A Dublin Seascape | Dawn – Skerries, Co Dublin, Ireland

Posted on March 22, 2011 under Landscape, Photography, The Sea, The Sun | 189 Views

The sea by Skerries, Dublin waits calmly as the dawn sun rises.


It was almost exactly 2 years since I last visited Skerries. I remember the last time I was there I was so blown away with the location that I made a promise to return, didn’t think it would take me 2 years though. This image was taken on the opposite side of the outcropping of rock that protects the harbour. As so often happens in Ireland the skys can have just a sprinkling of clouds before dawn, but as soon as that sun pops it’s head over the horizon it seems to suck all those clouds directly to it. However the advantage of this is you can get some amazing colours in the clouds, and when near water some beautiful reflections.

This image is in fact a combination of two frames, one exposed for the rocks & sea and a second exposed for the sky. The difference in brightness between the brightest part of the sky and shadows in the rocks was about 5 stops, well beyond any camera’s ability to capture in a single frame. I used a 2 stop ND Graduated filter to bring the sky and foreground into proximity but still required 2 frames 2 stops apart to capture the full dynamic range.



Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM
Exposure: 87 secs, 20 secs
Aperture: f/18
Focal Length: 21mm
ISO Speed: 50

Comments and Reactions

Have something you would like to say? Click the "Comments and Reactions" section to add your thoughts, and see what other people are saying.