La Courtine d'Etretat

La Courtine d'Etretat

This is La Courtine, one of the most beautiful cliff I’ve ever seen. La Courtine is part of the amazing rocky coast around Etretat in Upper Normandy, France, altogether known as Les Failases d’Etretat.

I took this picture last August, on a very windy – as usual over there – late afternoon.
I wanted to have the sea looking as much smooth as possible, but I was in full daylight, as it was around 19:30 hours. Even with the overcasted sky, and even full stopping down the lens, the exposure time was only 1/2 seconds, a too fast time to move the sea surface.

Using a polarizer and a 8x ND filter I gained 5 more stops, obtaining therefore, with a slight over-exposure, 20 secs of exposure time. Finally, I used a graduated filter to darken the sky, while keeping a correct exposure on the cliffs and the sea.
This allowed me to give the sea surface a watercolour paint look, and I also obtained a slight movement in the clouds, thanks to the strong wind.

I hope you enjoy it, thanks for dropping by.
Paolo

La Courtine d'Etretat belongs to the following groups:

*All Seascapes, Beach Art, Landscape Photography and Timelapse/Long Exposure Photography