Share this photo on Twitter Share this photo on Facebook

Precious Light

Posted by
Darkelf Photography (Perth, Australia) on 27 September 2022 in Landscape & Rural.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

This wonderful sunset happened at Mandalay Beach on the south coast of Western Australia almost a year ago. It was one of the more special and beautiful sunsets which I have witnessed in my time. We are very lucky in Australia to have so much beautiful coastline and this is where I enjoy moments like this the most. Listening to the waves, feeling the soft sand under my feet and soaking in this precious golden light.

It was an evening when the early promise of a good sunset was fulfilled. I was watching the sky for some time during the day and clouds were drifting in nicely without covering the little gap over the horizon. How many times, I have watched the sky though, to show promise and only to fade out just at the last moment. It is always a happy and frustrating time of anticipation for me. I enjoy being out in nature no matter what transpires but one is always hoping for the best light and conditions.

We have not explored this location too greatly in the past so we gave ourselves enough time to arrive early and to find a good spot. I was actually hoping to jump onto the rocks which you can see just under the sun to venture further out and search for a decent composition there. I was not able to make it, however, because the waves were just high enough to block my access to the rocks and I could not find another way in. I had to ditch my original plans and look for alternative compositions, which was a bit of a challenge for me without my usual rocky foreground to lean back on.

I thought briefly about using the water and catching its motion for the foreground but I considered that my last resort in case I was not able to find any other options. I walked back and forth along the shore and also went back up the dunes along the walking track leading up to the beach. It was just there that I saw the dunes opening up before me and the strands of grass glowing in the setting sun. I knew right away that I found the spot I was searching for. I also liked the couple of larger plants in the immediate foreground to include as additional interest in the composition. This spot gave a bit of good height to the perspective which allowed me to place the sun on the edge of the cliff in the distance and to create the sun star effect through stepping down the aperture to f/16.

The final image is a blend of four exposures, mostly to account for the brightest area around the sun, the highlights in the water, clouds and in the grass. I was most happy about being able to catch that last light illuminating the grass. That just completed the scene and the mood for me. The other tricky part of the image was the dark hill on the right. I brought in an additional bright exposure to blend in the hill. It was not so much to make it brighter but to use a cleaner frame for the darkest part of the scene which would otherwise include a fair amount of splotchy noise.

Perception and memory are interesting concepts. When I think about it, I always feel that I had only photographed a handful of beautiful colourful sunrises or sunsets. Then, when I look through my photos, I see quite a few of them and feel that my memory is letting me down. I think that is mostly to do with the long patches of time when I fail to encounter one of these spectacular events and how they skew my perception. Obviously it is fairly normal that more often than not the sky will be just your usual blue of grey. This was definitely the case during our recent two weeks of travel when we failed to see one spectacular start or end to the day. That makes all the special occasions very precious indeed and every time I have been able to photograph one, it made up for all the other uneventful and sometimes disappointing moments. This is also why I look for other moods in my photography as I believe that no moment should be wasted if there is even a slight possibility of a good photo.

Canon EOS R5 2 seconds F/16.0 ISO 100 15 mm

Welcome to my photo blog. I greatly value all your support, comments, and visits.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions about my photography, and I can also be found here:

Facebook | Flickr | 500px

If you would prefer to follow me on your smart phone, my Instagram tag is: @darkelfphotography


© Darkelf Photography

This image has been featured in 2 Remix collections.

Natural Splendor by Steven

Landscape & rural by Maryse