Stunning Seascapes
by Josie on May.03, 2009, under Articles
Using the Nikon D3X to create a great magazine cover shot
Although I love each and every issue of our magazine, issue 80 is extra special to me. Why? Because it features my very own, first ever, cover image shot exclusively for DP – a wrap-around, no less!
Digital Photographer - Issue 80, Copyright Imagine-Publishing.
It all came about when I was reviewing the formidable new Nikon D3X – I was thoroughly enjoying using the camera and had come back to the office to marvel at the results of my most recent shoot. Now, as you may have noticed, Nikon has used our back cover for advertising for quite some time, which gave us the idea of creating a wrap-around from an image taken with the D3X by yours truly.
It was a daunting task: not only did I have to shoot a cover that was in-keeping with DP’s usual style and quality, but I had to please Nikon too! Undeterred, I did my research, keeping close tabs on the weather and scouting out various locations along Dorset’s stunning Jurassic coastline, before settling on Kimmeridge Bay, a location that I’ve visited often over the past few years. I had to wait a while for the receding tide to coincide with a sunset on a day when it wasn’t raining, but one morning, it looked like everything might come together. It was decidedly stormy-looking and had rained all through the late morning and lunchtime, but the forecast was for breaks in the cloud around sunset. Perfect! Jordan (DP’s talented designer) and I headed out for Kimmeridge, laden with all my camera gear, and began exploring different vantage points along the rocky shoreline.
I used a handy DesBois Sun Position Compass from Flight Logistics –recommended to me by Rod Lewis – to ascertain where the sun would set, and settled on my vantage point accordingly. As the sun began to move down towards the horizon, the magic really started to happen.
A storm cloud formation began moving in rapidly, and we were uncertain as to whether it would arrive before the sun set. I reeled off dozens of shots as the scene unfolded before us, experimenting with different compositions and settings, adding and removing Cokin P-series ND Grads and Grads, until the colour drained from the sky.
We’d been exceedingly lucky – the rain arrived just a few minutes after we departed from Kimmeridge, but we’d got the shot. Check out Issue 80 or visit my gallery to see the cover shot in its full glory.
