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It was a mild summer morning as I clambered down to the beach just before daybreak.
In the low light I scouted for the right position for my composition. The whole time being mindful of the approaching sunrise.
As the sun began to peep over the horizon, I realised there was no light show today. Instead, everything lit up in a monochrome pink and the sun looked like it was wrapped in a smoke haze.
I quickly changed my plans and shifted my gear out to the western point of the small bay, where larger rocks are smashed by even larger waves and sea spray fills the air.
Leaving my trusty tripod alone, I began snapping away trying to find a composition that would include all the elements I could see appearing before me. The orb of the sun, it’s reflection on the water, the smashing of waves against rocks and the resulting spray that was getting lit by the softened sun.
Roughly settling on my composition, I began to work the camera settings. I wanted a fast exposure, but I also was very mindful of the contrasting light. Shooting straight into the sun and still hoping to get details on the rocks as well as depth in the white water that erupted into the air.
Once I had the settings sorted, I switched to hot shutter, giving me a better chance of catching that right moment.
I was using my old 1500D and saving each moment as a RAW file meant I could only get about 5-6 shots and the camera would buffer. As frustrating as this was, I persevered and continued to adjust for the slight changes in light, as well as making micro adjustments to the composition.
The problem I always have with this sort of shoot, is knowing when to stop. I always think, the next wave will be better, or the light is looking better than before. But, after more than 300 shutter clicks, I finally managed to pull myself away and head home to find which one was going to be the keeper.
This image seemed to encapsulated all the elements I was aiming for in a fairly balanced composition.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor