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Sven January 5th, 2010

It’s been a while since I put on the ‘wannabe landscape photographer’ hat, but I took the opportunity during a week of sun, sand, storms, and more sun.  Threw the gear in the back of a sandy Land Cruiser, and headed up the island.

Of course, shooting during the day leaves one at the mercy of the weather, and the only real approach is to cross fingers and hope that the light works out okay.  Only once did I really get some great light – direct afternoon sun from the West, with black stormclouds gathering to the South.  The light turned out like this during a group drive back one afternoon, so I jumped out and walked the rest of the way back while the others drove.  I scrambled for a worthy subject, and found something resembling one in a clump of grass in the dunes.  Even if the scene was everyday, the light was fantastic.

Most of the time, though, the scene was plain bright sunlight and baking heat, on a beach layered with tyre tracks and the occasional light aircraft.  One of our number decided to drive a stretch marked ‘caution – aircraft landing’, and had himself buzzed by an incoming plane. 

So, anyway, twice I ventured out specifically for photos, and left the others to their own devices.  Early one afternoon I set out to find a worthy subject for sunset, aiming specifically to find access to one of the larger sandblows.  These are easy enough to find through aerial imagery, but all I had was a topo map which did not really help beyond identifying their general location.  So, much driving ensued, up the coast and inland, until I finally realised the sun was sinking, and I still had nothing.  So, back to a shipwreck down the beach it was.

As I approached the wreck, I thought with horror that I was too late, and that the hills nearby were blocking the sun, but I was mistaken – small, heavy clouds had blown in the way, and were shadowing the thing.  I found a safe park, unpacked gear, and trudged down to find a good scene and wait for the sun to come out.  Only, it never did.  By the time the clouds shifted away, the sun had dropped from view, and there was no final sunset light by which to work.  Such is the lot of the daytime photographer – no wonder night photographers are so much more cheerful.

A later dawn trip was similarly abortive.  After heading up the beach in early morning light, and arriving at my planned subject before the sun rose, I watched with dismay as a storm drifted across the horizon, and blocked the early golden rays.  By the time the sun rose above the obstruction, the first delicate beams were gone, and regular daytime had begun.

Night time is much easier: all you need to do is wait for the moon to be rising at the right time, and to be appropriately bright, and the clouds to have worked themselves out….

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