This represents one of my favourite mistakes. When photographing on the beach - keep your eyes on the waves coming in since no matter how docile they appear, there will be the odd rogue wave. This picture was taken after the arrival of such a rogue wave, though fortunately not a very big one. It did, however, climb over the rim of my boots and fill them with water. I managed to stay in control of the tripod while the photograph was taken and was very happy with the outcome.

We were at Mewslade Bay with colleagues on a landscape photography course in the late afternoon of February, just as the sun was heading for the horizon. The light was spectacular, just brightening up the cliffs and bouncing off the water - an effect that was slightly magnified by the longer exposure. I experimented with different exposure lengths and moved to a more forward position to have the water flow around me in the event that happened, but more than I originally intended.

The overall effect was very pleasing, but my feet were very wet. So, I retired to the back of the beach, peeled off my boots and socks, wrung out the latter, and left them to dry out as much as possible. Having decanted the seawater from my boots, I walked down the beach to try different viewpoints and exposures. However, none of the subsequent images quite surpasses this one.