Jump before you need to swim...

Waves splashing over rocks at the Sacramento Trail in Port Elizabeth.

With every outing there is always at least one good story to tell. This one was no different.

We enjoyed a lovely relaxing afternoon out in the most amazing weather and took a walk down the Sacramento Trail at Port Elizabeth's Schoenmaker's Kop. I had the camera with me but I spotted some salty sea mist rolling in so I decided not to worry about more shooting. After all, I had just shot this panorama test and we had an amazing lunch at the Sacramento Coffee Shop in Schoenies. There is always just that one more thing to learn and stitching a panorama is no exception...more about that later once I figure out how to get that horizon flat.

Secret Beach Panorama near Cape Recife, Port Elizabeth.

Then I spotted this little break in the rocks. It was an easy walk and I jumped at it. Now I knew there was around an hour left to a spring tide high so I knew things could get interesting. I set up on the foreground rocks that would soon be under water but that little gulley was too good to pass up. Having that little reef deeper out beyond the break in the foreground rocks...well...I simply had to.

Wave splashing over rocks. ISO 100 || f/11 || 1/100 Shutter Speed.

It was somewhere after 3 pm so the light wasn't all that harsh anymore but still rather bright. The problem is that, as pretty as the sight is, it is still very bright daylight by landscape photography standards.

This is where the 10-stop filter came in. In this bright daylight I could do an exposure long enough to blur movement in the water. I mean who wants a regular exposure when you can have something more artistic, right?

I did a few exposures before I had to run for the incoming tide. I don't mind getting wet but I do like to keep my toys out of sea water.Now fast-forward to the great download and what-if sessions when I got home.

Of the 6 or 7 exposures I quickly made I tried different exposures from 15 to 20 seconds or so. Not a huge difference in exposure but very varied in terms of the movement in the water.

Now you start the exposure and you think the water would co-operate. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. A lot can happen in 15 or 20 seconds...or not. Any old way, the tide rises and swim time approaches relentlessly.

I share these images as they came off the camera. The only change was downsizing them so it does not take huge amounts of data and a long time to open. Now the exposures are all more or less workable so no biggy there. Then I start seeing other things. These are the things you miss in the heat of the moment when things get rushed.

For a start, I set my tripod as high as it could go. I could barely check for a level horizon using live view. I was so homed in on movement in the foreground water that I completely forgot to pay attention to the background. It could probably be argued that there should have been better separation between subject matter and the horizon.

Subjective? Maybe. Does that oversight ruin the shot? Maybe, and maybe not. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, right?

Any old way, with this and other issues, perceived or real aside, there is always the reason to go out again and again and again to keep trying.

So there you have it folks. The most important thing is to get out there and have fun being creative. In the words of the great Gary Player...the more I practice, the luckier I get.

Happy shooting!

Anton