Sunrise Surfer
The making of an image
Lives in a van. Bimbles with a camera. Often pointing his pixel box at scruff. Has been known to run long distances. Would consider cake as a form of payment.
Recovering.
Welcome
Hello, and welcome back to another week behind the lens of a full time photographer living, working and travelling from his VW campervan. Another week down, and another week helping out with the situation back at my parents. I can’t believe it’s been just over 2 months now since I was last on the road. Still, I’m glad I’ve been able to help out, although it’s going to be very difficult to leave in a few days time.
Yes, boat is booked, a week or so in Cambridge, and then back into mainland Europe. The mountains are calling …..
Until then, looking back through the archives and this week the story behind one of my favourite images made just a few yards from my (then) front door in Portrush, Northern Ireland.
Thanks for following along …
Sunrise Surfer - The Making Of
I’ve included time stamps on the images as an indication of how quickly the colour developed.
That morning, stepping outside my front door, I had no idea the visual treat that was awaiting me. With sunrise still a good hour away it was difficult to make out if there were any gaps in the clouds, either directly above, or further towards the horizon. Nothing lost mind you as it would be less than 5 minutes from home to my chosen spot on West Strand, Portrush.
Often we think of clear conditions to be perfect for landscape photography, when in fact clouds, especially those at high altitude, can be our friend. A little gap is all we may need, and some of the best conditions I’ve experienced happen fast. Clouds can also be our sworn enemy, and I’m sure I’ve been spotted on more than one occasion standing along the coast waving my fist and swearing at the clouds, Grandpa Simpson style.
Given my position on the north coast of Ireland, combined with the time of year, December, it would be impossible to see if there were any gaps on the horizon so I simply had to take my chances. This is, in itself, an important lesson, as often the days we decide that the weather isn’t going to play ball, are the very same days we look out the window towards the hills only to see something spectacular building. As sunrise approached I could see the cloud cover, while thick, was at least giving me some wonderful textures which, again if we got lucky with that all important gap on the horizon, would help accentuate any colour we may get.
Time in the field has also taught me to pay attention to how the weather and conditions are developing. To do this we need to take our eye from the viewfinder and observe the environment. Doing this I could see, over towards the sunrise position, colour starting to develop and my hope would be that as the sun got higher this colour would spread to the rest of the sky.
Slowly at first, and then building, the colour did develop, more so than I ever could have wished for. Firstly deep purples, which then turned violet before a rich full bodied red. Then a mixture of all three.
With conditions like this the photographer can often enter headless chicken mode, but I’ve learned from past experience that this rarely yields strong results and so I decided to stick my ground, as difficult as that was.
Up until now I had been all alone on the beach and thought it may be nice if there was a person, perhaps someone going into the sea, to help bring a focal point to the scene. And then, almost as if the photography gods looked favourably on me, a surfer turned up and made his way in.
A small reposition of the tripod and a check of the settings. Half depress the shutter to focus.
Click.
Sunrise Surfer was born.
Moments later the colour was gone, almost as if I had dreamt it. A huge smile on my face I sat on the beach and watched the surfer catch a few waves as the first of the dog walkers appeared, totally oblivious to the conditions they had just missed.
Then again, the dog didn’t seem too bothered as it chased its stick and barked at both me and the surfer.
Vlog
A couple of vlogs from our photography and travel adventures …
The week that was
A few images from this particular week down through the years.
Other corners of the inter webs you can find me.
The X100 Diaries
My Portfolio
Bimbles magazine
Thanks so much for allowing me a few moments of your time. I hope you have enjoyed my words and images, and if so a quick share amongst your own community will help spread the word.
And if you really enjoyed it you can even consider throwing a few pennies into the tips jar. It helps most with diesel costs for the van to keep me on the road making images.
Until next time .. Happy Pixels …
Amazing. Worth the wait.
Soft and beautiful series on the beach! And I thoroughly enjoyed the Week that Was.