The Art of Deception
Despite having more than thirty years in the dark world of accountancy behind me, making stuff up doesn't come naturally. There are those who say I'm far too honest for the profession I chose, but sometimes it's so easy to tell a lie - even for me. For example, this photograph is a complete work of fiction.
No I haven't dropped in a fake sky - even if I knew how to, that wouldn't interest me at all - besides which I'd have gone for a bright pink one with a rolling thunderhead chasing over the bay behind Carter's Rocks. Ok yes I've done a focus stack and used a long exposure on the background and a fast one on the dunes - don't inspect the join too closely by the way or it'll probably spoil it for us both - but that's not what I'm referring to either.
The reason this image isn't telling the whole truth is that the apparent sense of tranquility overlooks the fact that the beach and the dunes were packed with visitors. I'll confess it was an unusually pleasant afternoon for the time of the year, but it may as well have been high summer for the number of people wandering int and out of my compositions. I know they have just as much right to be here as I do. I suppose that's what the pandemic has done -more people are heading out into the open spaces because Primark isn't open. The fresh air and scenery is going to make a huge difference to their health and wellbeing. It's just that I'm used to coming here when I don't have to queue to cross the narrow wooden bridge over the river that flows along the back of the dunes.
I had to reverse past a dozen VW campers twice to let other cars along the road before I could even get into the car park, which in itself was as full as I've ever seen it. This was the last Sunday in November - the time of the year in Britain when autumn finally slips away into winter. Normally on a late November weekend there might be just ten or twelve cars in a car park designed for hundreds of them as I arrive in time for a sunset shoot, and at that point at least half of them appear to be on the verge of going home. It's the reason why I don't even try to come here in the middle of the summer. I'm quite happy to go elsewhere and let our summer visitors enjoy the place without me staring gloomily at them from behind a tripod.
Still; what a lovely afternoon it was. Later on the sky turned to a glowing pink, vivid reflections bouncing off the wet sand as high tide coincided with sunset. I might share another photo of those moments if I can only decide which one to use. Wonderful light and running seas inevitably mean there are at least a hundred images to sift through by the time I download them onto my computer.
An hour earlier things seemed less certain, the sun rapidly dipping below the Penhale headland to the west with the shadows racing across the dunes towards us. Not long after I'd taken my shots on this spot the foreground grasses had faded to near darkness. I've always shot at low tide here before - it's a fantastic location when the beach is huge and empty - but in the knowledge that the shoreline would be much closer to the dunes for this visit, I'd had the composition you see before you in mind all morning.
As I descended the dunes to the water's edge for the second part of the session, I happened upon a fellow photographer who'd perched his tripod above the scene in the hopes that something was going to happen. I confessed that I thought the best light was probably already behind us, only to be proved wrong yet again by the display that was to follow in the next hour. But that's another story.
Now that Primark is open again, what's going to be really interesting is to see how busy our beauty spots are this weekend. I'll keep you posted........
The Art of Deception
Despite having more than thirty years in the dark world of accountancy behind me, making stuff up doesn't come naturally. There are those who say I'm far too honest for the profession I chose, but sometimes it's so easy to tell a lie - even for me. For example, this photograph is a complete work of fiction.
No I haven't dropped in a fake sky - even if I knew how to, that wouldn't interest me at all - besides which I'd have gone for a bright pink one with a rolling thunderhead chasing over the bay behind Carter's Rocks. Ok yes I've done a focus stack and used a long exposure on the background and a fast one on the dunes - don't inspect the join too closely by the way or it'll probably spoil it for us both - but that's not what I'm referring to either.
The reason this image isn't telling the whole truth is that the apparent sense of tranquility overlooks the fact that the beach and the dunes were packed with visitors. I'll confess it was an unusually pleasant afternoon for the time of the year, but it may as well have been high summer for the number of people wandering int and out of my compositions. I know they have just as much right to be here as I do. I suppose that's what the pandemic has done -more people are heading out into the open spaces because Primark isn't open. The fresh air and scenery is going to make a huge difference to their health and wellbeing. It's just that I'm used to coming here when I don't have to queue to cross the narrow wooden bridge over the river that flows along the back of the dunes.
I had to reverse past a dozen VW campers twice to let other cars along the road before I could even get into the car park, which in itself was as full as I've ever seen it. This was the last Sunday in November - the time of the year in Britain when autumn finally slips away into winter. Normally on a late November weekend there might be just ten or twelve cars in a car park designed for hundreds of them as I arrive in time for a sunset shoot, and at that point at least half of them appear to be on the verge of going home. It's the reason why I don't even try to come here in the middle of the summer. I'm quite happy to go elsewhere and let our summer visitors enjoy the place without me staring gloomily at them from behind a tripod.
Still; what a lovely afternoon it was. Later on the sky turned to a glowing pink, vivid reflections bouncing off the wet sand as high tide coincided with sunset. I might share another photo of those moments if I can only decide which one to use. Wonderful light and running seas inevitably mean there are at least a hundred images to sift through by the time I download them onto my computer.
An hour earlier things seemed less certain, the sun rapidly dipping below the Penhale headland to the west with the shadows racing across the dunes towards us. Not long after I'd taken my shots on this spot the foreground grasses had faded to near darkness. I've always shot at low tide here before - it's a fantastic location when the beach is huge and empty - but in the knowledge that the shoreline would be much closer to the dunes for this visit, I'd had the composition you see before you in mind all morning.
As I descended the dunes to the water's edge for the second part of the session, I happened upon a fellow photographer who'd perched his tripod above the scene in the hopes that something was going to happen. I confessed that I thought the best light was probably already behind us, only to be proved wrong yet again by the display that was to follow in the next hour. But that's another story.
Now that Primark is open again, what's going to be really interesting is to see how busy our beauty spots are this weekend. I'll keep you posted........