Yate Dam, Yate

For the life of me, I can’t remember why I didn’t participate at the photo contest for which I took this photo for. I like this image quite a lot though it did take me a long time to find the right edit for it to be so. That’s probably the reason why I didn’t participate.

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The hydroelectric power generated Yate Dam isn’t the largest, tallest, the most power generating nor the most beautiful dam in the world but I still find it very impressive. Probably because I haven’t seen many dams in my life. Still though, for a small island like New Caledonia, it is quite an impressive achievement. And I do find it quite beautiful lit up with Yate Lake behind.

I was quite lucky to get this shot as those dark clouds rolled in pretty quick and it started to rain. It actually rained all night and through the next morning. There were a couple of clear occasions but not long nor good enough for a nice photo. This image dates back to 2018 when I was using the Canon EOS 1300D/Rebel T6 with the kit lens. An Entry level, crop sensor DSLR that I had won from a local photo contest. And very happy that I did because at the time I was borrowing a couple of friend’s cameras. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of my Nikon D7100 (which got stolen a year or two before) but it did the job well enough. Of course it does have it’s limitations and I did have a problem with the auto-focus not being on point but when manually focusing at 100%, I couldn’t go wrong. Which is what I did with this long exposure shot. Very little editing on it but what made all the difference was adjusting the Hue of the dam lights. That alone added a more appealing colour contrast to the image. It took me a long time to figure that out but that slight adjustment changed everything.

I’d love to photograph the dam when they open the spillway. I don’t know if they publish times and dates for the occasion though. I’ll try to find out.

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CANON EOS 1300D/REBEL T6 + KIT LENS

16MP crop sensor DSLR camera with EF-S 18-55 mm ƒ/3.5-5.6 IS II lens and accessories

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NIKON D7100

24MP crop sensor DSLR camera (body only)

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NIKKOR AF-S DX 18-105MM Ƒ/3.5-5.6G ED VR

Nikon crop sensor zoom lens

I went down to the Barrage de Yaté (Yate Dam, New Caledonia) to scout the area for a possible photograph for a photo contest I'd like to participate in next month. The Easter weekend seemed to be the perfect time because there was going to be a Blue Moon. I decided to camp overnight in hope of getting a photo of the dam at sunset, at midnight lit by the moon and sunrise. Multiplying my chances of capturing at least one photograph for the contest. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't quite up for it.

Sunset was ok but very cloudy and not a lot of colour in the sky. The sun barely broke through the clouds and, I think, those were the best shots I came home with. After a couple of hours of sleep, I got up for the moonlight shots. I was hoping the full moon would illuminate the lake and maybe capture a few stars at the same time but that wasn't to be. Too many clouds over the lake. Though the full moon was in site where I was, she wasn't illuminating the lake. I waited a while in hope that would change but it started to cover up and rain. So I headed back to my campsite. Four hours later I got up for the sunrise shots but ended up staying in my sleeping bag. No, I wasn't lazy. Strong wind and heavy rain was pounding my tent. It stopped almost three hours later, which I took advantage to quickly pack everything up. Though I missed sunrise by an hour, it looked like there was going to be a few breaks in the clouds so I headed down to the dam and setup my camera just in case. The sun briefly popped it's head out and I was able to capture a small rainbow but the clouds came rolling back in. I was about to head home when I remembered I had couple of welder's glasses. But that's a story for another time. Suffice to say, shortly after it started to pour down and that was that.

This photo was taken just after sunset and just before blue hour. I was using a remote I had just bought and though I'd take a selfie with it. I think you might see me in more photos.

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