click photo to enlarge
Purfleet Quay in King's Lynn, Norfolk, usually has several buoys resting on it and the buoy maintenance boat, "St Edmund", moored alongside. Often it is the buoys used for marking the port and starboard limits of navigable channels that are in the process of being re-painted red and green. On my most recent visit (and on the one before that) there was also yellow buoy that had the word "FOUL" painted on its side. Not being an especially nautical person I needed to do a bit of research to discover that in UK waters a yellow buoy is a "Special Mark" that can indicate a number of things as disparate as a fish farm, a speed limit, or a potential hazard. That being the case, I imagine that the word "foul" in this instance indicates either a foul bottom where anchorage is difficult, or a hidden obstruction that might foul an anchor. Of course, it could be something quite different.Over the past few years I've taken a number of photographs of the buoys at this location. Some of my images show details, and others give a wider perspective. This time I decided to try and make something of the carefully painted warning word on the yellow buoy, but also retain some of the red and green of those that were adjacent.
photograph and text (c) T. Boughen
Camera: Canon
Mode: Aperture Priority
Focal Length: 58mm
F No: 6.3
Shutter Speed: 1/80
ISO: 100
Exposure Compensation: 0 EV
Image Stabilisation: On
