As the sun hit the horizon, the light was just kissing the top of the windy sand dunes next to the lighthouse.
As the sun hit the horizon, the light was just kissing the top of the windy sand dunes next to the lighthouse.
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Action Award
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Contest Finalist in Minimalistic Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in My Favorite Trip Photo Contest
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Contest Finalist in Creative Compositions Photo Contest Vol15
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Honorable Mention in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 81
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Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 81
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jackprichett
October 04, 2022
Great shot. I had to get the info to determine where such a lighthouse might exist. Now I know: Denmark.
JoanLoBo
January 21, 2023
The lighting, the simpleness, everything about this image, beautiful! Good luck in the contest. Joan
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Behind The Lens
Location
I went on a photography roadtrip around Denmark, and this shot was taken in a place called Rubjerg Knude Fyr, just north of Løkken. There is an old abandoned lighthouse which has recently been moved back from the coastline to prevent it from dropping into the sea. A massive engineering effort! It's surrounded by tall sand dunes.Time
As this was one the west coast of Northern Denmark, the best time of day to catch the light here is golden hour sunset.Lighting
With the time of day being what it was, the key to this photo was the way the natural light catches the patterns in the sand dune. For the foreground, this was all about using the light to create and emphasise the natural shapes in the sand and use them as a compositional tool to draw the eye upwards to the main subject, the lighthouse (or Fyr as it's called in Danish!).Equipment
This was a Canon 6D Mkii, 20mm Sigma ART Prime Lens on a 3 Legged Thing Tripod. I did use a manual shutter release cable to take the photos also. I often like to do this when the camera is close to the ground... saves my back!Inspiration
A professional photographer from whom I've been learning from, Mads Peter Iverson. I love his work and style, and I wanted to find a location in which I could emulate it. Having taken his landscape composition masterclass I went to this location to try and implement some of the skills which I had learnt. Learn by doing! I also really wanted to go to this location, because the sand dune and architecture look 'other worldy', maybe more akin to something like a star wars set. Definately not something you'd normally associate with Denmark!Editing
Yes, due to the high contrast in this scene due to the decending sun, which I was pretty much shooting towards here, I needed to do a bracketed exposure. I blended two together in photoshop to make sure I could cover the whole dynamic range in the frame. Apart from the two different exposures, I did the usual contrast and brightness adjustments, some 'cleaning up of debris' from the sand to tidy up the scene and really make sure those leading lines in the foreground are prominent.In my camera bag
Too Much!! And it depends on where I'm going and what I'm trying to shoot. On this occasion I had my Canon 6D Mkii. For lenses I had a Canon 24-70mm f/4, Sigma 20mm ART, Sigma 100-400mm Contemporary and a Samyang 14mm Manual Focus lens. Other essentials that I always carry are my Three Legged Thing tripod called Brian and a manual shutter release. I also have a DJI Pocket 2 with a wireless microphone so I can record my adventures.Feedback
If you're shooting at the same time of day, likely you'll want to bracket your exposures to make sure you capture the full dynamic range of the scene. I would also suggest learning how to blend exposure brackets in photoshop, as sometimes lightroom doesn't quite get it right. In terms of setting up, use a low tripod and a wide angle lens pointing down towards your foreground pattern. Use a high f-stop, 16 or above maybe, to try and get everything in focus (failing to get everything in focus will mean you will need to focus stack, not too bad if you know how to do it and have the time!). The strength of this composition lies in the central subject, so make sure your foreground leads into a subject which is central in the frame. Lastly, and this was more luck, the horrizontal patterns in the fram repeat, which helps!