Pan's Rock, Co. Antrim

The walkway moved. That was the problem. Pan's Rock sits at the end of a footbridge off Ballycastle Beach, and every shift of weight sends a vibration through the whole structure. During a two-minute exposure, that's fatal.

I made this photograph on my second trip to the Antrim coast in 2009. The morning was grey and flat, the kind of overcast light that makes you question why you bothered getting up. Nothing about the scene was particularly exciting. But I thought a long exposure might rescue it. Still the water completely, let the clouds streak, and see what emerged.

So I set the tripod with one leg on the boardwalk and the other two balanced on the metal railings, extending it well above my head. I could barely see the composition on the screen. Then I had to stand completely motionless for the full exposure. Two minutes of not moving, not breathing heavily, not shifting my weight. The bridge had to be perfectly still.

I needed that height to separate the foreground rock from Rathlin Island on the horizon. At eye level the two merged and the composition fell apart. Those extra feet of elevation gave the image its depth. The water went glassy, the clouds pulled into soft streaks, and the walkway became this strong geometric line cutting through all that stillness. It looks calm and composed, but the making of it was anything but!