AOP Awards 2008
When Nigel received a brief from the RNLI to capture lifeboats in 'rough weather', he grabbed his seasickness tablets and headed to the wild coasts of Scotland...
These two shots, taken near Buckie on the east coast and the Isle of Barra on the west coast, both show the RNLI's largest lifeboat: the 17m Severn class. It's an all-weather vessel designed to operate in the worst of sea and weather conditions.
The Buckie Wave was shot from a 'Y' boat, a 3m inflatable daughter vessel carried on the back of the Severn class lifeboat. The 'Y' boat, lifted via an onboard crane into the sea, carries a crew of two and is ideal for accessing narrow or shallow areas. Nigel recalls: 'We were around six miles out into the North Sea. It took 30 runs with the Buckie lifeboat to get this shot 'an hour's work in a reasonable sea swell and a fair old wind.'
The Barra Storm image was shot from the lifeboat's deck during a reconstruction of a rescue that earned Donald MacLeod, Coxswain of the Barra Lifeboat, the RNLI Bronze Medal for Gallantry. 'The sea was very lumpy that day. I shot this just before we had to strap in to our seats,' says Nigel. 'Lifeboat crew members volunteer to face these sorts of conditions at the drop of a hat, to save people they've never met. I love capturing that drama.'
The resulting images have been selected for the Commissioned Life category in the 2008 AOP Awards.
To see more of Nigel Millard's work click here.