A rare beautiful clear sky day in late November was all the excuse my wife Liz and I needed to head to the coast for some much needed fresh air and exercise after a couple of weeks being stuck indoors due to almost constant rain over North Wales.
Our chosen destination was the Menai Straits, that unique narrow sea channel between the Isle of Anglesey and the North Wales coast that boasts some amazing scenery when the light is right.
We based ourselves on the Anglesey side of the Straits, near to the famous Sea Zoo, in order to catch the sunset out over the southwestern horizon, with the mountains of the Llyn Peninsula in the background.
There's an old decaying concrete and wooden jetty near the Sea Zoo that I used to get a better angle on the sunset and spent over an hour shooting hundreds of still images as the sun disappeared over the far horizon in order to create my Menai Straits Sunset Timelapse #4 video.
Once the sun had set I thought about packing up and heading off for some tea, but the twilight colours in the sky were just amazing, and to top it all, a new crescent moon was just becoming visible over the Llyn Peninsula as it followed the sun downwards.
So I simply repositioned myself on the jetty and started shooting again as the colours in the sky became richer and deeper and the moon became brighter and brighter against the darkening heavens.
But the Menai Straits hadn't finished with me yet, as during this shoot the ebbing tide revealed a sandbank which grew and grew as the waters receded, adding yet another layer of interest to the already amazing scene.
An hour later and I finally stopped filming (what an old fashioned term!) and made my way gingerly back across the rocky foreshore in the gathering gloom to where Liz and sat patiently knitting while waiting for me to finish.
Then at last it was off for our well deserved tea before heading home through the mountains of Snowdonia.
But that's another story.
Filename - menai straits dusk timelapse 01
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 45mm
Exposure (start of sequence) - 1/30 sec @ f4, ISO100
Exposure (end of sequence) - 4 secs @ f4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to balance the brightness of the sky with its reflection.
Shooting interval - 6 seconds
Location - Menai Straits, Anglesey, North Wales
This clip - HD 720p, 30fps (4K+, and 1080p HD formats also available)
Clip duration - 20 seconds
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.