Mother Natures' Mood Swings!

Well another week has come and gone.

Once again so many photographs to choose from ! As I approach the end of this tour, here in the Maldives, it has become quite evident to me I will not be able to post all the images I've captured this past couple of months.That is at least while I am still in the Maldives.

I will,however, endeavor to publish more while I am back in Canada. That is, of course, when I am not enjoying family and friends or working with my wife in our Studio in Victoria.
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So this week, as usual, I was all over the central part of the Maldives and once again managed to capture , what I think to be some compelling images. I love experimenting with the framing treatments along converting some of them into black and white or with Sepia tones. With that in mind if you see something you like or dislike I am open to comments. I like to push the envelope with some of my images and I am always so curious to know the impact they have on people, positive or negative!

I hope to get a second post out this week but in the mean time I hope you like what I have in this one!


Some mornings are simply made for photography! On this morning I was scheduled to arrive on the 05:00 Dhoni to be on call, just in case one of the other pilots is sick. Everyone was healthy on this day so I was free to roam the dock and wait for the perfect moments that I so love to capture!


As I said I love to experiment with the post production. This image is of the same aircraft from a slightly different angle and about 20 minutes earlier than the previous image.

As I continue to roll back the clock I present an image that I caught pre-sunrise on the same day. Longer exposure time causes that awesome "starlight" effect that occurred from the dock lights.

Though longer exposures tend create "noise" in the picture, I have to also admit to you the equipment I use here in the Maldives, unlike the gear we have in our Victoria Studio, is not the highest quality so I find that sometimes I need to be a little creative in my post capture editing.This is in order to present an image that I think is more appealing.Myself, I like the way this one turned out! Of course I invite all comments !

Big Sun going down over the City of Male'

I am searching for that Big Indian Ocean Sunset! In my opinion this one comes close!

When I first saw this amazing sight I was on the bus that transport's us over to the western side of the airport. As soon as it came to a stop I launched out of it to capture this image and the next one that follows.

I love how the rain is like a curtain in front of a big yellow ball!


The cruise ship passengers, along with the rest of were treated to an amazing sunset on this night. The contrast of the approaching storm clouds and the sun provided and amazing photographic opportunity which lasted around 5 minutes! Here is 1/60th of second contained in that 5 minutes of golden splendour!

Though I must tell you that the rain which followed me on my walk back to the apartment was not a lot of fun! Nothing like walking along in ankle deep water, provided courtesy the Western Monsoon , and the sound of the loud speakers amplifying the call to prayer! Can't help feeling a bit "worldly" in those moments !


You know around here my days can start out like this! The iconic images of the Maldives come into view on these days to present themselves in spectacular fashion!


Simply beautiful weather. Clear skies with no hint of bad weather anywhere. But wait the day isn't over yet!

After we arrived from this trip we were sent out on another and on our return back to the seaplane base Mother Nature had one of her notorious mood swings and as you will see in the next few images the day changed dramatically.....


The heavy rain started at around 15:45 and did not let up until well into the evening. With the airport closed to all VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flights and approaching darkness at 17:10 the decision was made to cancel all remaining flights.

An unusual occurrence to cancel all flights because in most cases the weather does let up to some degree to allow at least a few flights to depart and arrive safely prior to the sun going down.

Not on this day however. In fact we had several airplanes divert to other locations outside of Male and were unable to get back to home base. One of the nice things about float equipped aircraft, having the option of landing at a variety of alternate locations.

None the less while the passengers were accommodated by other resorts some of the dedicated and hard working crew elected to sleep in their planes over night because some of the locations do not have facilities for seaplanes. Rather than take the risk of leaving the aircraft by itself on a buoy that was unknown to them or tied to the beach they made the wise decision to stay with the plane!

Myself?Well I was one of the lucky one's to have had the good fortune of timing on my side. Five minutes later and we would have had to make the decision to divert. Instead I was back at the main base with my crew and made the effort to record the event.

I feel badly for the passengers, however. Especially the ones who had just escaped the rotten weather in Europe or the chaos that is going on in Spain right now .

None the less we have our limits. While the aircraft is amazing , the crew imminently experienced and qualified there comes a time when we have to say it is beyond our margin of safe operation. I hope all those affected by this were able to understand this.

I hope you enjoyed the post! As always I wish you the best!

Rob
One of the many barefoot pilots!