One thing you can pretty much guarantee in north Wales is active weather.
Especially along the coast, as warm, moist air coming in off the Irish Sea and Atlantic Ocean is forced upwards by the mountains of Snowdonia, forming towering clouds over the high ground, just inland from the coast.
Not everyone's cup of tea, and weather like this can certainly put a dampener on your beach barbeque!
But for me, changeable weather like this is just wonderful, as I find photographing landscapes against boring blue or flat grey skies just not worth the effort. (Well - sometimes it is, but not often.)
So imagine my delight on arriving at Prestatyn beach for a seaside stroll with my wife Liz as I witnessed a huge bank of stormy cumulus cloud forming over the high ground further along the coast, and heading our way.
The stroll had to be put on hold for half an hour or so as I set my camera up on the promenade to capture the unfolding drama in this time lapse video.
There were plenty of other folk out for a bracing walk, and I decided to include them in my video to add some human interest to the scene.
Needless to say, my camera got some funny looks, sitting high on a tripod and clicking away to itself as the holidaymakers and dog walkers passed by!
And yes - Liz and I finally did get our seaside stroll in before the rain arrived.
Filename - prestatyn clouds timelapse 03
Camera - Canon EOS 6DMK2
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 47mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/1600 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 1/1600 sec @ f/4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to reduce the brightness of the sky relative to the land.
Music - Greeting the Day with a Smile - Doug Maxwell
Shooting interval - 2 seconds
Location - Prestatyn, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K and HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 36 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2023 unless otherwise stated.