Echo Beach
Sometimes I arrive at a location not really having much of a clue what I'm going to point the camera at. Last night, returning here for the first time in some months I sat at the edge of the dunes, gazing absently at the scene and being indecisive until I realised that the silhouettes and their shadows on the wet sand left by the outgoing tide were the subject. I hope this complete stranger and her jumping dog don't mind me putting them in front of you. I hope her friend and the second dog, who had adopted less pleasing stances don't mind me using a bit of content aware fill to airbrush them from the story. I'm forever forgetting what a wonderful lens I have in the 70-200. I need to remember to use it more often.
I've been to Gwithian so many times over almost the whole of my life, both with and without the camera bag. It's been a family favourite for body boarding, twilight barbecues and throwing frisbees as far as possible ever since childhood. At that time, money was scarce and my parents couldn't afford exotic holidays abroad, which hardly seemed to matter when this place was on the doorstep. We would always be among the last off the beach, heading back to our camping pitch, or to home if it wasn't holiday time as the dusk settled around us.
To the right of this spot lies the sea encircled Godrevy Lighthouse, which we recently discovered to our horror is dubbed "Seal Island" in summertime for the benefit of visitors from beyond the county border by the boat trip operators of St Ives. I've no idea how successful the ruse is, besides which you'll see far more seals here in winter, lolling about on the beach at nearby Mutton Cove. To the left, one can walk happily for at least two miles on unbroken sands towards the Hayle Estuary, much of it completely unoccupied. In summer the sun sinks directly into St Ives Bay, often setting the sky alight with golds, oranges and pinks as the blue hour is heralded in. For me, this has always been my Echo Beach. Even though Porthtowan and Portreath are closer, this is always the place I head for first. When I eventually summon up the courage to don the wetsuit for the first time this summer, it will be right here too.
As for the picture itself, I've been doing a little experimentation with ICM and blending to get this sort of effect. I follow a chap called Mark Tunstall who does it very well, and decided to try it myself. Still a work in progress but I like the effect - I suspect it doesn't work for everyone. I've also been intentionally reducing the colour range in each image. Whether it's a principle I'll continue to follow forever I don't know yet, but the extra free time recently has enabled further progress along the great learning curve of landscape photography. Time to experiment and try and discover a style that I'm truly content with. I'm not there yet, but life is about the journey and not the end result.
I hope those of you who have been under stringent lockdown are able with care to have a little more freedom now. I've enjoyed reworking old images over the last two months, but not as much as I'm enjoying getting outside and making new ones.
Stay safe. Stay well.
Echo Beach
Sometimes I arrive at a location not really having much of a clue what I'm going to point the camera at. Last night, returning here for the first time in some months I sat at the edge of the dunes, gazing absently at the scene and being indecisive until I realised that the silhouettes and their shadows on the wet sand left by the outgoing tide were the subject. I hope this complete stranger and her jumping dog don't mind me putting them in front of you. I hope her friend and the second dog, who had adopted less pleasing stances don't mind me using a bit of content aware fill to airbrush them from the story. I'm forever forgetting what a wonderful lens I have in the 70-200. I need to remember to use it more often.
I've been to Gwithian so many times over almost the whole of my life, both with and without the camera bag. It's been a family favourite for body boarding, twilight barbecues and throwing frisbees as far as possible ever since childhood. At that time, money was scarce and my parents couldn't afford exotic holidays abroad, which hardly seemed to matter when this place was on the doorstep. We would always be among the last off the beach, heading back to our camping pitch, or to home if it wasn't holiday time as the dusk settled around us.
To the right of this spot lies the sea encircled Godrevy Lighthouse, which we recently discovered to our horror is dubbed "Seal Island" in summertime for the benefit of visitors from beyond the county border by the boat trip operators of St Ives. I've no idea how successful the ruse is, besides which you'll see far more seals here in winter, lolling about on the beach at nearby Mutton Cove. To the left, one can walk happily for at least two miles on unbroken sands towards the Hayle Estuary, much of it completely unoccupied. In summer the sun sinks directly into St Ives Bay, often setting the sky alight with golds, oranges and pinks as the blue hour is heralded in. For me, this has always been my Echo Beach. Even though Porthtowan and Portreath are closer, this is always the place I head for first. When I eventually summon up the courage to don the wetsuit for the first time this summer, it will be right here too.
As for the picture itself, I've been doing a little experimentation with ICM and blending to get this sort of effect. I follow a chap called Mark Tunstall who does it very well, and decided to try it myself. Still a work in progress but I like the effect - I suspect it doesn't work for everyone. I've also been intentionally reducing the colour range in each image. Whether it's a principle I'll continue to follow forever I don't know yet, but the extra free time recently has enabled further progress along the great learning curve of landscape photography. Time to experiment and try and discover a style that I'm truly content with. I'm not there yet, but life is about the journey and not the end result.
I hope those of you who have been under stringent lockdown are able with care to have a little more freedom now. I've enjoyed reworking old images over the last two months, but not as much as I'm enjoying getting outside and making new ones.
Stay safe. Stay well.