mattjphotography
FollowThe cast-iron lighthouse at Whiteford built in 1865. I loved the look of this old lighthouse when i first saw it back in the summer and just had to shot it. Due...
Read more
The cast-iron lighthouse at Whiteford built in 1865. I loved the look of this old lighthouse when i first saw it back in the summer and just had to shot it. Due to its location waves like this don't come a long, at least none that I’ve seen. Wondering how it would look i set to work. Talking several images i shot at Porthcawl while I waited for St Jude, I made the this composite.
Read less
Read less
Views
16145
Likes
Awards
Action Award
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
People's Choice in LIGHTHOUSE Photo Challenge
Legendary Award
People's Choice in lighthouse Photo Challenge
Contest Finalist in The Lighthouse Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Celebrating Nature Photo Contest Vol 1
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 30
Featured
Contest Finalist in Social Exposure Photo Contest Vol 2
Contest Finalist in Covers Photo Contest Vol 25
Runner Up in Water World Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Water World Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Photographer Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 11
Winner in Lighthouses Photo Challenge
Runner Up in The Right Place And Time Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Right Place And Time Photo Contest
Curator's Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Peer Award
Top Choice
Superb Composition
Magnificent Capture
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Genius
Love it
Virtuoso
Top Ranks
tonyafricano
February 11, 2015
A true magnificent capture Mathew, Well Done! And a very warm welcome to ViewBug, too...
AlejandroFerrand
February 11, 2015
Love this shot! AMazing strenght showing the power of mother nature. I would erase the rock in the right bottom corner of the frame.
mattjphotography
February 11, 2015
Yeah have been thinking about it, loads of people say the same :)
HDigitalPics
February 11, 2015
This is just a great shot love the freeze shot of the waves in this this gallery is already great with only a few shots welcome to VB and really look forward to more
cherrib
February 11, 2015
Wow, they are all so exciting, eliciting emotions of all sorts ~ thanks for joining ~
waldomalan
February 11, 2015
What an incredible photo! Welcome to VB - looking forward to see more of your work
belchertownphotos
February 11, 2015
Outstanding creation! The only thing I might alter is the rock in the lower right corner.
MichaelJAlsup
February 11, 2015
very nicely done, someone in the uk should pick your work up and put in a gallery
Laha
August 20, 2015
Join the conversation. Add a comment or even better, a critique. Let's get better together!
sarahmirkin
August 20, 2015
Such an incredible, powerful, wonderful shot! I love lighthouses, and this is a spectacular image that is not the typical lighthouse phototure that you see. Amazing!
baybig
July 17, 2016
I am guessing that the next photo in the series is the one where the photographer is carried away by the wave. Makes my heart thump a little faster.
neilvendeiro
July 23, 2016
The reward and the delight waiting waiting just for the right moment to capture the perfect shot. Powerful statement about the force of nature against the industry of man. Cool photo
overthehillfan2004
October 05, 2016
That shot is so beyond perfect, I swear I can "hear" the roar....
stevejackson
March 09, 2017
I instantly recognised the lighthouse and love what you have done here. Very clever :)
Paul39
March 15, 2018
Fantastic. It reminds me of a lighthouse photo taken off the coast of Spain years ago. Great job!
Paul39
April 24, 2018
Absolutely breathtaking shot. Great composition. Reminds me of a lighthouse off the coast of spain.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
The lighthouse shot was taken at Whiteford during the summer when the tide was almost right out. The images used for the waves were taken at Porthcawl while I stood out on the rocks waited for the storm known as St Jude to arrive.Time
All the images were taken in the afternoon. The lighthouse was on a rather warm summers day while in contrast the images of the raging sea were the beginning of an incoming storm during October in which I had to battle the elements.Lighting
I took round 600 shots of the sea whilst I stood on the rocks, out these only 20 or so had that light that I’d been wanting, that moment when the sun broke through adding a speckle of light to the water. A took a few of the lighthouse making sure they filled the frame.Equipment
A Panasonic GH3 body & Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens were used to capture the waves, for the lighthouse I used the same body but changed over to the Lumix G Vario 100-300mm F/4.0-5.6 MEGA O.I.S. Lens and used an old Manfrotto tripod.Inspiration
I loved the look of this old lighthouse when i first saw it back in the summer and just had to shoot it. It has a character of its own and a look that isn’t present in many of today’s lighthouses. Due to its location waves like this don't come a long, but I couldn’t help wondering what it would look like if they did.Editing
In post I took three shots, two of the water and one the lighthouse. I wanted the main wave to be hitting and breaking around the lighthouse. For this I used layers in photoshop to mask out a centre area where the lighthouse stood. The trick is to allow the waves to come across the front, obscuring the base and mask out areas though the top of the lighthouse where you can see though, this gives the image depth and a real feel that the wave is engulfing the structure.In my camera bag
Shooting micro four thirds means you can fit a lot into a small-ish bag but still have a lot of choices at hand. I will take different equipment depending if I’m shooting landscapes or people, but as a rule I take my GH3 a 14-140mm, 100-300mm, 14-45mm, 45mm macro and a 7.5mm fish eye. This covers me for just about anything I need. For landscapes I’d grab my grads, a 10 stopper and a wireless remote, my main 3 lenses have screw in polarisers on all the time (I find this quicker than adding them to lenses whist out and about). If I’m shooting people speedlights, a battery pack and triggers are added to the bag.Feedback
If you are going to stand out on the rocks and shoot waves at hide tide with waves like these, take only the gear you need, the spray, flying sea form, bouts of driving rain and the biting cold make changing anything over a non-viable option. You need a fast shutter speed to capture the detail so polarisers aren’t a good option as they will slow your speed, but you will be wiping the front of the lens a lot so you don’t already have a something like a UV filter filtered do so, it’s must in this case. Leaning into a rock will help, waist high is good as you can duck down and take some shelter between shots. Blending rough water like this together isn‘t that hard, the trick is to use a soft brush at a low opacity and slowly brush a small part of the image away leaving water from the image below.