Sundown, Runswick Bay
I'd spent a good few hours at this place primarily with a macro lens because the area is littered with fossils. I'd filled my bag, so to speak, and as...
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I'd spent a good few hours at this place primarily with a macro lens because the area is littered with fossils. I'd filled my bag, so to speak, and as I was leaving I turned round to see this beautiful sky colour. I shot through the macro lens before it disappeared.
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May, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This picture was taken at Runswick Bay, on the North Yorkshire coast of England. Scenes like this are there to be admired for miles along this stretch of coastline. The cliffs are made of sedimentary rock, so many folks visit Runswick Bay to search for fossils.Time
I had been around for about 2 hours looking for abstract patterns in the cliff face. It was in January so the air was really cold. The light had started to fade so I decided that as I had gotten a good bag of close-up shots I would call it a day, and headed back to the car. This picture was taken at 16:15.Lighting
There was just a hint of haze in the atmosphere, which was great for the close-up shots I was taking as the light was flat and even, revealing the structures as they were without imposing any shadow or highlight areas upon them, and this also meant I had a fairly central histogram that I knew would give me scope for post-processing later. At the time of this picture, the sun had turned rosy and the atmospheric haze correspondingly followed it. The water surface was nicely rippling too, without too many breakers, and it perfectly reflected the sky.Equipment
I took this picture with my Pentax K-1 and Pentax 100mm f2.8 SMC D-FA WR Macro Lens. I was carrying Manfrotto my Manfrotto MK055XPRO3 Tripod with Xpro Ballhead, but I had folded it away as I thought the days shooting was over. I took the picture with the camera hand held, and with the shake reduction mechanism switched on.Inspiration
I was about to ascend the steps from the beach to the car park and just looked back one last time. Nothing in the previous 15 minutes or so had given me an inkling that these colours would form. I just raised the camera and took about a dozen shots to get one that I hoped would have a nice sea surface.It was just one of those opportunities when just about everything came together.Editing
I always use Lightroom first to check on the composition - correct horizon angle was important here. Also I always use, whenever I can, the lens profile to remove chromatic aberration and correct any distortion, like barrelling, pincushioning, and vignetting. The lens aperture was f8.0 and shutter 1/60th which meant the sensitivity was ISO 2000, so I cleaned up the noise a little.To finish, I applied a little sharpening and increased the saturation and that was that. I didn't need to go to Photoshop, because everything I wanted was available in Lightroom.In my camera bag
My bag is always packed and ready to go. It contains the K-1 coupled with the Pentax 24-70mm f2.8, and Pentax 100mm f2.8 macro, 15-30mm f2.8 ultra-wide zoom, Pentax 50mm f1.4 lenses. I take the Pentax battery grip with me for hand-held shots, and I always have at least one flash gun. If I'm taking two flashes then I'll also pack 3 Cactus V6ii radio flash triggers. My bag always has two polarisers, one each for the 50mm and 24-70mm lenses. And I always carry a Datacolor SpyderCube.Feedback
Keep your eyes peeled! Landscape photography, in fact outdoor photography in general, is not a pursuit where you can expect cooperation with mother nature. The elements are whimsical and will change from one shot to the next sometimes. If you are familiar with the location you will have a feel for what may happen, but be prepared for surprises. And your gear - a photographer with mastery of his camera will probably succeed more than one who is fumbling with one costing 10 times as much.
