To answer the question from the previous post I have to say I didn’t get ‘The One’, although I am quite happy with the photos I’ve been taking these last days. I can say I’ve had lots of fun.
Contrary to what usually happens, the big waves here haven’t been accompanied by rain and storms. Most of the time the sky has been fairly clear and it’s been comfortable being outside on the coast. It’s much easier to find a nice photography spot on the coast or anywhere if you are familiar with the region. The place in the photo below is one of those which I’ve been to before, and I knew I had to go back when the light conditions were favourable. We arrived in the evening when there was still plenty of light. The sun was low so the rock formations were fully lit although part of the cliffs was already in the shade. The shadow of the nearest rock formation over the broken sea was amazing and waves were breaking so hard that I was expecting the needle shaped rock to fall down at any moment. I’m sure it will someday, but maybe not this century.
After the sun goes down
Usually when the sun is really low it’s a nice moment to take pictures, no doubt about that. The light is warm and because it’s almost parallel to the ground it works really well for taking portraits and landscapes. However this doesn’t mean that you should leave when the sun sets. People tend to think that from this moment on there is not enough light, so they’ll get into their cars and leave. However, just after the sun sets the light becomes softer. Since there is no harsh light, shadows will feather and colours will pop up.
The ‘raft’ ready to set off
Vital Alsar is a Spanish sailor who did a trip from Ecuador to Australia twice using rafts like the one in the photo. This particular raft is situated near the coast, just a few meters away really, so with the waves picking up in the evening it was a great idea to try to get a composition of the raft so it would appear it was sailing again. It was worth a try. So I put the camera on a tripod, composed the frame and used a shutter speed of about half second, so the waves would look like they were in motion against a still raft in the foreground. We spent about half an hour there just waiting for the biggest waves to appear behind the boat, and although I got pictures with higher waves I chose this one because they appear more spread in the background.
Sometimes a photo of just a wave won’t tell you anything about its size, so putting people on the frame gives the viewer a better idea of the dimensions. I’ve always thought that people looking really small would make the whole image bigger and more interesting. Maybe the next picture is not the perfect example, as there is not too much contrast between some of the people’s figures and the rocks, and another perspective could have worked better, but I think it helps with what I’m trying to say.
