The early bird..
Aug, 2015Views
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Seaton Sluice, on the North-East of England's coast. A popular spot with local photographers demonstrated by several others turning up during the time I was there.Time
This shot was taken at 6am. I'd arrived a little before 5:30 hoping to catch an awesome sunrise, but several rain showers and mist patches on the drive over had dampened any hope of that...still you have to shoot what mother nature throws at you. So huddled on a rocky outcrop I set up my gear.Lighting
The lighting was a tricky setup as because of the dawn it was constantly changing, no additional lighting was supplied by me, I just played with what I had.Equipment
I used my trusty Canon 70D on a tripod, with my go to lens for most landscape shots of canon's 16-35mm f/4L..I added an ND10k filter for a 7minute exposure to ensure the texture of the sea got that cotton candy feel around the rocks.Inspiration
This was an outing for a group of friends, all keen amateur photographers. I love taking nature shots, and knowing where we were headed knew this would be the perfect place to try out my ND10K filter, which was still in its packaging giving me disapproving looks whenever I grabbed my gear for a shoot.Editing
Post-processing can often dramatically alter the feel of any shot, I used lightroom to bring out the warm colours of the sky, and add light to the rock (as the light was coming from behind it), the earlier showers had done the work of bringing out the colours of the rocks for me. I'm amazed the bird stayed still for the full exposure so needed no work.In my camera bag
Usually I pack my 70D, a spare battery (this is important..after traveling to somewhere and getting into the day the last thing you need is to run out of power), tripod, and mini tripod. My filter pack, which consists of a polarizer, variable ND filter and now my ND10k.. I'm lucky in that the two lenses I carry both fit the same filters, these are the 16-35mm f/4L, and 24-105 F/4L both by Canon - the combination of these can cover most eventualities unless I specifically am doing distance work I rarely carry my big zoom lenses.Feedback
If you're thinking of trying a similar look I recommend the following, visit the place before - find parking and scout out good shoot points - if you leave this for on the morning you are fighting the clock (If its too far to physically do this use the internet and google maps). Take a thermos with you - even in summer at that time of day it can be chilly, and a hot coffee is like a gift from heaven. Have patience...if it doesn't look promising don't give up but stay and practice your art - the conditions might change and improve, or give you an unexpected shot, like the one I captured...also don't be afraid to resign yourself to it being a practice run - if you have a specific look you want, return another day. Don't forget to check the weather, to minimize turning up in the wrong conditions, and lastly don't forget to have fun - after all that's why most of us do photography.
