David Noton On Location
As the sun slowly creeps up beyond the captivating Bonifacio, France, David Noton captures a rare moment of pure serendipity…
David Noton captures a rare moment of pure serendipity on the island of Corsica…
On the western horizon a thin line of cloud in an otherwise unbroken blue sky hovers over the flat calm Mediterranean, suggesting land beyond. As Elba passes to starboard the first jagged
peaks became visible. There’s no doubt about it, sailing over the seas to a distant island stirs the imagination in a way flying in never by Easyjet never does, particularly when the island in question is Corsica. As the mountains rise out of the sea I ponder; where to go, what to photograph? With any new destination it’s always a dilemma, but in this case our plan is stunningly simple; start from the southern tip and work north.
Quaint, picturesque Bonifaccio is incomparably situated atop the sea sculpted limestone cliffs that form the most southerly tip of Corsica. It’s a fabulous sight that sums up all we intrinsically feel about the Med. The influence of Italy, Sardinia, Sicily and the African coast is tangible; to think we’re in the same country as Calais seems preposterous. Of course the Corsicans would argue we’re not.
The view is undoubtedly captivating, but there’s one major problem; it’s facing the wrong way! I’m looking north-west along the coast to the town. At sun rise the
cliffs will be in shadow, at sunset I’ll be looking straight into the light. Short of swivelling the island through 90 degrees or coming back in the winter my options are limited, but after much pacing about to find the perfect vantage point I’ve made a decision; we’ll return at dawn when the very first sunlight should bathe the hauteville, ramparts, Citadel and the hill beyond with golden cross lighting. Okay, the cliffs will be in shadow, but in the soft low contrast light I should hopefully be able to hold enough detail there. It’s certainly well worth trying.
The next morning I’m extending the tripod legs on the cliff top in the half-darkness. Out to sea a bank of sea mist hovers as the sky to the north east lightens and we await the arrival of the sun. Out of nowhere a light shower moistens us. It’s not enough to give us grief but I can’t work out where it’s coming from; the sky above is clear. Strange.
The first rays from the sun can now be seen playing on the top of the hill beyond Bonifacio. I wait as the sun creeps down the slope. Watching the light paint a scene as atmospheric as this is one of the most fundamental joys in life.
Out to sea a cruise liner is inward bound. The rain is hovering offshore. My pulse quickens; above Bonifacio the faint colours of a rainbow are just visible. I turn the polarizer and the colours jump out of the eyepiece. The vibrancy of the violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red are increasing by the second. I’m in heaven, but need to calm down and make sure I nail the shot. Shoot. Exposure okay?
The view is undoubtedly captivating, but there’s one major problem; it’s facing the wrong way!
No blinkeys indicating blown highlights? Can I afford to dial in a touch more exposure compensation to maximize my shadow detail? Not without losing colour information in the rainbow. I fine-tune the composition, zooming out a touch, and check focus again. Much as I like using prime lenses there’s no getting away from the flexibility of a EF 24-70mm f/2.8l zoom. This is my decisive moment.
It’s all over in a minute. We walk back to the car buzzing; that was special. I rewind the shoot in my head and scroll through the results. Any lessons learned or reinforced? Put yourself in the right place at the right time and good things will eventually happen, and polarizing filters make rainbows look fab. My gut feeling about the contrast proved correct; the discrepancy between the sunlit town and the cliffs in shadow wasn’t too much to handle. I’m happy as can be.