Coasting through life

Slow down and shoot some long exposure images by Britain’s beautiful coast, says Stephen Cooper

Ipicked up my first DSLR camera in 2010. Within six months of figuring out how to use it, I found myself completely hooked, having learned a lot.

I have tried all types of photography, from wildlife to astro and portraits to macro, but I always come back to land and seascapes, particularly with long exposure photography. On my days off work you will find me on the north-east coast visiting one of the many fantastic locations for sunrise or sunsets shooting what I love: long exposure photography. This style adds so much atmosphere to any photo, regardless of the weather. You’ll never capture the same image twice. I’ll often plan trips away to Wales or the Scottish Highlands, and visit the Lake District at least once a month.

I live in the small town of Ryton, which is seven miles from Newcastle and not too far from a plethora of photographic opportunities, like the Northumberland coast and Cumbria. As with any genre, long exposures are all about practising and improving your craft; enjoying your time and slowing down is a key factor.

A strong setup 1

Pick a sturdy area to place your tripod. With a camera, shutter release cable and filters to set up, you will need a steady footing in which to operate. With longer exposures, it’s crucial that your camera doesn’t move at all while the shutter is open, so take some time to get set up properly for shooting.

Shoot wide 2

As I approached this location, I had in my mind which lens I wanted to use on my Fujifilm X-T3. I went for the Fujinon 10-24mm, as this would give me a wide angle where I could include all the elements in the shot.

Selecting filters 3

Foreground was very important for this shot, along with the timing of the waves. I decided that the Kase Armour 6-stop ND filter would work well; it would give me enough time (about two minutes) to create the misty look in the water, with the lens set at f/16 and the ISO to 160 to keep any noise at bay.

Retain highlights 4

The clouds were blowing out so I used a Kase Wolverine 0.9 soft graduated filter to pull them back a little. This gave me the movement and definition between the horizon and the misty water at the Black Hole near Craster.

Bring out the shadows 5

The rocks in the bottom right were very dark so I had to lift the shadows slightly during editing using Lightroom. It’s best to shoot darker and lift shadows than to shoot brighter and reduce highlights.