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It's very early one cloudy morning at Penmon Point on the far eastern tip of Anglesey on the North Wales coast.
I usually make at least two trips to this location every year during the summer months, so I can photograph the sunrise and be back at work for my usual 8am start.
As it's a ninety minute drive from where I live to Penmon, and sunrise is before 5am at that time of year, that means a very early start if I want to find a composition I'm happy with and be in position in good time.
On the occasion when this photo was taken I went completely over the top and arrived in what seemed to be the middle of the night, with dark clouds scudding overhead and just a glimpse of pre-dawn glow on the eastern horizon. On top of that it was cold and miserable and I was tempted to doze in the car for half an hour before venturing out.
However, the protestant work ethic kicked in and I decided to try one of those long exposures in which the clouds and sea all blur in a weird surrealistic fashion. So I tramped up the single beach and plonked the tripod down in what I thought would be an auspicious spot and tried to compose and image through the camera's eyepiece but it was so dark all I could see was the lighthouse.
So more in hope than anticipation I started the 10 minute exposure, the longest I'd ever attempted. I went for a walk up and down the beach while I was waiting, more in order to keep warm than anything else, and when the time to close the shutter finally came I stood amazed at the image that appeared on the back of my camera.
Beautiful streaky clouds, ghost like surf and a fantastic heavy blue tint giving way to an orange glow on the horizon.
A bit of cleaning up of hot pixels in Photoshop and a straightening of the horizon and there you have it.
I'll certainly try that again, maybe when it's warmer!
Filename - lighthouse 14.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 33mm
Exposure - 555secs @ f11, ISO200
Location - Penmon Point, Anglesey
This image - 800x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Long shutter speed used to blur clouds and waves.
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