Image Focus

The story of this image is to do with history and timing. This year marked the 650^th anniversary of the diplomatic alliance between Portugal and the UK. I first heard about the anniversary when I spoke to the British Embassy about a portrait project I was working on. As a Brit living in Lisbon, Portugal, events such as these capture my attention. However, I only really thought about it once I received a phone call from the embassy one day.

'Just a reminder that the Red Arrows will be flying over Avenida da Liberdade (Avenue of Liberty) at 12:00' said my contact at the embassy. It was about 11:00am, but luckily I was at home and live just a few minutes from Avenida da Liberdade.

I picked up my Sony Alpha 7R IV and the FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II lens and raced through the door. I knew the 24-70mm would be perfect for the shot. It is light and easy to use when I need to react quickly, especially as the autofocus is so fast.

During lockdown, I took some black-and-white shots of the empty avenue showing its intricate patterned walkway. I thought a similar shot would create the perfect composition to complement the flight of the planes.

As midday approached, I took a couple of shots with the Alpha 7R IV to ensure I had the exposure set correctly. I knew I would have to keep my shutter speed reasonably high, so I set the shutter speed of the camera to 1/3200. I was using a small aperture of f/8 to get a good depth of field, but even still, I set the autofocus to Tracking AF.

I had no tripod and had obstacles obscuring my view so it was hard to see when the jets would be approaching, so I composed the shot and just waited. I was scared to look behind me to see if the planes were coming, knowing that in an instant, I could miss them. The opportunity to capture the shot would only last a matter of seconds, so I stood still and waited for the highly anticipated moment listening for the roar of the jets from above.

When I finally saw the planes fly in to shot through the viewfinder, I held down my finger and fired continuously at 10fps. The autofocus locked on with the first shot and didn't let go.

The final image is a composition of two shots, the first when they enter the frame and the second when they are almost a dot in the distance.

The Red Arrows are famous for their coloured jet vapour, but there is also something about the high contrast black and white image that reminds me of the shot that I took of the empty avenue during the 2020 lockdown. In celebratory times like this, it seems like a very different place.