Photographing Sunset at the Seaside
Show Notes
Following on from the Kase Filters test vlog, I continued to look around the Moray Coast for some photographic opportunities.
At Spey Bay during the Kase video there were a lot of people enjoying the seaside, which made getting pictures and making a vlog quite difficult to do. So I left there, knowing that there are a lot of compositions there that I didn’t manage to get. So, it will feature again in a new vlog later on this year.
I went to another little village, which was very picturesque and had interesting views from the little beaches but as the beaches were little, and there were people enjoying them, I left them in peace and went to my final location of that evening.
I finally found the spot were I wanted to watch the sunset, but the sunset was happening fast. The beach was large enough that the other people enjoying it would not be in my way and I would not feel too uncomfortable filming.
I quickly began looking for compositions but it was a battle as the magnificent sky and light danced around. I managed to get a series of images that I was really happy with, and I was thankful for being on that beach at that time.
It will be interesting to return to the beach in the future and see if I can find even more compositions, I know that they are there. It is such a beautiful location!
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Onto the Images
As I explain in the video, I was instantly drawn to these ripples in the sand and the way that the light was being cast on them by the setting sun. I just wished that there was something a bit more interesting in the background, but as the lines are the stars of the shot, let’s not worry about that.
Once I got the picture onto the computer, I knew that it would need to be processed black and white to really accentuate the contast of the light and shadows creating such a dynamic texture to the sand.
In the video, just before taking these pictures, I am talking about the way the trees grow out of the sand dunes along this beach, but I turned around and was immediately distracted by the amazing clouds and light that was going on!
At first it may be difficult to see the difference between these two images. The first one I took at sort of head height but then I wondered how the image would be affected if it was just a little bit higher, so I quickly repositioned the tripod.
I prefer the second one, and to be honest, I have no idea why…
The clouds were doing such amazing things that I wanted to try and capture them, making them the principal subject of the image. I was not disappointed by the way they were interacting with the light. It looks almost like a fire tornado!
I really like the fact that when you examine this image more closely, you will notice the mountains backlit by a burning red in the lower right hand corner.
I couldn’t get past this composition of the water, sand, sun and the town. The clouds had been developing the entire time the sun was going down, so I wanted to try and capture that movement with the use of my new 10 stop filter, but I left my intervalometer to expose for a longer period that 30 seconds at home. So 30 seconds was the maximum length of shutter speed I had, which just wasn’t enough for the cloud movements.
But the effect on the water was fantastic! Smoothing out the light ripples of the images above and I love the way the edge of the water is just catching the glow of the setting sun.
The water channel I had been photographing for a while had this S shape to it and I wanted to see if that compositional element would work in a composition, but I think the water was just a tad to wide for the shape to create interest.
I tried to capture it both in landscape and portrait orientation to see if one worked better than the other one, and I prefer the portrait orientation. It feels more focused on the S and the town, whereas the landscape is too wide for the town to be of interest.
One last experiment with the feature that had captivated me all evening. I tried getting lower to the water, just to see how that might affect the composition by reducing the volume of water in the S but I don’t think it had a noticeable difference to it.
I finally got around to trying to find a composition with the trees and sand but the light was almost gone, before there had been a wonderful orange glow illuminating the sand and trees.
From where I was I couldn’t find a decent foreground for the image, but I tried to capture the trees in the growing puddle as the tide was coming in. I’m not sure what to make of this one. It’s better than nothing but it is really not a great composition.
Turning around from the trees and noticing the water in the sand, I saw these squiggles through the sand and thought that they would make an interesting subject. To try and accentuate the textures created by these squiggles, for the second time on this shoot, I converted it to black and white.
I can’t wait to return and try for a different composition with this feature, as I’m not entirely happy with the result on this one.
The mountains that you can see in the early sky image where still well lit and with the haze they look almost covered in snow. They weren’t of course, it’s just moisture in the air. But I liked their shape and the colour surrounding them, so on went the telephoto lens for the second time that night…
The last image from the night. I had filmed the ending to my video but as I was walking off of the beach, I saw the town was now illuminated by street lights and the sky was still doing amazing things.
So I quickly composed this as a bonus shot for the vlog, and it may even be my favourite from the evening. The more I look at it, the more I like the way the town looks and the colours in the sky.
I hope you are looking forward to the next instalment! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
About the Film
Just a little information about the film and how I made it, as well as some links to equipment.
I edited the film using the Free Version of DaVinci Resolve. It’s an incredibly powerful piece of software that I am still trying to understand and will possibly write an article about in the future.
The music in this video is a track that I licensed from Premium Beats by ShutterStock called:
Atmosphere by Colorfilm Music and Hidden Valley by Origami Pigeon.
A short Kit List
These are affiliate links, which means if you follow them and make a purchase I will earn a small commission for referring you to Amazon UK. You can find out more about affiliate links here.
Main Vlog Camera is a simple Panasonic G80 with the kit lens, its a great little mirrorless camera that I got for the sole purpose of creating YouTube videos. It’s capable of filming in 4k and seems to do everything that I want it to.
Rode Mic, I got this little microphone to boost the audio quality from the inbuilt microphone.
Action Camera, I use this to film myself when walking. It’s a simple DJI Pocket Osmo camera that has a motorised 3 axis gimbal head, which means that I stay in focus and static while the landscape around me moves. It’s also capable of filming in 4k and the audio quality is quite good.
Voice Recorder, to boost the audio quality when it’s windy or I’m using the action camera I use this handy little voice recorder with a lapellier microphone to record audio.
For a complete Landscape Photography Kit List you can read through what equipment I take with me when I go out here.
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Written by Daniel Long
Daniel Long created DRL Photography as a place to showcase his work as a photographer. Daniel has learnt a lot about photography and wishes to impart this knowledge with you, although the world is an ever changing place and he always says “you can never learn everything.” So as he makes his way, he continues to learn knew techniques, skills and information about photography. He focuses on Landscape and Wildlife photography and Daniel has a special focus on Scotland, his home away from home. As well as writing about photography and taking pictures out in the field, Daniel offers guided photography days so he can share his knowledge and locations in an effort to give his clients the best opportunities possible. Have a browse around this website to see his images, guided experiences and articles about photography. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to get in contact.
