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LOCATIONANDCOMPOSITIONIf youcanit’sa goodideatoincludea
man-madefeatureorstructurewithinyourstormyscenetogive
a goodsenseofscale– if yourcompositionshowssimplyrocksand
waterthenit canbehardtojudgejusthowimpressivethecrashing
wavesare.It couldbea seawall,jetty,pierorfeatureona rocky
cliffside.In thisstormycoastalscene,I’veincludedthe picturesque
old engine house at Botallack Mine in Cornwall.3
ZOOMINFocallengthhasa bearingonthelookofyourimages.Not
onlywillusinga telephotolensallowyoutoremaina safedistance,
butit alsoletsyoufilltheframewiththemostinterestingelementin
thescene– thedramaticwaves.I startedoffusingmy24-70mmlens
toincludetheskybut,asit wasn’tveryinterestingat first,I switchedto
my70-200mmtoconcentrateonthelowermine and emphasise the
roughwavesastheybreakovertherocks.2
USETHEENVIRONMENTHighwindsareperfectforcreatingdramatic
waves,butaren’tconducivetosharpimages,especiallywhen
usinglongerfocallengths.It’sa goodideatoseeif youcanusethe
environmenttoshelteryourselfandhelpyourchancesofcapturing
sharpimages.I knewa rockyoutcropthatI couldtakeshelterbehind,
whichofferedtheperfectplacetostopmefrombeingbatteredbythe
wind. It was so sheltered I didn’t need to use a rain sleeve cover!4
SETTINGSIn aperture-prioritymode,selecta mid-aperturefor
optimumimagequalityandthenchoosea suitableISOratingthat
offersa fastenoughshutterspeedtofreezethecrashingwaves.Select
continuousshootingtoguaranteeyoudon’tmissanyoftheaction.
Keepaneyeontheconditionsandadjustastheychange.I used
1/80secat f/11(ISO400)at firstastheskywasquitedull,howeverthis
laterchangesto 1/250sec at f/11 (ISO100)asthe sun appeared.5
WORKWITHTHECONDITIONS
Fast-movingcloudsoften
meanthatthelightchangesvery
quickly,soit’simportanttolearn
howtospotwhenthelightis
at itsbestforthescene.Doing
thiswhilsttimingyourshutter
tocoincidewithlargewaves
crashingcanbequitefrustrating,
butpersevereandhopefully,
eventually,you’llberewarded
withtherightmomentunder
therightlight.Here,I dialledin
between-0.3EVand-0.6EV
exposurecompensationtokeep
thehighlightsin check.Youcan
seethedifferencein thecontrast
levelsasthesunappearsand
disappears behind clouds.NO LIGHT HIGH CONTRAST EVENLIGHTStormy weather
32 DigitalSLR PhotographyMay 2019