Shot of the Month – July 2022

The Lime Kiln Lighthouse, shown above, is located on the western side of San Juan Island and is in just the right spot to accentuate a sunset image (#6 on the map below).  The lighthouse was built in 1919 and still serves as a navigational beacon to those sailing in the Haro Strait.  This location is also known as one of the best places in the world to view whales from land.  Orca whales can often be seen swimming by from May to September each year.  From this lovely spot, one can also see Minke whales, porpoises, seals, sea lions, otters, and bald eagles.

I arrived at the lighthouse a good hour before sunset to get the lay of the land and try and explore potential compositions.  The water was unusually calm and as the sun slowly set I had an amazingly peaceful hour sitting on the rocks listening to the gentle sound of the water caressing the shoreline.  Ahhhh….seaside serenity at its best.

Source

As the sun slipped below the horizon the scattered clouds began to explode with color.

The clock had started — Time to MOVE!

Non-photographers may not realize that one does not simply walk up to such a scene, raise the camera, snap a few shots, and go home.  No, usually there is an absolute frenzy of activity behind the camera that beguiles the serenity before the lens.

In my case, I was running from one outcropping of rocks to another and frantically adjusting my tripod to find JUST the right position and composition.  This tripod leg up a bit.  This leg, down a bit.  That leg has to go over there.  Nope, this leg is now too low.  Raise again.  Now the horizon is crooked.  Adjust the camera.  And all that is even before figuring out the proper exposure settings.  Once the camera is in the right position I then run through a range of different shutter speeds and apertures to find the best combination that can expose the bright sky while trying to keep the exposure on the building from going too dark.  For this image, I also took a series of shots at different exposure levels that I merged later with software to capture the full range of brightness in the scene.  For more on how that is done, check out this post I did on photographing a lighthouse in Maine.

Ok, got that particular shot?  Now rush over to a different outcropping and do it all again.

With each moment the light is changing and the colors may be getting better, or worse.  With each second that is passing, I am scrambling to maximize what the scene is offering in THAT moment.

This race with the light may last mere seconds, or can go on for 45 minutes.  The pressure/stress can be intense to seize the fleeting moment before it is gone.

Either way, by the end, I am usually exhausted.

But so much fun!!

Is the running around worth it?  Sometimes yes, (usually yes), sometimes not.

On this outing, I captured several scenes that I really liked.  In the above image, we have a classic seascape that oozes serenity and calmness.  It is like a visual sigh for the soul.

But in the image below, I found a completely different story and feeling:

By moving closer, I still captured a seascape with a dramatic sky, but now I found a more intimate scene as the couple on the right becomes more prominent in the scene and turns this into a love story.  The upper image will most likely have the viewer looking outward to the world while the second image will nudge the viewer’s mind inward as s/he remembers a similar sunset embrace.

Photography is about storytelling and by continuing to move around the scene I was able to find two lovely, but very different, stories.  On this night, I was able to go from Landscape to Lovers in just a few feet.

Until next month…….

Nikon D850, Nikon 24-120mm (@24 mm), f/10, 1.0 sec, 7 shot Bracket (HDR merge)