A night at the beach

Earlier this week, we went to the beach around midnight. I know, not the usual time to go to the beach, but I'll show you why in an bit. It was a clear and warm night, just after the longest day.

#1 Empty deck


#2 Empty beach chairs


#3 Sea ghost?


#4 The boulevard and light house


But this is what we came for : Noctiluca (AKA: Sea sparkle or 'Zeevonk' in Dutch).
Not easy to capture, but these are my best attemtps

#5 Noctilica 1


#6 Noctilica 2


#7 Noctilica 3


#8 I wasn't the only one trying to capture these fascinating lighting blue waves


All with A99ii + 24-70 ZA SSM or Sony 1.4/50mm

C&C welcome as usual and thanks for looking


Edited by Fred_S - 26 June 2020 at 21:14

beautiful shots Fred. I will have a good reason for a beach vacation next summer.

Great series Fred. I actually like #2 and 3. #2 because it is a little lighter than in the later shots, but also the feel the beach has been abandoned. As if there can only be joy during the hot sun. Ha. #3 is nice because of the movement in the photo. Which shows fun .

Aha, in that case i prefer "the manipulated exposure". Well done Fred.

THX Fred! as far as exposure is concerned a flashgun w/b more appropriate (but unfortunally not! ) than ND filters? I meant that I was wondering what strange 'silky' long exposure light FX c/b obtained when using ND filters while the waves are rolling in, but probably a stupid idea.
(I grew up with the beach as our front garden and the sea as our view, remember? ;-) (or didn't I mention that once or twice? ). and later on, lived at a 2 minutes distance. in between, we often went to the beach(es) on hot summer nights and so many parties. I know when and where it occurs -and when it doesn't- ).

tricky stuff indeed!
and therefore salute you for your heroic and successful attempt!
do share your recipes pls?

(and from frustration- imagine standing on the bridge of a moving ship, completely surrounded by lighting waves. magical! wondering how on e. to capture that on -100 or 200 iso- film. ).

To give you an idea, this is a 30sec shot at f8, iso400. No waves or sparkle at all....





Edited by Fred_S - 28 June 2020 at 20:17

TYSM Fred! really appreciate!
hmm, was thinking ND + darker conditions, but guess you're right, it's blending in rather nicely? perhaps when you aim at the spot where the waves are constantly breaking?
LOVE what you captured in #5, (a 'great' display of noise ), but that orange glow in the sky adds so much!   
you forgot to include noctilucent clouds. (wouldn't that have been something... ).

owenn01 wrote: I recall many, many (many...) years ago when I worked in North Wales that we were called out to our labs to help the local Police that had received reports of the water 'glowing' like this; as we were not far from a Nuclear power plant they were concerned that it was related to them (someone even commented that they have been 'burnt' collecting the sample )

funnyyyyyyyyyyy!!! LOL
and to make it a bit worse... after the show the dying glowing algae are known to emit a nasty smell!
-but I've never smelled it, suppose you'll have to be very close to the water? -.

(when you go look for lighting waves, wait for 'tropical' nights? the event is quite rare actually, unless the weather (AND water) is REALLY warm. and calm.
on nights like that, you know it'll be there.
you also have to turn on the light. ;-) it's in the movement. in the breaking waves or in the water around you should you go for a swim. ).

PS? conc. the 'burned' people - masses of these dying luminescent algae, thus after the show/i.e. the next day?, can cause irritations of the skin (and respiratory tract). they must have been so scared!


Edited by angora - 29 June 2020 at 11:18