The weather forecast promised some clear skies at sunset over the coast of Anglesey on this cold and windy January in the winter of 2022 here in North Wales.
And with sunset occuring just after 4pm at this latitude of 53°N, my wife Liz and I wasted no time after lunch, as we loaded up the car with survival gear, a flask of hot coffee and the usual 10KG of camera equipment.
We were hoping to enjoy a walk along the Menai Straits, that wonderful body of water separating the Isle of Anglesey from mainland Wales, before I hunkered down to shoot the hundreds of still images needed to create just a few seconds of time lapse video.
When we arrived at our chosen spot, near the famous Anglesey Sea Zoo, those promised clear skies were looking distinctly less likey, as heavy storm clouds rolled across the skies from the southwest, borne along by an eye-watering breeze coming straight off the Irish Sea.
So we managed the briefest of strolls, muffled up to the eyeballs, before common sense took over (at least for Liz) and we returned to the car.
However, I wasn't going to give up filming despite the weather, as it was only at this time of year that the sunset occurs looking along the Straits to the southwest, and I was still hoping for even just a tiny break in the clouds to allow a glimpse of the sun setting.
Now at this spot on the Anglesey side of the Menai Straits there's a dilapidated concrete and wooden jetty, which I've used as a leading line in many previous shoots at this location.
Exposed at low tide, I was able to set my camera and tripod up on the slippery, seaweed encrusted landing stage and used the wooden posts to frame where my Photographer's Ephemeris app told me the sun would set, still hoping for a gap in the clouds along the far horizon.
A half hour later and I was finally rewarded as the sky to the southwest glowed orange, and some stray sunbeams managed to shoot upwards and light up those roiling clouds for a few brief minutes.
And then the rain came!
Directly onto the front filter covering the camera's lens so there was nothing I could do about it, so instead I just kept on shooting as the raindrops hitting the filter scattered the warm light from the setting sun over my images.
And after a few more minutes the colour had bled from the skies and I finally (and gratefully) packed up my now sodden camera and headed back to the car for a hot coffee.
I didn't know how this time lapse would turn out, especially with those raindrops landing on my filter, but in the end I was quite pleased with how the weather, the light and the scenery all blended together to show a typical winter's day on the ever-changing Menai Straits.
Filename - menai straits sunset timelapse 06
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 17-40mm zoom @ 17mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/125 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/13 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the landscape.
Shooting interval - 3 seconds
Music - Bach Cello Suite No. 1, G Major, Prelude - Cooper Cannell.
Location - Menai Straits, Anglesey, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 39 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2023 unless otherwise stated.