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For a few days in early May 2016, a brief wave of summer weather washed over our home patch of North Wales.
Determined to make the most of this all too rare opportunity, my wife Liz and I headed over to the beautiful Isle of Anglesey to walk on a few of our favourite beaches.
We started off at Aberffraw on the west coast, strolling on the sand under a blazing afternoon sun.
Great for a paddle but rubbish for any sort of 'grand landscape' photography, although I did manage to snap the odd sand dune and patch of marram grass.
After tea at another of our favourite spots, Porth Trwyn, we headed over to one of the nicest spots to watch a sunset that I know of - Church Bay (or Porth Swtan in welsh).
Church Bay is one of the best spots I know of to watch and photograph a sunset from.
With its west facing position, golden cliffs and beach littered with rocks and pools there's no shortage of lovely views and foreground interest to include in a photographic composition.
I took this particular shot right on the cusp of sunset, having spotted this large tidal pool catching the reflections of the lit clouds overhead.
Getting down low with my camera allowed me to emphasise the pool, with those reflections punctuated by seaweed coated rocks catching the last rays of the setting sun.
A 3 stop neutral density grduated filter over the bright sky kept the tonal range of the image within the capabilities of my camera's sensor, and a 6 stop neutral density filter allowed me to extend the exposure time, removing any slight ripple from the surface of the pool.
Filename - church bay sunset 03.jpg
Camera - Canon 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 28mm
Exposure - 10 secs @ f11, ISO100
Location - Church Bay, Anglesey, North Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC
Comments - Tripod, mirror lock up and cable release used to prevent camera movement
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