Cloudy sunset at Bronte

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(Click on the photo above for the full version in portrait orientation.)

It’s amazing to me how quickly conditions for a photo change! Literally, from one moment to the next.

So, I felt the light was right and rushed at the west side of Bronte harbor in Oakville, down at the little beach there, with the intention to make a photograph of the glowing setting sun.

I walked around, find a spot that satisfied me, setup my gear and begun shooting some composition shots.

The intention was to meter the sunset, underexpose a bit to capture some contrast detail in the clouds, then throw some extra light with my remote flashgun at those rocks in the foreground. I needed a huge depth of field on my Canon 14-40L, so at f22 the gear was already secured on my tripod.

I wanted a slow shutter speed, long enough to face-out all water movement. It was while I was looking for my polarizer (which would force two stops less exposure, thus allowing for the long shutter speed) that I felt the first raindrops. Darn! “Perfect” timing! The clouds became dark and flat, and lost all definition. The highlights in the water where gone. Bye-bye picture!

Too bad I didn’t get a chance to finish my photo. Here is a pre-production frame, without the slow shutter speed, and without the extra light on the rocks. With a bit of work in the Nik Collection it has become a reminder of how important the “right moment” is.