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Ever tried running down a beach with soft, wet sand while weighed down with full camera kit and tripod?
Not pleasant, but sometimes we just have to suffer for our art, and after all, the sun wasn't going to wait for me!
The scene in question was the beach at Rhyl on the North Wales coast, which is blessed with both a North facing apsect and numerous lines of groynes in various states of decay.
This makes it a great location for both sunrise and sunset photography during the summer months, and on this occasion Liz and I arrived just a few minutes before sunset, hence the run down the beach to reach this particular groyne which was being washed by the incoming tide.
It was the juxtaposition of the setting sun, the groyne and the moving water that got me so fired up, and I arrived just in time to catch the sun before it dipped below the horizon.
I used every trick I knew to slow down the camera's exposure and blur the water, including using minimum aperture, minimum ISO, a polarising filter and an ND grad filter.
Planting my tripod firmly in the sand, with the legs sticking out of the waves and using mirror lockup and the self timer ensured the camera was as steady as possible, and I was able to take half a dozen or so exposures before the sun finally disappeared.
Needless to say, my trip back up the beach to my car was a lot less frenetic than the trip down to the shoreline!
Filename - groynes 13.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 5D
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @ 40mm
Exposure - 0.8sec @ f22, ISO50
Location - Rhyl, North Wales
This image - 640x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Slow shutter speed used to blur waves
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