Whatever kind of shoot you’re on, photography is about planning, and then waiting for that perfect moment. 

For this landscape shoot at Caister beach, I knew that the sun would rise above the wind turbines at Scroby Sands, providing me with interest on the horizon plus a sense of scale. I had checked the weather forecast and knew it was going to be cloudy, so I planned to use my LEE polarising filter to bring out the colours of the sky. In order that the waves were not a distraction from the focal point of the image, I was going to use a slow exposure to smooth them out, and hopefully give an ethereal feel to the image.

With a F9 setting to ensure enough detail on the horizon, and an 8 second exposure set up and ready to go, it was now a waiting game. I was hoping that the sun would be strong enough to break through the cloud. The picture below was the result of a ten-minute wait, but well worth it.

By this time the wind had increased, and the clouds were moving. This was a perfect example of how nature can be a changing beauty, even from the same spot. I knew that if I stayed where I was, I would be able to capture a subtly varied series of images from one vantage point.

The second shot shows the emerging colours of dawn, and to give a sense of a gently stirring sea I changed the exposure time to four seconds.

With the clouds thickening, the scene was continuing to change. I changed to a ten second exposure, to achieve a milky flattening of the retreating waves over the shingle. This draws the eye to the sun forcing through a crack in the clouds at the top of the image.

By now it was time to move, and to contrast with the earlier images I changed to an F6.3 with an exposure of 1/500. This gave me detail and texture in the waves and a pleasing vibrancy that made the early start, well rewarded.