The Malthouse Yard Quay

The Malthouse Yard Quay at Brancaster Staithe on the North Norfolk Coast is a fascinating place to visit with a camera. There is so much going on, so much detail to capture, it's sometimes a bit difficult to take it all in on one visit. I've been there several times in the last few months and each time something new catches my eye. The main area of the Quay homes several fishing boats, from the small to the rather large, each a worthy subject for a bit of landscape photography. 

On my last visit I decided I wanted to capture the Quay itself rather than the many close up detail shots that I had taken previously. I also wanted to include the lovely old wooden three storey building behind the Quay, something that seems to be a local landmark at Brancaster. Waiting for the sun to drop sufficiently I set up the camera, chose my composition and waited. Just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, it cast a lovely warm fiery glow onto the side of my main fishing boat subject, illuminating the worn out wooden structure and peeling paint. The clouds, a brooding mixture of bruised black, red and orangey colours slowly disappearing, enveloped by the encroaching twilight.     

I used a three stop ND filter on my Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 lens to balance the lighter sky with the darker foreground, carefully adjusting the exposure settings as the light constantly changed. The Nikon D4 was set on a tripod and a cable release was attached with the camera set to activate mirror lock up when the shutter was pressed. This was done to avoid any possible vibration that could be caused by activating the shutter at such slow speeds, in this case 1/4 sec. An aperture of F11 was selected to ensure back to front sharpness and it's a particular sweet spot on this Nikkor lens. The detail on the large res file viewed at 100% is fantastic. You can make out the writing on the small white board to the left of the picture which reads 'Seafood snacks'. With this in mind I'm feeling a little peckish so I might go grab some lunch. I wonder if we have any fish fingers...... 

The Malthouse Yard Quay at Brancaster Staithe, North Norfolk