Picture Story

One popular rule about landscape photography, more so with the grand scenic, is to find a way to fit in elements that are interesting enough in the foreground. So when composing, one should always find a foreground that draws the viewer's attention and guides through the image's visual journey.

When it comes to seascape photography, one of my favourite foreground subjects is a jetty. How a jetty's perspective and implicit leading lines lead you into the horizon can add so much to the story.

The location of this jetty is in the province of Castellón, in the Community of Valencia. Jetties are not common along the coast of Valencia, so I do visit this spot time and over again. Though this one happens to be quite easy to get to, the walkway to the viewpoint at the end of the jetty has been inaccessible for the last few years, and repair seems to be continuously postponed by the local town hall. Access to underneath the jetty can be limited, either due to high tide and sea waves or is sometimes closed by the local police for safety reasons. Furthermore, on some of my visits to this location, I had to rearrange my initial idea of composition since it is also frequented by fishermen.

The photograph was taken on a mid-summer early morning with a slightly overcast sky and quite a bit of sea mist quickly fading out as the sun rose. Misty mornings are unusual in the summer season in this part of Spain, something I had not at all expected this day.

Once having decided on the final composition for this image, I experimented a few times with different shutter speeds, but finally, I opted for a more fine art feel and went for a two-and-a-half-minute exposure time. Setting the camera to bulb mode and a ten-stop filter helped me achieve the desired shutter speed. I also applied a circular polarizer to eliminate excess shine and enhance colour in the water and on the wet foreground boulders.