David Clapp column
David has a run of bad luck, but that won’t stop him taking great shots in Croatia!
Otok Lokrum Island, Bosanka, Dubrovnik. 07:26am. July 2014
It is the year 2014 and my wife and I are visiting Dubrovnik, to experience this much popular holiday destination. I am also exploring the potential of a photography tour, as this classic historical town is both photogenic and relaxing. Before Game of Thrones fever gripped it by the tourisms, this idyllic terracotta roofed getaway was sadly known for the 1991 Croatian War of Independence, getting caught in the crossfire and receiving worldwide condemnation. But standing, looking at the town through sunglasses, licking an ice cream, it's hard to imagine such moments of atrocity.
We arrive in Split and take a trip south. Summer time along this beautiful coast is special. Blues polarize to an impossible saturation, the settlements and towns that adorn the water’s edge complement the red roofs. The air is warm, the mood is relaxed. Then it all starts.
Travelling through a small village, our car is the last of four in a line, then from behind a tree, a policeman pulls me over.
I am apparently speeding. There is no speed limit sign, just a picture of a village is all that is needed, but that's enough to issue me a £60 ticket.
We arrive in at our accommodation – the land lady sees me park my car in a space on the street and we check-in. I can apparently pay the 'speeding fine' in the local bank. We head down town and when I get to the bank, I get told I need my passport (!) so back up the hill et voila
– fine number two. All the cars on the street now have parking tickets – another £60! I am seething angry with my
landlady. I am now £120 lighter for this delightful start to the trip.
A day later we arrive in Dubrovnik, and that night I decide to park my hire car near the library. The following morning the car is gone. I stand and double take, Rachel is pale and we gibber to our new landlady who phones the police – the car has been towed. Now, I am clutching hold of her brother, sat on the back of his dusty scooter, weaving through the streets. He helps me win my case; my car was not ‘blocking an exit’, the photos show the lines on the ground were far from clear.
Windows down, now cooling off, we drive to a classic vista at Bosanka, a small town with arguably the best view in the Adriatic. Alongside the Old Town there is a beautiful island a mile out to sea, Otok Lokrum. I feel relieved. A white schooner is slowly gliding towards the east shore, its soft V-shaped wake being the only disturbance to the calm ocean. I have my Canon EOS 6D, EF 70-300mm f/4l IS and panoramas on my mind.
Tripod levelled, I switch on the 3x3 grid, Manual mode, f/8, ISO100, and 1/100 sec. I'm going to shoot vertically, for as many frames as I need, starting right. Whenever you have a moving subject in your stitched panorama, start where the movement is. I shoot wide to get the boat and its wake in one shot, before recomposing, moving two thirds to the next frame.
And yes, it is that easy. No degrees, or measurements needed. As my eye follows the island shore, I imagine an evening aboard one of the four anchored motor yachts and the fabulous lifestyle they enjoy. No parking tickets either.
NEXT MONTH PEAK DISTRICT
“I shoot wide to get the boat and its wake in one shot, before recomposing, moving two thirds to the next frame”