Possibilities
You can't shoot a decent long exposure in a marina full of boats...or can you. This morning was so calm that I managed to squeeze out this shot that's...
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You can't shoot a decent long exposure in a marina full of boats...or can you. This morning was so calm that I managed to squeeze out this shot that's well over a minute. Sure there is a bit of blur on one or two of the yachts, but all things considered the clarity turned out to be pretty amazing.
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Aug, 2017Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
This one was taken at Westhaven Marina which is situated just outside the Auckland Central Business District. This body of water gets a lot of protection from swell and wind so it's ideal for reflections on a calm day.Time
I live about half an hour away from the marina so an early start was necessary to get there in time for sunrise. Ironically the sunrise itself was very unimpressive but about half an hour later the sky lit up with a lovely glow. The unusual thing here was how absolutely calm the water was on this particular morning. This was a 95 second exposure which would be impossible without completely still water or the boats would all be moving about and blurring. While the marina was dead calm there was a high level breeze moving the cloud which gave a beautiful stretched effect over the minute and a half exposure.Lighting
Although the sun didn't make it out from behind the cloud, the thin veil of backlit cloud created the warm light that I think makes the shot. There was also a strip of thicker lower cloud that moved slower than the high cloud which left an interesting stripe effect across the frame.Equipment
I use a Nikon D810 and for this shot a Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 with the Lee SW150 system specific to this lens. In this case I used a .9 grad and a 6 stop ND I use a Sirui carbon fibre tripodInspiration
I often travel past this spot on my way to the beaches on Auckland's North Shore. On this occasion I saw how calm the marina was and the reflections of the city light (it was still dark at that point) were spectacular so I turned back and headed down to the marina.Editing
I use Lightroom for all my editing. I've not yet got around to getting or learning how to use Photoshop and I find that LR can comfortably handle the kind of basic editing I do.In my camera bag
I only have 1 camera (Nikon D810) and 2 lenses (Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 & Nikon 28-300mm f3.5 - 5.6) so it's pretty easy to fit everything I own in one bag. I always have my Lee Filters in a multi filter pouch so that I can pop that over my shoulder and swap them out easily. In winter when I go out for astrophotography I swap out the filters for a panoramic head and gel hand warmers to prevent lens fogging.Feedback
Obviously I got fairly lucky with the conditions for this shot but I suppose being flexible about what you have in mind helps a lot. I was headed somewhere else with a plan but on the way there I was still looking at other options along the way. It's also worth experimenting with your shots as I don't ordinarily shoot long exposures with boats in them but in this case it was worth a try and it paid off. The reflections were always going to be perfect, even with a much shorter exposure, but the longer exposure gave the cloud that stretched effect that finishes off the shot.
