Photographing a tiny chapel on a rock off the northwest coast of Spain sounds straightforward until you factor in tides, unpredictable weather, and a composition that may or may not even be physically possible. The difference between a shot that works and one that doesn't here comes down to a very specific water level on one of the highest tides of the year.
Coming to you from Adrian Vila of aows, this atmospheric video follows a full day of location shooting in Galicia, Spain, built around a single goal: returning to a chapel he first photographed back in 2018 or 2019 and finally capturing it with enough high tide to cover the base of its steps. While waiting the six hours until high tide, he explores a nearby headland that turns out to be far more interesting than expected, including ruins of an ancient fortified settlement, a working port with a jetty, and a lighthouse with a natural leading line created by receding tidal pools. He shoots long exposures with a Sigma 16-28mm and a Sony 20mm f/1.8, and relies on his Sony a7R IV with a Sony 35-150mm zoom for a spontaneous grab shot of a truck unloading cargo against a mountain backdrop, a moment he would have missed entirely if he'd had to swap lenses.
One of the more practical threads running through the video is how Vila handles gear in the field. The 35-150mm is too large for his tripod without a tripod collar, which mounts from the back, but it gives him stable long exposures up to 150mm. He stacks a 6-stop and a 10-stop ND filter for a combined 16 stops of light reduction, targeting roughly a 1-minute exposure for the jetty shot. He also uses APS-C crop mode on the a7R IV mid-shoot to effectively extend his reach on the 35-150mm without switching lenses.
The chapel sequence, which is the emotional core of the video, doesn't go exactly as planned. The tide comes in, but not quite high enough to reach the steps he's been visualizing for years. He shoots it anyway, using the Sigma 16-28mm at 16mm with the chapel placed at the top of the frame, and gets something he's genuinely happy with while acknowledging he'll need to return in June or December when tides run higher. He also makes a strong case for always taking at least two or three frames of any long exposure, particularly in windy conditions where a gust can introduce just enough camera movement to soften an otherwise sharp shot. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Vila.
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