Swansea marina is situated in the heart of Swansea, which is located to the left when entering Swansea from the M4 and travelling down Fabian Way.
The marina itself, is surrounded by an array of buildings which include luxury apartments, cafes, amusement arcades and other commercial premises. The marina is accessed by turning in off Oystermouth Road by the Civic Centre.
The marina holds over 300 sailing vessels from small pleasure craft to some very expensive yachts and large sailing and fishing boats.
I was invited to attend an evening photgraphic walk with some other local photographers, but this was going to be a walk with a difference.
Photography can have many challenges as it is, selecting the right lens, the right composition and the right subject amongst other issues. Usually you can eye up the shot and shoot – voila photo done and dusted. This walk started at gone 5.15 in the evening and it was already getting dark – and soon it began fading into black, and quickly. Now with the light gone the art of taking photos becomes a whole new challenge.
Armed with my Fuji X-H1 fitted with the Fuji 18-55mm lens, and my Fuji X-T20 fitted with a Meike 12mm manual focus lens, time to prepare to take some photos with the group.
Night time photography is best done using a tripod and usually having to set the camera to take longer than usual duration shots so that enough light can enter the camera to expose the image, too short a time and the photo is dark, too long a time and the photo will be too bright. It’s a balancing act that needs to be thought out, getting the right amount of time, the right amount of depth required and trying not to get too much noise in the photo so that it looks grainy (unless that’s the look you want).
Most of my photos were taken at around 20 to 30 seconds for each shot, at ISO 500 and F7-F13. The benefit being that the water looks smooth and not wavey as it was, but any movement in the boats or passers-by can leave them all blurry.
I hope that you enjoyed viewing these photos as much as I loved taking them. This was a fantastic night, with fantastic fellow photographers who love to help each other develop their skills – even if it means they ‘miss’ their own photos now and then
adrianpackingtonphotography.com 