Click on the image for licensing terms
My wife Liz and I were enjoying an invigorating hike along the cliffs at Rhoscolyn on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey, just off the North Wales coast, when I spotted this interesting arrangement of clouds and sun in the skies overhead.
I rarely photograph just the sky, usually preferring to include at least a little of the landscape to act as a anchor for my cloud images.
But for this shot I decided to go all in and leave out the horizon completely, focussing attention purely on the juxtaposition of clouds and sun, which I intended to render as a starburst by using the smallest aperture my 24-105mm zoom lens was capable of (f22 in this case).
Having taken one exposure to get the exposure as I wanted it (dark and moody) I then noticed two seagulls flying back and forth across the patch of sky I was interested in.
Bonus! So I waited until the seagulls were opposite the sun in my viewfinder, flying into the frame, before pressing the shutter at what I hoped was the most opportune instant.
On studying the image later I wasn't disappointed, with those two seagulls adding a touch of extra interest and life to the final composition.
Filename - rhoscolyn 15
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 73mm
Exposure - 1/1000 sec @ f22, ISO100
Filters - None.
Location - Rhoscolyn, Anglesey, North Wales
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Image underexposed slightly to preserve highlights. Small aperture used to create starburst effect.
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2020 unless otherwise stated.
