My alarm went off at the unearthly hour of 3am, which is par for the course if you want to catch a sunrise at midsummer on the North Wales coast.
The forecast promise of clear skies and calm conditions was the motivating factor behind my early start, and with the sky already starting to lighten to the northeast I took the forty five minute drive to one of my favourite sunrise locations - the North Shore promenade at Llandudno.
However, that promise of clear skies didn't quite work out, and I arrived at Llandudno under a solid layer of dark cloud.
No chance of a sunrise then - what to do?
Fortunately for me the tide had just started to go out, so instead of concentrating on the sky I decided to concentrate on the sea instead, photographing the emergence of my favourite wooden jetty from beneath the waves.
The tide really moved fast, and I had to shoot the video in three stages, moving along the newly exposed jetty as the waters receded.
The timing worked out perfectly, and I was able to capture the entire length of the jetty becoming visible during the time I had available before having to stop filming for the drive back home and onto work.
So I wasn't sorry the sunrise was a bust, as 'Plan B' worked out even better.
Filename - llandudno tide timelapse 04.mp4
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens (1st sequence) - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm
Lens (2nd sequence) - 24-105mm zoom @ 50mm
Lens (3rd sequence) - 24-105mm zoom @ 55mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 8 secs @ f4, ISO1600
Exposure (end of sequence) - 4 secs @ f4, ISO100
Filters - 6 stop neutral density filter used to allow long exposures to smooth the water movements. 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to balance the exposure between the sky and foreground.
Shooting interval (1st sequence) - 10 seconds
Shooting interval (2nd sequence) - 10 seconds
Shhoting interval (3rd sequence) - 6 seconds
Location - Llandudno, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps
Clip duration - 29 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.