Monday, 5 April 2021

Paraglide in Blue

I was back out on the Malverns yesterday, after a couple of week's break. Around 1pm, as I was approaching the Beacon from the north, I spotted a group of six paragliders out over the Vale of Evesham. By the time I'd reached the top of the Beacon, they'd passed over the hills and were out to the west, which is when I made these images of them.

It may look like I'm flying with them in these images, which just goes to show what a good vantage point and a long zoom lens can do.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

This first image is probably my favourite, and the next is very similar.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

The wind was quite strong, so the paragliders were moving quite fast and were difficult to frame. On the up side, it was blowing from the west, which kept them close to the hill. I managed to get my horizons out of kilter in most shots, and had to fix them in post. 

Its a while since I've used the free transform tool in GiMP, but it's been improved in the meantime. For example, it will automatically crop the image for you once you've finished the rotation, which removes a fair amount of faff.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.

Last, and by no means least, this is another favourite of the set.

Colour image of paragliders taken from the Worcestershire Beacon using a Sony Alpha 77.