The rich pastureland of the Vale of Clwyd was rolled out like a blanket in front of me as I stood on the slopes of Moel Famau, the highest peak in the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near my home in North Wales.
Far to the west, over the mountains of Snowdonia, the setting sun was playing hide and seek behind the rapidly moving banks of evening cloud, sending out seachlight-like crepuscular rays which were playing across the landscape below.
It had been my intention to climb to the summit of Moel Famau and back down again, purely for the exercise and the joy of being outdoors in God's own country, but at the last minute I decided to take my camera and tripod with me, 'just in case'!
And I'm so glad I did, as I hadn't got too far up the winding path to the summit before this wonderful lightshow opened up in front of me.
So I abandoned my original plan and instead quickly set up my photographic gear and settled down while the camera started taking the hundreds of still images needed to create this time lapse video.
By the time the sun had finally set and I'd finished shooting I'd like to be able to say that I resumed my energetic climb to the summit, but I was just too relaxed by then, having drunk in the loveliness of the scene for half an hour or so.
So instead it was back to the car and back home for a cup of tea and to download those fantastic images, ready to construct the final time lapse in Adobe Premiere Pro.
What a lovely way to spend an afternoon and evening!
Filename - vale of clwyd sunset timelapse 10
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 24-105mmmm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/400 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/80 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the land.
Shooting interval - 2 seconds
Music - 'Pressure' by Riot.
Location - Vale of Clwyd, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 31 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.