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January 18, 2009
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:iconandymumford:
Location

I first came across a photograph of Casares a couple of years ago in a book by Lee Frost, and I’ve also seen some Charlie Waite shots from this town in Andalucia, southern Spain.
I’ve wanted to shoot it for a while, it’s perfectly located for both sunrise and sunset shoots as the hills open up to flat land all the way to the sea to the south, exposing the side of the village you see here to dawn’s first light, and a short walk to the other side of the village would be ideal for shooting the village bathed with the last light of the day.

So when we were planning a trip to Andalucia recently (mostly to Granada and Cordoba) I wanted to stay overnight here in Casares to get a sunset and sunrise session in. I had this idea in my head of a fantastic sky with the white buildings being bathed in early morning light.
Sadly, the weather has a habit of messing up the best-laid plans, and I didn’t see the sun at all through the thick cloud for the entire time I was in the area.
Still, I thought it was worth seeing if I could get a shot that works. It’s an interesting challenge to try to make a scene work in less than favourable lighting conditions. It started raining quite heavily as I walked up to the road which overlooks the village, and I took this photo with an umbrella held over the tripod and camera. Fortunately, as the rain was coming from behind me, it wasn’t falling directly onto the camera lens and filters.
So Casares is on the list of places to return to and shoot again in the future, but for now this shot will have to do.

The Photo

Although this is a “sunset” shot (at least I think the sun set around this time, it was kind of hard to tell through all the cloud), I took the photo from the side of the village that would be best at sunrise. The complete lack of directional light made the choice less about light, and more about which side had the best composition.
I wanted the shot to have some kind of movement, so I decided to do a very long exposure using a 9 stop ND filter.
For more information on doing very long exposures, have a look at this article [link]
Light levels were already low, so this meant a 3 minute shutter time. I used a 2 stop soft graduated neutral density filter on the sky, mainly to bring out more contrast in detail in the clouds.
The image was shot in RAW, cropped a little from both the bottom and top, and the resized/sharpened for the web before being converted to JPEG.

Metadata

Taken in Casares, Andalucia, Spain
Nikon D3 | Nikkor 17-35 f2.8 ED
Gitzo GT2541 tripod w/ Gitzo GH1780QR ballhead
Hoya ND400 | Lee 0.6 soft ND
179.5 seconds | f8 | 17mm

Thanks in advance for any comments or faves. Sadly, I no longer have time to reply to individual comments, but I do appreciate people taking the time to look.
Any questions, please note me.
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:iconkjh-f:
~KJH-F Jan 26, 2011
Just so stunning...love it :D
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:iconandymumford:
~AndyMumford Jan 29, 2011
Thanks so much
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:iconhhryah:
~hhryah Mar 1, 2009
How absolutely gorgeous! It's like the set the town up just for your perfect landscape shot. Such gorgeous colors and composition.
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:iconcsj143:
~csj143 Feb 15, 2009
a stunning location and successful photo, despite the weather.
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:icontonyelieh:
*tonyelieh Feb 12, 2009  Professional Photographer
Hey :wave:
This Photo Has been Featured In My Journal
[link]
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:iconxerces:
`Xerces Jan 23, 2009  Professional Artisan Crafter
wow- what a quirky little place! all those houses look so bold against the landscape behind. well done!
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:iconandreasandrews:
~andreasandrews Jan 22, 2009
I spent a bit of time looking at this, and like a good song it grows on me.

Great capture with pace and drama leading the eye into a strong composition.

I like to image tiny Spanish streets in-between those buildings with people walking hastily back to their homes before a sudden downpour!

The mood of the image really strikes me. It almost gives me the same wide eyed feeling a oncoming storm can give.

I've wanted to get back into landscape work for a while now. I really love to absorb it. Great inspiration :-)
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:iconandymumford:
~AndyMumford Jan 23, 2009
Thanks so much for giving the shot some time Andreas. It's a shot that took a while to grow on me, and I know that DA tends to prefer "impact" shots, but this is one that I'm happy with, and it's nice to read your comment and hear that someone else appreciates it.
Thanks a lot.
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:iconandreasandrews:
~andreasandrews Jan 26, 2009
You're very welcome!

It's a great feeling to know that my thoughts are appreciated :-)
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:iconmdblaz87:
~MdblAz87 Jan 22, 2009
Hows the difference between the sigma 10-20 and your new Nikkor 17-35? I wanted to get the 10-20 sometime soon wanted your opinion.
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