramatic landscape photographs, head out when the wind is up!
(Aeolus is the Greek god of the wind)
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