This is one of those all too elusive moments of magical light at the end of the day, when the sun appears on the horizon through a break in an otherwise solid bank of cloud. This is the kind of moment that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and makes it very difficult to concentrate on the mechanics of photography while I'm wanting to jump up and down and shout with sheer delight!
I'm stood on the cliffs overlooking the dramatic lighthouse at South Stack at the end of a rainy and cold day on the island of Anglesey. It's funny how usually only the successful photographic outing stories make it onto the internet, and all those abortive sunrise and sunset expeditions that get rained off never seem to get a mention.
That's why I enjoy David Noton's stories so much. He tells it like it is from a professional's perspective and his despatches are a great source of inspiration and encouragement when you feel like giving up after yet another cold, wet and cloudbound photographic expedition.
Anyhow, back to South Stack. In all my many trips to this location I've only ever seen this lighting once. I wasn't expecting it. A gap in the clouds at sunset hadn't been forecast. I was there more in hope than certainty that something would happen that was worth getting out of the car for. And yet there I was, on the cliff top in the cold with my camera all set up and bolted down watching and waiting.
When the sun did appear on the horizon I had about two minutes of light to work in, to get a shot with both the sun and the lighthouse light shining. It's at times like this it pays to know your way around your camera settings and I managed a few bracketed exposures before the sun set below the horizon and that special moment passed into history.
Will I ever see such a scene again? I don't know. But isn't that a wonder of God's creation, that no sunrise or sunset is ever the same twice?
Filename - lighthouse 33.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 88mm
Exposure - 3.2secs @ f16, ISO100
Location - South Stack, Anglesey
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement.
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