Remnant Tranquillity | Weekly Photo #53
Who else has a favourite, local photo subject that you revisit time after time to capture it in different light and conditions? Well, the West Pier in Brighton on the UK’s south coast is one of mine. I’m a little obsessed with what little remains from this ill-fated Victorian structure. In its heyday, the West Pier would have been a hive of activity, full of locals and day-trippers enjoying a day by the sea, but having suffered fire and storm damage in the past, very little remains, but the structure is still popular to the extent it now takes on a new life as a kind of historic art sculpture, rather than the derelict remains of what was a thriving seaside attraction.
Fujifilm X-T10 | XF10-24mm | 15mm | 30 Seconds | f/16 | ISO200
This is the third image I’ve shared in a series of photos of Brighton’s West Pier. I’ve taken both long and short exposures of the pier, both offering something different that complements the striking shape of the structure.
With the shorter exposure which you can see in this previous post titled "Skeletal Remains” I tried to capture some of the movement and energy in the water, which also provided some foreground interest in the composition. What the long-exposure photo such as this one here or the black and white rendition I shared last year called “The West Pier” brings is the simplicity of the composition and plants the viewer’s focus directly onto the structure without the busy distractions of the ripples in the water and this photo here was my first successful attempt at capturing the West Pier in this style back in April 2017. With the central composition and minimal look created by the long exposure, it takes on an entirely different feeling of calm and tranquillity compared to a photo showing more of the energy and life in the sea.
For me personally, it’s a lesson I try to remember when considering the exposure length when photographing both natural and urban landscapes as what mood I’m trying to portray in the photo can be significantly affected by the exposure time, especially if there is water in the scene. I ask myself the question, am I trying to capture a photo that is calm with a tranquil mood? If so, I might use an exposure of 30 seconds or longer to calm the water and smooth away distractions. Alternatively, I might be trying to capture energy and movement. Then a shorter exposure of under a second might be required. The important thing is that I don’t reach straight for the 10-stop ND filter before I have considered what I’m trying to communicate with the photo.
Until next week.
Trevor
This post is featured in my Weekly Photo series where I post a new photo every Monday. To have this delivered directly to your inbox, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.