Arnarstapi | Cornwall Photographic

Waiting for the Light..

Driving to Arnastapi on a perfect day for landscape photography, that is, a mixture of sunshine and showers, we came upon a church which I thought would make a nice subject for a picture. I reversed up and took the ‘road’ towards the church. The church in question is called Fáskrúðarbakkakirkja at Snæfellsnes in western Iceland.

I could see from the clouds and the wind direction that things were going to get interesting if I waited a little while. I wanted the church in sunshine but when we arrived it was in the shade. As it turned out, waiting for the light, I got the church in sunshine, rain and just about everything in between and it all happened within about half an hour. This was the first shot, I could see the clouds gathering. Click on the pictures for a clearer, sharper view. I hope you enjoy them..

29mm f/11 1/25 sec. ISO-100

The clouds gathered and the sun turned them a gorgeous peachy colour, along with the mountainside but the church was still in the shade..
70mm f/11 1/25 sec. ISO-100

But as the rain swept in from the sea, the sun was obscured, the clouds took on a greyer colour and the mountain lost its warm tones. Now the church was in sunshine.

70mm f/11 1/30 sec. ISO-100

And then the inevitable, as a few drops of rain made it my way and the sun came from behind the cloud, a rainbow appeared. If only I could have got the rainbow over the church I would have been a much happier man but the rain was moving north, left to right, as opposed to coming straight towards me. The physics was all wrong. Still, it’s always nice to see a rainbow..
24mm f/11 1/50 sec. ISO-100

Looking north and with the sun fully behind me, I could enjoy the rainbow in all its glory. Unfortunately my camera couldn’t. I needed a wider angle lens. 24mm just wasn’t wide enough and I knew that by the time I changed my lens, the rainbow would be gone. I got a good bit of it in the frame..

24mm f/11 1/50 sec. ISO-100