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Light trails

View on Houtbay from Chapman's Peak

View on Houtbay from Chapman's Peak
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Hout Bay, Western Cape, ZA

upload_date

May, 2020

Views

706

Likes

+83

Awards

Honorable Mention in Awesome Landscapes Photo Contest

Contest Finalist in Awesome Landscapes Photo Contest

Peer Award

+173

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Outstanding Creativity

Emotions

Impressed

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 30 rank

Top 30 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on Chapman's Peak, one of the most beautiful coastal drive in the world. It located near Cape Town, South Africa and offers stunning views of the coastline.

Time

This photo was taken about half an hour after sunset. It was getting dark ,but there was still colour in the sky from the sunset. The sunset itself was not spectacular, but the orange and yellow came after. I often take photos during the golden hour because of the warm colour, but here the contrast between the blues and the yellows of the sky and the light trails worked great!

Lighting

This photo is a long exposure (90 seconds), so even though it was already quite dark, the colours still come out because of the long shutter time. I wanted to include the light trails of some cars passing on the road below and I had to wait before cars passed from both sides...

Equipment

I took this with a Canon EOS-6D with the kit lens (EF 24-105 f/4 @ 24 mm). Of course I had a sturdy tripod, a Sirui, to keep everything sharp and a polarizing filter to extend the exposure time.

Inspiration

This views from Chapman's Peak are amazing, but I wanted to combine this with the light trails of the cars. This took some trials to get the composition I wanted and to get the cars passing when I made the exposure.

Editing

I lifted the shadows, especially in the water, so the coastline shows in all its glory. I increased the saturation somewhat to make the colours pop. All in all it was quite straight forward, most of the work was done in the field ;-)

In my camera bag

A Canon 6D and a 90D + EF16-35mm f/4, EF24-105mm f/4 and EF 70-200mm f2.8. The 16-35 and the 70-200 are amazingly sharp. With these 3 lenses I'm covered for almost anything. In addition there's an extra battery, a polarizing filter and a 10-stop ND filter. And of course my tripod. It's not a lightweight kit, but I hardly hike long with it, so I don't mind.

Feedback

Don't leave once the sun disappears below the horizon: often the best is yet to come. I love to play with long exposures, it's always a bit of a surprise what comes out.

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Nature-Photo-Tours

Nature-Photo-Tours

Light trails

View on Houtbay from Chapman's Peak

Behind The Lens

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