There are some sunset photography locations that only work at certain times of the year, and this view of the iconic lighthouse at New Brighton, overlooking the river Mersey estuary from the Wirral side, is one of them.
With a view looking towards the northwest, you can only get the sunset and the lighthouse together in one composition in during a few weeks either side of the midsummer solstice.
And even then you need a low tide to access a view with a decent angle on the lighthouse without getting immersed in the tidal Mersey as water flows in from the Irish Sea.
So it was with a fair bit of forward planning and consulting the weather forecast that found my wife Liz and I parked up at Fort Perch Rock on the New Brighton seafront on the 7th June 2023.
Liz wisely returned to the car after a brief sojurn in the stiff chilly breeze blowing up the Mersey, while I hunkered down by my tripod and camera for just over an hour, making small exposure adjustments as the light levels decreased as the sun slowly sank to wards the far horizon.
At one point I thought my efforts would be fruitless, as a layer of murky clouds blanketed the sky just above the the horizon, threatening to hide the sun in the latter stages of sunset.
But I needed have worried, as the clouds were just thick enough to take the edge off the sun's brightness, and to colour up beautifully as the glowing orb slid lower and lower while still retaining its definition behind the murk.
And then the icing on the cake was the passage of a ship, right across the face of the sun as it had halfway set below the horizon, right next to the lighthouse.
Blink and you'll miss it!
So a very satisfying shoot, when everything came together just right. (A rare occurence in my experience!)
Mind you, I was glad to get back to the car and out of the wind once the sun had finally disappeared below the horizon, signifying the end of another day enjoying the beauty of God's clockwork solar system.
Filename - new brighton sunset timelapse 02
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 60mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/1600 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/100 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Filters - 2/3 stop neutral density reverse graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky at the horizon.
Shooting interval - 4 seconds
Music - Lifting Dreams - Aakash Gandhi
Location - New Brighton, Wirral, Merseyside, England
Video processing - Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Premiere Pro
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 18 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2023 unless otherwise stated.