Punta Insua Lighthouse by Félix Sánchez-Tembleque
Captured at the rugged Punta Insua beach in Galicia, this photograph serves as a poignant tribute to a site once devastated by the 2002 Prestige oil spill. The photographer, who first encountered the landscape while volunteering for cleanup efforts, returns annually to document its enduring spirit. By utilizing a long exposure of nine seconds, the image transforms the turbulent Atlantic waters into a silky, ethereal veil, contrasting beautifully with the steadfast presence of the lighthouse. This evocative composition highlights the intersection of environmental resilience and natural beauty, earning its place as a distinguished award-winning work of travel photography.
Exposure 9sec @ f/11 | ISO 100 | Focal Length 12-14mm
Félix Sánchez-Tembleque
Based in A Coruña, Spain, Félix Sánchez-Tembleque balances a professional career in civil engineering research and academia with a deep-seated passion for photography. With over fifteen years of experience behind the lens, he has developed a keen eye for the nuances of landscape and travel imagery. His work is defined by a commitment to capturing the natural world, often returning to significant locations to document their evolution over time. Whether navigating rugged coastlines or mountain climbs, he continuously refines his technical approach to better translate the beauty of his surroundings.
Resonance Score Breakdown
Transparency Note: The resonance score (14.8/20) is calculated based on social engagement metrics collected before the award announcement.
Expert Photography Reviews · 4
The Weight of the Watch
We build things to stand against the tide. Stone, iron, the stubborn refusal to be washed away. There is a particular loneliness in a lighthouse, a vertical line drawn against a horizontal world.
Read the reflection →The Persistence of Stone
In the nineteenth century, lighthouse keepers were often solitary figures, tasked with the singular, rhythmic duty of ensuring that the light did not fail. They lived at the jagged edges of the world, where the land finally admits defeat to the sea.
Read the reflection →Reviews & Comments
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Nine seconds of exposure on a Galician shore is a polite way of saying the photographer stood in the freezing spray until his boots were ruined. I’ve spent enough nights shivering on similar coastlines to recognize the commitment here. It isn’t just a pretty blur of water; it’s a decade of returning to a place that once broke your heart. One doesn’t capture that kind of resilience by accident. It’s a proper, earned photograph.
Nine seconds of exposure doesn’t just blur the tide; it erases the trauma of the oil, turning the Atlantic into a shroud. I find myself shivering, not from the Galician wind, but from the lighthouse’s cold, unblinking stare. It’s a sentinel guarding a graveyard of memory. Shadows here aren’t merely absent light; they are the heavy, suffocating silence of a landscape that refuses to forget what it once lost. It’s haunting, really.
Most long exposures of water feel like tired clichés, but this one hits differently. By holding the shutter for nine seconds, Sánchez-Tembleque turns the Atlantic into a ghost, haunting the jagged rocks of Galicia. It’s the contrast between that ethereal blur and the lighthouse’s stubborn, sharp geometry that makes me stop. I’ve seen thousands of coastal shots, but this one stays. It’s a quiet, aching reminder of resilience that I’m genuinely glad will survive the next thirty years.
The Atlantic’s churn, rendered in the bruised, slate-grey of a Morandi still life, dissolves into a mist that feels like a soft, mournful sigh against the lighthouse’s resolute, ochre-stained stone. It’s a haunting chromatic dialogue where the cold, metallic blues of the tide bleed into the warmth of memory, and honestly, I’ve found myself weeping at the way that singular, amber light clings to the horizon, refusing to let the encroaching darkness win.
loved the different hues on the small rocks …nice pic….
lenyűgöző
Thanks for the very nice picture. Quality of the picture is excellent and at the same time the place is very attractive too.