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In photography, as in so many other endeavours, timing is everything.
Bit of a strange statement from someone like me whose predominant interest is in photographing the landscape. After all, it's not going anywhere is it?
This photo of the watchtower on the tip of Llandwyn Island, Anglesey, North Wales is a good example of what I'm talking about.
I'd been scouting this scene for a good half hour before taking this photo, looking for the right composition and angle to bring out the best of the view before me. But my wait didn't end once I'd set up my tripod in my preferred spot.
There were two moving elements in the photo that I wanted to get just right to make the image work for me - the sun and the waves.
I waited until the setting sun was low enough to the horizon to bathe the watchtower and its base rock with golden light while leaving the rest of the rocky outcrop in shadow. Then I had to time my shutter release to capture a breaking wave at just the right point in the frame to give me a diagonal leading line through the picture pointing at the tower as the focal point of the image.
As I said, timing is everything!
Filename - watch tower 02.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 32mm
Exposure - 1.6secs @ f14, ISO100
Location - Llandwyn, Anglesey
This image - 640x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Shutter speed chosen to blur waves.
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