BLACKCHURCH ROCK AT SUNRISE

I realised on a previous evening visit that there must be a few days in the years when the rising sun shines through one of the arches at Blackchurch Rock. To work out which day it occurs I took what3words coordinates for the viewpoint and a compass bearing through the arch. The Photographers Ephemeris then revealed the dates. The next step was to find the day during that period on which low tide coincides with sunrise, since it is only possible to make this composition at low tide. Then I had to get myself there on that day and hope for a clear sky. I have never seen this composition done by anyone else ... and I had the beach to myself!

Technical details are a little complicated as I needed a fast shutter speeds for the sun and a slow shutter speed for the water. So I first made five bracketed frames with a neutral density filter, then as the sun appeared I made another five bracketed frames with no filter. So 10 RAW files, all identical in composition, went into the creation of this finished image.

F/16, HDR: 1/2000s, 1/500s, 1/125s, 1/30s and 1/8s (sky); 1/6s, 0.6s, 2.5s, 10s and 30s (foreground), ISO 100
Accepted: Smethwick 2023