Dreamscape
I took this photo of Bethells Beach just as a rainbow appeared above the headland. It made me think of Jacob's Ladder in the book of Genesis where a stairw...
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I took this photo of Bethells Beach just as a rainbow appeared above the headland. It made me think of Jacob's Ladder in the book of Genesis where a stairway to heaven appeared in Jacob's dream while he was sleeping at a place called Bethel. I like how the long exposure captures a dream-like land-seascape.
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Jul, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo at Bethells Beach on the West Coast of Auckland, New Zealand. Its Maori name is ‘Te Henga’ which means ‘sand.’ And that’s quite apt because the sand here is unusual – it is black and iron-rich, a product of ancient volcanic eruptions. Because black attracts heat, in summer this sand gets so hot that it can literally burn the soles of your feet. I found myself almost wishing for that on the day I shot this photo, as it was a bitterly cold day. Almost to rub my face in it, gale force winds flung this beautiful black sand in my face (literally!).Time
I shot this during the ‘golden hour’ where the evening light cast a warm glow on the headland, at 5.08pm. You wouldn’t think it looking at this photo, but the weather was actually really atrocious. I normally would never venture out to a West Coast beach on a stormy day, but I was on a mission – taking part in a photography competition in which you were only given 24 hours to capture a shot that showcased ‘your Auckland.’ Before I made it to the shooting spot from which I captured this image, rain started lashing almost horizontally and gale force winds then promptly tore my umbrella up, literally breaking the metal spokes, which then cut my hand as I was battling with it. So with blood dripping everywhere, I had to try and shield my gear from the rain with my own body seeing as I no longer had a workable umbrella. I ended up just laughing out loud at the absurdity of me being out here in this and actually contemplated turning back and heading home. But I had come this far and had a mission to complete, so I waited until the shower had passed and continued on, praying it wouldn’t rain again.Lighting
By the time I took this shot, I had waited already 10 minutes for the sun to come out from behind the clouds and hit the headland for the entire duration of my long exposure (I didn’t want changing light within my shot). In this photo, the sun was shining, but the wind was still very strong, and this turned out to be a really good thing. I had set my camera up and punched in my settings, and was about to press the shutter, when a huge gust of wind blew my camera bag over near my feet. I bent down to rescue its contents and secure it and when I came back up, before me was a spectacular, large rainbow right over the headland, dipping perfectly right behind the point. So I pressed the shutter and seconds after the photo had been taken, the rainbow disappeared. For me at least, on this occasion, the saying really was true that it’s about being at the right place at the right time.Equipment
I took this photo using my Nikon D5500 body with a Sigma 18-35mm lens, on a tripod which I weighed down using my backpack to keep the wind from toppling it. I also used an ND8 (neutral density) filter to enable me to take a long exposure in broad daylight.Inspiration
Bethells Beach has always been a mystical place for me. Bethel means ‘house of God’ in Hebrew which is apt as I often talk to and worship God there as I walk. I wanted to capture this mystical sense by using a slow shutter speed to give the ocean that misty look. When the rainbow appeared, the story I was trying to tell in this photo took on extra meaning, as in the book of Genesis in the Bible, a man called Jacob is asleep at a place called Bethel when a stairway to heaven appears in his dream, with God at the top of it. I like to think that the rainbow in my photo is Bethells Beach’s very own stairway to heaven, where when people walk its sandy shores, they can connect with God. The title ‘Dreamscape’ encompasses both the mystical sense of the place as well as the reference to Jacob’s dream.Editing
I always shoot in RAW to capture the most detail in every shot, so post processing is necessary. I start out in Camera Raw where I perform fundamental edits (lens correction, crop, white balance, contrast, saturation, sharpening, noise reduction,), then finish off in Photoshop, although for this particular photo not too much needed to be done. There was a rock in the mid foreground that was distracting, but I didn’t want to crop it out as already the horizon was less than a third of the way up the photo, so I cloned it out using Photoshop. I also darkened the rainbow to deepen its colour. I consider myself somewhat of a purist, I prefer to get it right in camera, with minimal post processing applied to it, wherever I can help it.In my camera bag
A tripod, my Nikon D5500 body, my Sigma 18-35mm lens, a lens hood, a filter case containing a UV filter, ND8, ND400 and CPL, spare charged batteries, a spare empty flash card, a dust blower, microfiber cloth and a lenspen. This last item is amazing – on one end is a retractable brush, and on the other, a sponge like tip that cleans smears from your lens or filter using carbon. It’s especially helpful when shooting seascapes such as this one, as sea-spray and salty air quickly accumulates on your filter.Feedback
Adaptability is a huge asset in landscape photography. In this photo shoot, I had to improvise and find practical ways to protect my gear against the elements when my umbrella broke. I also had to use whatever I could find to weigh my tripod down to prevent it from toppling. Perseverance is also a necessary trait. Had I given up and gone home, I would not have captured this magic shot and would have arrived home unfulfilled and disappointed. Lastly, don’t avoid going out in squally conditions, as they provide ‘moody’ scenes and sometimes surprise you with spectacular rainbows.
