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Sunset At Ogmore By Sea - South Wales
Sunset At Ogmore By Sea - South Wales
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Aug, 2016Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photograph was taken at Ogmore Deeps, Ogmore-By-Sea, which is located 3 miles from Bridgend in South Wales. The Location for the shoot is around 25 minutes from my home in Swansea, where unfortunately there aren't many great locations for sunsets, due to its geographic position. A fellow photographer and good friend introduced me to the area of Ogmore and it's surrounding beaches and I instantly fell in love with it. On the horizon is the town of Porthcawl, another great spot for photography due to its south westerly facing beaches and lighthouse. The weather report read well as we were treated to an awesome display and spent some time exploring in great conditions before I settled on this spot for my final image of the evening.Time
The image was captured at 21:17, just as the early summer sky displayed an explosive last light of the day, it was a magical sunset and I became captivated by the the light casting colours onto the rocks and sea around me. It was my second time at the location so I had already some idea of the how I wanted the shot to look. I was very grateful for the clouds presence, as I felt they added even more drama to an already exciting scene. The water was moving calmly as the tide approached so I tried to find the best composition, showing off both the coast and magnificent rocks in the foreground, which were quickly being covered by the incoming tide.Lighting
My favourite aspect of the image is the lighting, due to the time of evening I was able to shoot without filter for upwards of 10-15 seconds, for me this was very exciting as I was able to capture the soft movement of the sea and also the explosive colours of the sky, both contrasting with the sharp rocks of the foreground and coastline in the distance. I believe the reflections in the sea created by the glowing sunlight, give the image a greater sense of warmth and characterEquipment
For this I used a Nikon d800e and 14-24mm 2.8 lens, a cable timer and Manfrotto carbon fibre tripod.Inspiration
I gained inspiration for the image from seeing fellow photographers shoot the location and other beaches around it and became fascinated by the rock structures I saw. I had previously visited Southerndown, which is the next beach along the coast, with its strange rocks, huge cliffs and crashing waves, I saw a great opportunity for a sunset shoot. Upon my return I wanted to try and portray the interest of the rock formations as they were so different to my local beaches, with the perfect sunset directly in front of me, I couldn't resist to capture the scene, I just hope I've done the place justice.Editing
The image has been edited to enhance the dramatic nature of the location and time of day. As such there has been an increase of contrast and vibrancy, I remembered that when shooting the image, that due to the terrain, I felt I would like to crop the image down to a 1:1 ratio and believe this has been a successful aspect of the image overall.In my camera bag
Typically in my camera bag I have my trusty Nikon d800e which has a fantastic sensor and ability to capture a very high image quality, in conjunction with either the Nikon 14-24 or my older Nikon 28-70, or 70-200 it produces exceptional photographs. I also like to use the Nikon 18-35 G, due to its size and weight, it's a great carry-around lens with cracking optics and like the 28-70 or 70-200 lenses, they have a 77mm filter thread which I like to take advantage of with a CPL or ND filter. I sometimes use prime lenses such as the nifty fifty but do prefer to have variety in range for landscapes. Although the d800e has a great quality of image, I use the Nikon d750 for lower light situations and night photography. I am a big fan of Astrophotography and find the d750 and 14-24 pair up fantastically for this and even the 50mm can produce some exceptional views of the stars above.Feedback
Due to the location of the coast in the Vale of Glamorgan, great sunsets can be seen from many beaches. Typically, the weather in Wales generally isn't great, as such I recommend checking at least one source for weather, sunset time and location, there are some great apps available to assist in planning photography locations and trips. Try to visit a location before you plan a real shoot there so you're fully aware of the route, where you plan to shoot, the tide times and ensure to take a head torch for the walk back. The shot is taken only around 10 minutes from the nearest car park but the terrain is very rugged and with changes in weather quite frequent, it can easily become a dangerous place.
