TimMoor

Sea state

Stormy day at Whitley Bay, Northumberland. Sets of waves with high frequency were descending upon the coastline. I was standing on a man made buttress and inste...
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Stormy day at Whitley Bay, Northumberland. Sets of waves with high frequency were descending upon the coastline. I was standing on a man made buttress and instead of the waves crashing against this wall, instead they were being diverted back into sea to crash with oncoming waves creating a dramatic sea state and interesting patterns.
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Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

settings

Aperture f/14 ISO 100 Shutter 13/10 Focal Length 35/1

upload_date

Nov, 2019

Views

Likes

Awards

2020 Choice Award

Peer Award

Superb Composition

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

The photo was taken during a Dad & Lad photography trip to Whitley Bay, Northumberland. The actual location was standing on a man made buttress (sea wall) in Cullercoats bay looking onto saddle rocks with a sea arch.

Time

My son and I went initially for a morning shoot, but the sea state was very exciting and kept building. Having studied the weather charts, we decided to extend our trip and take a break from the excitement enjoying fish and chips as a late lunch in the warmth to recharge hoping the sea would become even more interesting. It did, and, in the late afternoon during November this image was taken at 3.47pm.

Lighting

The sun light did not shine through the thick cloud cover enabling quite a uniform light so no need for filters. The light seemed appropriate for a stormy scene starting to look quite ominous particularly for the ship taking shelter in the distance. There was a brief moment when there was a section of cloud that let a bit more light through shown on the front right hand rock in the image.

Equipment

I used a canon 5D MKIV with a canon lens 16-35mm 2.8 IIIUSM lens, lee circular polariser. Camera body mounted onto a tripod

Inspiration

I love coastal scenes especially when the sea state is lively. It is even better my son Freddie joins me with his youthful enthusiasm loving keen for the waves to get even bigger! Sets of waves with high frequency were descending upon the coastline. Instead of the waves crashing against this wall where I was standing, they were being diverted back into sea to crash with oncoming waves creating a dramatic sea state and interesting patterns. Having made sure it was safe to do so, we setup on the wall and started watching the patterns of waves and noticed that there appeared to be an arc that could act as leading line towards the sea arch.

Editing

Basic post processing in Lightroom. Normally I would stitch a series of images together to create a motion of waves passing through the shot but on this day there was no need. The location with the wall created 'double' wave action and the frequency of the waves was very high, one after the other in sets.

In my camera bag

It depends, sometimes 3 different lenses, camera body, filters and tripod etc. plus accessories. If I am out for blue hour and sunrise it tends to be a full bag in case some interesting nature/animals appear and I need to change lens. Or sometimes I make myself only take as single lens and focus on the aim and this lets me travel light also.

Feedback

Try to plan ahead for potential conditions and monitor weather fronts.Take lens cloths to wipe the mist and rain away and wear warm clothes. When you get into the zone it is hard to notice how cold you get!

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TimMoor

TimMoor

Sea state

Stormy day at Whitley Bay, Northumberland. Sets of waves with high frequency were descending upon the coastline. I was standing on a man made buttress and inste... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow TimMoor

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Stormy day at Whitley Bay, Northumberland. Sets of waves with high frequency were descending upon the coastline. I was standing on a man made buttress and inste...
Read more

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