I almost lost my Camera
Parking up at night is always a risk, especially when you’ve never visited the location before. I had done my homework, scoping out the spot on Google Maps, and from what I could see, it looked like it had potential for a good sunrise shoot. Still, there’s only so much you can gather from satellite images, and arriving in the dark always leaves a bit of uncertainty. After finding a relatively level spot to park the van, I settled in for the night, not knowing that an unexpected storm was heading my way.
What struck me as odd was that none of the weather apps had predicted anything out of the ordinary. The wind was blowing at around 21 knots, which is about 39 km/h—nothing to be too concerned about in normal conditions. But as the night progressed, it became clear that this was going to be far from normal. The wind howled, and my van rocked constantly. Needless to say, it wasn’t a restful night. By the time I woke up, I felt like Gavin Hardcastle after a rough shoot—my face was as tired as I felt, as if I’d been through the wringer. The wind had kept me awake most of the night, with the van swaying with every gust.
When my alarm went off at 6:30, I got up, still half asleep. The wind hadn’t let up, and when I opened the door, it was still too dark to see much of the landscape. I set up to record my first piece to camera for the day, but before I could get started, something almost went terribly wrong. As I was positioning my camera on the tripod, a particularly strong gust of wind hit, causing the tripod to wobble. In that split second, I saw the camera start to tip over. Luckily, I was standing close by and managed to grab it just in time, stopping what could have been a disaster. If I hadn’t reacted quickly, the camera would’ve hit the ground hard. I realized then that I’d need to be extra cautious for the rest of the shoot.
With the wind still howling and rain starting to come down, I headed back to the van to change into my waterproof gear. Once I was ready, I stepped back out into the weather, now more prepared for what lay ahead. As the light gradually improved, I could finally see the scene I had parked next to. It was a decent spot, a single sea stack stood in a small cove, with a concrete jetty and pier extending out toward the sea. The location faced northeast, making it a good choice for a sunrise shoot in this part of the country, on the northwest coast of Kerry.
I began setting up my shots, starting with shorter exposures. The wind made everything more challenging, but I was able to keep my gear steady. Not long after, a car drove by and parked at the end of the jetty. At first, nothing seemed unusual, but then the driver, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts, stepped out and headed straight for the water. He walked along the pier and plunged into the cold sea without hesitation. It turned out that cold-water plunges are common in the area. After his swim, we had a quick chat about the benefits of it—he was quite enthusiastic, though I wasn’t tempted to join him.
With the light now stronger, I could focus on longer exposures. I started with a few shots at 1/4 of a second, then moved to 15 seconds, and eventually worked up to 30 seconds. The longer exposures were where things really started to come together. They smoothed out the water and added a calmness to the scene, despite the rough conditions. The wind and rain hadn’t let up, but I was able to make it work.
As I moved further down the pier, I had to adjust my angles carefully. The sea stack was slowly blending into the cliffs behind it as I got closer, so I needed to maintain separation in my shots. I made sure to capture the stack from multiple points along the way, taking care not to lose the unique shape it created against the backdrop.
Once I reached the end of the jetty, I could tell that the longer exposures were the right choice for this location. At 30 seconds, the water took on a soft, misty appearance that worked well with the rough landscape. By now, the sun had risen enough to cast a soft light on the scene, giving me the opportunity to capture a few more images that I was happy with. The shots looked good on the back of the camera—nothing too dramatic, but solid nonetheless.
As I was wrapping up the session, I joked to myself that it would be perfect if a rainbow appeared. A few minutes later, a faint one started to form on the distant horizon. It wasn’t a full rainbow, and the clouds above it kept it from becoming more defined, but it was there. It added a small touch to the scene that I hadn’t expected.
Before finishing up, I sent the drone up to capture some aerial footage of the area. The view from above gave me a new perspective, showing the full sweep of the pier and the sea stack in one shot. After getting the footage, I switched to my 70-200mm lens to focus on the faint rainbow. I framed the shot with the pier in the foreground and the light starting to hit the water. The rainbow wasn’t the main feature, but it added a nice element to the overall composition.
In the end, despite the rough conditions and the close call with my camera, the shoot was a success. This is what makes landscape photography interesting—you never know what challenges you’ll face, and sometimes things go wrong. But it’s also about finding new locations and seeing how they reveal themselves over time. Each place has its own character, and while the storm tried to take my camera, it didn’t take away the experience of capturing a new scene along the coast of Kerry.
Below are all the images I edited form the shoot, and you can watch the video below also
