Sharing one exceptional evening from the Malabar coast as the iconic lighthouse at Kovalam started to light. At the same time, the calm waves in the Arabian Sea almost perfectly mirrored the cloud pattern above – just a blissful scene to witness and frame.
As for the place, Kovalam is a definite destination once in Kerala as the calm coastline offers everything from pristine sands to coconut groves, with a calm sea to enjoy. This lighthouse serves as a definitive symbol of this beach; hence, to create a travel seascape imagery, it was always going to feature in my frames.
This was a deliberate plan to visit the place right after the monsoons (around September), a time when seasonal rains recede, but the cloud magic still presides over the evenings. But I must admit, I was plain lucky to find such exceptional colours that very evening.
As for the composition, the idea was to capture the essence of this lovely beach with the lighthouse standing tall over the surroundings. These foreground rocks acted as needed foreground hinges in the frame, and when the wave pattern spanned entirely of sand, it just completed the drawing.
Choosing lower ISO of 200, a narrow aperture (F16) to render frame entirely sharp as well as to enable some slower shutter speed was an automatic call. As for the shutter speed, I wanted to capture the scene's dynamism and hence decided upon a long exposure spanning 25 odd seconds. A 3-stop ND was used to prevent overexposure. I did play with shorter shutter speeds spanning a few seconds, too, but I guess the overall smoothness and wave trails worked out the best in the longest exposure (25 seconds, as mentioned earlier).
Later in processing, basic adjustments to tune contrast, colour and sharpness were performed in Adobe Photoshop.
Selective dodge and burn were applied to elevate the tonal contrast in the image. So, here's the outcome.
Benefits of VIP membership:
• Download all new issues of Landscape Photography Magazine
• Download all back issues of Landscape Photography Magazine
• Download all new issues of Wild Planet Photo Magazine
• Download all back issues of Wild Planet Photo Magazine
• Download premium eBooks worth £19.45.
• Create your Personal Portfolio Page – click here to see sample
• Your pictures stay attached to your Personal Portfolio Page forever
• Your published pictures are shared with over 300,000 members and followers
• Your shared pictures are tagged on Instagram
• Submission Priority – your submission goes to the front of the queue
• Fast Support – we aim to reply within 12 hours
Create your Personal Portfolio Page and let us share your published pictures with over 300,000 members and followers.
Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor