Seascape Stories: How I Captured “X” Moment at Dusk and Dawn
Fine art seascapes at dusk or dawn combine technical skill with the ability to capture fleeting atmosphere.
In this article, emerging South African fine art photographer Adam Piotr Kossowski shares the quiet intensity of waiting by the shoreline, watching the ocean change character as day dissolves into night or reappears as dawn. Dusk and dawn is not just a shift in light, it is an hour of memory and mood, when the sea is at once calming and restless, eternal and fragile.
What makes seascape photography unique at dusk OR DAWN?
Dusk and dawn are never still. The sea wears colours that last for seconds before slipping away—violet, ash-grey, a soft metallic blue or pinkish. Clouds lower, the horizon line turns into a delicate seam, and the water begins to mirror what the sky cannot hold. For me, this is when seascape photography becomes less about documenting a place and more about listening to its rhythm.
On the Cape Coast, or in the sheltered bays near Arniston, the atmosphere at these hours always feels charged. The day’s noise or nights chants have thinned, the beaches are quieter, and the ocean seems to breathe slower. These are the moods I try to translate into fine art seascapes—photographs that can hang on a wall and return that same sense of suspension in time.
How do you capture light on water in fine art prints?
The challenge of dusk or dawn photography lies in the balance: too short an exposure, and the sea becomes sharp and restless; too long, and the motion turns to mist, losing its weight. I work with long exposure seascapes, sometimes extending the shutter to thirty seconds or more, allowing the tide’s motion to soften into brushstrokes. A neutral density filter becomes essential, controlling the light so the camera can remain open without drowning the highlights.
In one moment on the South African coast, I remember setting my tripod low, inches above wet sand, as the tide returned with slow insistence. I had only minutes before the horizon offered its first light. The photograph that came from that exposure carried both the blur of water and the clarity of sky—a marriage of motion and stillness.
For fine art ocean prints, the subtleties matter: the pale gradient above the horizon, the texture of wet stone, the faint pull of foam along the shoreline. These elements give the final print its depth, its ability to hold the eye long after the actual moment has vanished.
The movement of tide and time
Every coastal photograph is shaped by tide. In Arniston, I have walked across flat rocks at low tide only to watch them vanish beneath a rising sea minutes later. For dusk and dawn photography stories, tide is both companion and obstacle. It forces patience, sometimes leading to hours of waiting until the light and the water align. You can see this with my rendition of Perspective and perhaps Magnificent captured in the Waenhuiskrans cave at Arniston, at the crack of dawn with literally only minutes to spare.
I often think of tide as an invisible collaborator—it paints the shoreline differently each evening. At dusk, it leaves lines of silver foam on darkened beaches, carves shapes in sand that the next wave will erase, and lifts the reflections of clouds higher into the water. At dawn, the dance of pinkish hues and early blues touch the sky from golden light to clarity in minutes. To capture these shifts, I need to move constantly: closer to the edge for a wide horizon, higher up the beach for the long arcs of receding waves.
Composition choices: simplicity and space
Fine art seascapes often rely on minimalist seascape photography, where fewer elements create greater resonance. A single horizon line, one stretch of rock, or the open expanse of ocean against fading and arising light.
At dusk, I tend to compose with negative space—leaving broad sweeps of sky or ocean empty so that the viewer can step into the image. Sometimes I place a lone figure of rock against the sea, other times I focus on the atmosphere itself, a canvas of clouds slowly dimming to blue-black. I do the same at dawn.
This choice of simplicity is deliberate. I want the photograph to echo what it felt like to stand there, breathing in the salt air, listening to waves, and sensing the scale of the sea.
Preparing for print
A seascape is not finished when the shutter closes. Preparing a dusk or dawn photograph for print requires a return to patience. On screen, the gradients of sky may look smooth, but in print they need refinement to carry atmosphere without breaking into harsh transitions. I use archival inks and Hahnemühle German Etching or Photo Rag Baryta paper to ensure depth of tone—the matte surface with a subtle sheen captures both shadow and light in balance.
The largest prints, sometimes stretching to A0, invite immersion. They bring a collector into the tide line itself, filling a wall with atmosphere. Smaller prints, especially in groups, carry an intimacy of their own—like windows onto different evenings by the same ocean.
Reflection: art and memory
Seascape photography is more than an image of water and light. It is a vessel for memory—the hush of a Cape Coast evening, the way the horizon glowed faintly when the sun began to rise, the feeling of time pausing as waves moved back and forth.
As I prepare each fine art seascape for display, I think of how it will live in another space: on a collector’s wall in Cape Town, in an interior designer’s project abroad, or in a traveller’s home as a reminder of Africa’s shores. These photographs carry with them both a personal memory and a universal pull.
FAQ
What makes seascapes compelling in fine art photography?
Their timeless balance of movement and stillness, where atmosphere becomes as important as subject.
How do you capture dusk or dawn light in seascapes?
By timing exposures carefully to balance fading or arising light with water motion, sometimes using neutral density filters.
Do seascape prints work better large or small?
Large prints immerse viewers in atmosphere, while smaller prints work beautifully in curated groups.
Can seascapes be printed in black and white?
Yes, monochrome prints emphasise texture, line, and form, creating a timeless quality.
Resources
Seascape Photography Tips – Digital Photography School – A practical guide with techniques for improving seascape photography.
ND Filter Guide for Long Exposure – B&H Photo – Technical advice on using neutral density filters for long exposure seascape shots.
Author Sign-off
Adam Piotr Kossowski is an emerging South African fine art photographer whose seascapes reflect patience, atmosphere, and the timeless pull of the ocean.
