Crowned Rage
Jun, 2018Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
The photo was taken on the shore of Bantry Bay, Cape Town, South Africa. This part of the coast is mostly boulders and rocks and can have pretty strong winds and high waves. I am out here very often as this coast never looks the same as the day before. That day I absolutely did not expect to shoot any usable pictures.Time
As far as I remember this was around 11am on a Sunday. The weather was particularly nasty. At the beginning of winter the sky looked like a slab of lead and the wind, non-Capetonians usually call that a full blown storm, was very strong. The tide was coming in at that time of day and created massive waves. Oh, yes. It had started to drizzle.Lighting
The lighting was grey. It was pretty dark and no direct sunlight. Overall diffuse lighting and no shadows. The only contrast was in the waves and the spray. To be honest, there was no big difference between the colour and the monochrome version :)Equipment
For shots like these I usually use a tripod. But I decided to go without one as it made climbing the rocks much easier. I had my Canon EOS 1200D on me, 300mm, 50mm and the 11 - 18mm short lens on me. For this one I used the 50mm lens because the scope of the waves and the rocks in the foreground worked well together. The crowned wave seems far smaller than it actually was but which is why I did not go with the short lens. It would have taken the dramatic effect away. So with the only option being handheld and trying to capture the brutality of the waves I opted for the quickest shutter speed combination possible that would allow me a wider aperture and low ISO settings. As the camera is a cropped sensor the noise would have been too high other wise and noise reduction on waves always destroys too much detail in the actual image. I regret that there were no people somewhere for a good sense of scale.Inspiration
The sheer force of nature crashing against the massive rocks was what inspired me. I wanted to capture the sense of rage these waves seemed to come in with, seemingly trying to take piece of the coast with them. That is why a long exposure shot with an ND filter would not have been an option for me even if I had had a tripod on me. With a quick shutter speed the sharp edges and angles, the wave detail and the spray make them look almost as hard as the rocks in the foreground. This added to the dramatic effect. And to increase the drama I chose to go monochrome.Editing
I did not do too much editing on the RAW file. The main part was the conversion to Monochrome (I think I went with luminance for this one), very light noise reduction on the sky and then applied a soft high pass sharpen filter. The contrast was increased a bit and I had to remove a small speck from a rain drop on the lens.In my camera bag
I usually have my Canon EOS 1200D with the lenses described above on me - and, luckily, my cleaning gear as I had to wipe the lens before every shot as it had started to rain and the spray from the waves was carried hundreds of meter in land by the strong wind.Feedback
Water. Proof. Clothing ... I was wet to the bone after this shoot! Well, it all depends on the weather and the tide, as well as on the wind. So if you know your area a little bit and you have been to specific spots you should know what the best condition for high waves are. This was actually the best combination possible. But if you are not sure then try to find a webcam close to the shore where you want to shoot. I use pubic web cams very often to scout just before I go whether the conditions are correct for what I have in mind shooting. Be careful climbing coastal rocks when you are out there alone, especially in weather condition like those. The rock becomes very slippery and things can get more dramatic than the scenery when you slip and break something. For the wave photography itself I recommend quick shutter speeds as mentioned earlier. Watch how the waves come in, about where most of them are about to break giving you those wonderful crowns of foam and spray, choose a spot where you have a nice foreground - and hit the trigger. Also, try to have something that give the viewer a good sense of scale. This is the one gripe I have with this image. The wave would have looked even more massive and menacing with a small person or even a boat in the foreground.
