I have had several similar questions regarding one of my most recent images. "Where was that?" The image titled, Ice Cave Lens Flare, was taken along the shoreline of Lake Huron, in my home town of Bayfield, Ontario. As the weather warms, the Lake thaws and moves about, it starts to undermine the large ice mountains that have formed along the shore. These mountains form when the waves crash in and freeze, building layer upon layer during the early winter. I was walking the beach one afternoon looking for a possible place to take some sunset photos that evening. I noticed a small opening at the base of one of the mountains. I crawled down to check it out and knew that this would be the place that I would return to.
My camera bag and the undermined "mountain" where the Ice Cave Lens Flare image was created
Upon returning I climbed into the opening to realize that my tripod couldn't go low enough to set up for the shot at an angle that I liked. I ended up laying on the beach to be able to shoot through the cave. As the sun set, it briefly shone into the cave. I had to use a higher ISO setting of 800, to be able to use the small f22 aperture needed to create the starburst from the sun, while having a fast enough shutter speed to handhold the camera. Shooting directly into the sun also gave me the lens flare that I wanted to achieve. The sun shone for only a few seconds like this before setting below a bank of clouds on the horizon. I was so happy to have witnessed and captured this brief moment.
Below are a few other images from that evening. The first one shows a shot from my tripod, not a desirable angle in my opinion. The second image zooms in on the golden glow that occurred just before the sun sank behind the clouds. Some waves were also rolling in that evening. The next two images capture some of that wave action. I had to be careful not to get the lens, camera or myself, splashed too much.
Thanks for taking the time to read my behind the scene story. I hope that you also take time to enjoy whatever happy moments come your way today.
Take Care, Jane.