I had attempted to capture bioluminescence on a few occasions, once in June last year, another time in May this year and again earlier in the month.
I have on the couple of these attempts seen some very light bioluminescence activity but not enough to capture on camera.
A few weeks back I popped to Rye Harbour to capture a sunset and saw some activity in the harbour around 1130pm. Although I call it light activity, it is still quite magical to see.
Knowing that it had been a warm day and the tide was going to be in around 1030pm, both are conditions that increase your chances of seeing bioluminescent plankton substantially, I thought it was time to give it another attempt.
A friend had recently passed from suicide and I have been meaning to take his partner along on one of my night adventures as a bit of escapism from the difficult reality that has been left behind.
I thought that there would be no better time to take her along than on this occasion as what could be a nicer distraction?
It turned out to be a great decision as the bioluminescence was quite active from 11pm. It was a couple of hours of green white sparkles which when disturbed with a foot (or tripod) they would sparkle massively. It was also pulsing randomly across the surface of the sea, almost like fish blowing bubbles of light to the surface. This side of the bioluminescence seemed to die off around 1am.
Afterwards I enjoyed an hour of taking some nightscape shots whilst my friend laid back and enjoyed the night sky.
We were just about to pack up and leave at 2am when the waves started glowing blue. The tide was actually on it's way out now, but it strangely seemed to help. I swiftly set up my camera whilst balancing on the slippery brick as wall seen in this photo and Timelapsed a series of shots.
I was so pleased to not only get a shot of the bioluminescence but to also experience it with a friend who needed this kind of joy and escapism. It made the experience almost feel spiritual.
Hopefully this is just the beginning of my experiences with bioluminescence as I’m determined to capture a whole seascape of it.
It’s all about timing.
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