Anyone who has read my other blog “during the meanwhilst” will know that I’ve photographed this iconic lighthouse any number of times. But I’ve always taken my images from Bracelet Bay, to the west of the lighthouse.
One morning in early March though, unable to sleep at all, I decided to get out of the house at 5.30am, make the half-hour drive to Mumbles and attempt to make a sunrise image from the east side of the lighthouse, where the pier and lifeboat houses are situated.
Work on the pier itself meant I was unable to actually access the boardwalk, so I set up on top of the steps that lead down to a small beach and some rocks.
The high tide meant I couldn’t get quite as low as I wanted to shoot the image (I wanted the rocks to create some hyper-close foreground interest) but I was happy with staying high and staying dry!
I wanted to create a dreamy, ethereal image which meant a long exposure to flatten out the water and create some “mist” as waves broke over the rocks. So, I fitted a dark filter to the front of my lens to enable this exposure. I also fitted a graduated filter (darker at the top fading to lighter at the bottom) to “hold in” the exposure of the sky, especially as the rising sun was making the horizon very bright and difficult to control. Finally, I fitted a polarising filter to help cut out glare from the surface of the sea and help saturate the colours a little.
Of course, to get a sharp image I used my tripod to ensure no camera movement would spoil my photograph. I also used a remote shutter release to ensure I could get the waves exactly where I thought they’d provide the best effect. I then focused on the lighthouse and took around a dozen images. I’m not one for shooting hundreds and praying to get a good one.
I got home before rush hour traffic into Swansea would delay my journey and got in before the rest of the house was even awake. I’m not sure anyone noticed I’d even gone out!
I loaded the images I’d taken into Lightroom, and after some very light editing (I don’t do much to my images) I arrived at the image you see above.
I was so happy with it that I ordered a giant print to hang on a wall in the house somewhere. I hope you agree that it was worth it?
Technical Information
Equipment used:
- Fujifilm GFX50R medium format digital camera
- Fujinon GF 23mm f4 lens
- Lee 6-stop neutral density filter
- Formatt Hitech 4-stop reverse graduated filter
- Haida 105mm circular polarising filter
- 3-Legged Thing tripod and Airhed 1 ball head
- Remote shutter release
Exposure details:
- Shutter: 15 seconds
- Aperture: f14
- ISO: 100
NB the contents of this post, including the image, are © duringthemeanwhilst
Love this image Nick..
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