Ever seen a photo on your Instagram feed and thought, what’s the story behind that shot? In this series, ‘Higher Places‘ I chat to aerial photographers and hear from them what made that spot special to them. You’ll get additional insights into what made that photo come to life for the photographer.
For the first article, I thought I should start with me and put myself on the firing line first. I would like to share this shot with you:
Higher Places
Q: Red, where were you when you took this photo?
This shot was taken in early April, down on the coast just outside of the seaside town of Exmouth, Devon, UK.
Q: Nice, what took you to that location?
It was actually my first time visiting that part of the UK, and it was for a project I was working on for a client. As part of that work I was staying in the area and had some downtime, and was dying to capture this part of the world on my drone.
Q: Anything special you wanted to capture there?
This area of the British coastline is know as the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage geological site. The exposed rock faces and stacks are incredible as they show layers of sedimentary rock that looks incredible but its impact can only really be observed by people walking along the beach.
Q: What stood out when you were there?
First thing you’ll notice is that this photo isn’t actually of the cliffs at all, which is counter to everything I’ve just said!
But what I noticed was areas where cliffs had once been but had eroded and had become part of the sea floor.
Q: Photographers can take hundreds of photos of the same subject, how did this one make the final cut?
Once I had imported all my shots into Lightroom, I quickly realised this shot was different.
Not only are the exposed rocks now incredibly visible through the sea water, but the sediment, or rather the sand that was being transported by the waves was evident in the lower half of the photo. Whilst the cliffs around me are a powerful historic record – here was that process in motion, and a perspective of that people rarely see as they stroll along the beaches .
Q: Any technical insights to add?
Yes, it was a sunny day and instead of adding an ND filter to the lens of my drone, I had opted for a polarising filter. I don’t remember what made me do it, but I’m glad I did or it’s highly likely I wouldn’t have captured the sea as clearly.
Higher Places Photographer
Red is a UK based creator and founder of Higher Aerials. Instagram