Tag: beach

Monday Moment

A look at “Driftwood Convergence”, an image that continues to draw me in, despite its flaws.

Over the past week or so, I’ve revisited some of my beach-themed images, which has been a lot of fun. So when I thought about today’s post, I decided to go with another beach image, albeit it an iPhone shot.

Let’s take a look…

Driftwood Convergence

Even though I see technical issues with this shot (Sun is blown out), I still like the overall composition effect, every time I see it. The convergence of driftwood, ocean, horizon and cloud cover just pull me in. Add to that the details of the shells on the log and I still like it.

For this post, I made some adjustments to the image, as I reduced the amount of color in the clouds quite a bit and also took out some of the exposure in that area. Overall I like the effect of the blue transition from water to clouds this way a bit better.

Sunday Serenity

A snowy beach experience from a decade past. Serenity wraps its blanket around our shoulders.

On this relaxing recovery Sunday afternoon, it’s time to go back to a snowy beach from ten years ago. I’ve posted other photos from this amazing day of chilly, snow-covered photography. As we neared the end of that day, there was time to appreciate sunset from a frigid beach.

Here’s a moment from that afternoon…

Beach and Sun

As this day was filled by moments to appreciate Nature in all her majesty, I couldn’t help but take in this scene in serenity.

Waves lapping on beach
Frosty breeze across my face
A Winter’s Sunset

These words seemed to capture the moment.

iPhone Friday

It’s fun seeking patterns in beach scenes, particularly with shells.

As we’re getting prepared for our vacation, a quick post of a beach shot from a couple of years ago. As I walk along beaches, I love looking for patterns that might work well in a photo. A lot of that involves experimentation, which is always fun. I find that shells are always a great subject matter, especially when they are relatively undisturbed.

Here’s an image from 2021…

Shells on the Beach

This image is actually uncropped, as I like all of these shells and the pattern they create. I did rotate the image 180 degrees; I’m not sure what it is, but I find I do this quite often on these types of shots. With ACR, I used the Artistic 04 filter, as I like the tonality and pop. After that a bit of sharpening, soft light and contrast, and voila!

This will be an image that I will print later, as I think it will pop rather nicely on the right paper.

Thursday Throwback – 11

From 2012, a photographic exploration of patterns on Cape Cod.

In this instance of the throwback series, we go back 13 years. If memory serves me, this was a day spent scouting a location for some doggie rescue photography. As I was on Cape Cod already, why not explore a bit more and find some interesting locations.

Her’s one of the captures from my wanderings…

Rock and Roll

I am rather partial to finding patterns in Nature, but in this case I am the creator of any pattern. As I walked around the beach, I looked carefully at the various organizations of these pebbles. In the end, I used the orientation of my lens to create a semblance of organization. I am curious to find out what pattern, if any, you see in this image. I’ll refrain from providing hints, as that would guide your mind’s eye.

Later that day, I also photographed the lighthouse seen in Thursday Throwback – 7, Nobska Lighthouse. Overall, not a bad day!

Thursday Throwback – 8

From February 2009: A surreal moment on a deserted beach on Cape Cod.

Interestingly enough, this week’s photo is from the same year as the one in last week’s Thursday Throwback – 7. This is purely serendipitous! In February of 2009, my wife and I took some time to spend on Cape Cod. There’s nothing like visiting beaches and resort areas when there are no crowds!

Here’s one of my captures from that weekend…

A photo of ripples left in the sand at the beach from the movement of the water back and forth.
Beach Surreality

I played a little bit with angles, as I took several shots. There are a couple of images that I like from this series, among which this one is my favorite. I cropped the image a bit to get the 8×10 form factor, as I find that the shorter height provides more of a sense of length. That is a rather odd statement, as I read it back.

In my estimation, this illusion of length comes from the increase and thinning of the sand shapes. As they go towards the horizon, there is a sense of ever greater distance.

Also, if you look at this image long enough, you may get a sense that there is an ancient alien force at play here… Don’t look too long, lest it might reach out to you!

Diamond Beach Abstract

Iceland’s Diamond Beach is renowned for its stunning ice formations. Winter’s weather conditions provide for a different, more subdued expression.

Iceland’s Diamond Beach (Breiðamerkursandur) is a truly photogenic location, well known for its glistening ice. Segments of ice break off from Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon and wash back ashore, creating a photographer’s dreamscape! Of course, the conditions have to be right for this. During the Summer season, there will be plenty of ice escaping from the glacier, but Winter is a different story.

In February of 2024, I visited that area for some different exploration…

Diamond Beach in the Rough

With an overcast sky, my objective became to create some different images from the stunning, sparkly photographs of Summer. Among some of the spectacular ice formations, I found this understated little sculpt. The combination of the black sand and its scratched translucence provides a sense of modern, abstract sculpture.

There are more impressive ice structures that I photographed on that day, but this one still speaks to me. Of course, it speaks with a soft, subtle voice of beauty that ones was…

A Tuesday Teaser – vol. 1

Intriguing objects capture our attention as viewed through the lens. What is your interpretation of the driftwood’s intent?

Have you ever found yourself taking a photo of an object, simply because its shape, color or some other aspect of it intrigued you? I certainly have and every now and then I look at these photos again and still see something interesting in them. Let’s see how many of these I can collect for Tuesday Teasers…

Meigs’ Dragon

While exploring the lovely area of Meigs Point in southern Connecticut, I came across a piece of driftwood with a shape that caught my eye. What stood out is that it worked its way up toward the sky, which provided a backdrop for this almost living form… With a bit of playing around, I created this composition where there is a reach towards the heavens, as the creature attempts to rise above the dunes.

Who knows what this driftwood is really trying to achieve? What do you think?

Rainy Day Adjustment…

When caught in inclement weather at Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland, exploring a cave can be rewarding.

What to do when you’re at an iconic beach location in Iceland and it’s a windy, rainy day? Find a cave!

In August of 2022, we were shooting on Reynisfjara Beach near Vik and the weather was just not cooperating with us, as the rain was coming at us from all directions. At this beach there is a magnificent cave, where I found this…

Natura Artis Magistra

On the basaltic rock columns that protrude seemingly out of nowhere, I found that numerous plants find a way to hold on to the sheer rock and find enough purchase to grow. The contrast between the vivid plant colors and the black basalt makes for a wonderful subject.

The hexagonal columns at this location are the result of lava flows that cooled and contracted, cracking in the distinctive hexagonal pattern that can be seen at a number of locations.

Reynisfjara Beach

Reynisfjara in the morning

In photography, as in life, we can plan all we like, but that doesn’t guarantee that everything will be just the way we want it. When selecting a location to shoot, taking into account time of day, light conditions and everything else, Mother Nature can always throw a curveball.

And sometimes, you just get lucky…

Reynisfjara Sunrise

The view was simply stunning, providing beautiful reflections and gorgeous shapes! Of course, there was still a bit of a challenge, as shooting into the Sun is not always the easiest thing to do. Despite the bit of blowout from the Sun, I still enjoy this image, as it has a certain mood to it.

This shot came from this year’s February trip to Iceland, and was captured with my Canon EOS R5 using a 15-35mm lens at f/6.3. I used an HDR bracketed sequence to increase the overall dynamic range of this image.

Wednesday’s Wintry Wonder

It was windy, snowy and might blustery, and also gorgeous!

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 10 years ago during the winter of 2014 into 2015 that we had a wonderful amount of snow fall. I’m sure that not everyone enjoyed that snow, especially those who struggled to clean the roads and driveways. Then in January, there was the blizzard of 2015, which deposited snow amounts ranging from 2 – 3 feet (60 – 90 cm) across the entire state.

One of the reasons I appreciated this storm was the opportunity to take photos such as this one…

A Snowy Beach

As it happened, John Slonina (yes, he of Slonina Photography) put together a jaunt to the coastal areas of northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire; I jumped on that opportunity and broke out my best cold weather gear to be able to spend a blustery Saturday outdoors in the elements to capture some of the spectacle!

Dressed in layers, snow pants, a heated vest, toasty gloves and my favorite The North Face snow boots, I was ready for a day of photography! Of course, even my trusty Canon EOS 5D Mk III was wrapped up in layers to help keep the batteries as warm as possible. I can honestly say that I was extremely comfortable throughout the day; the only tricky part was making a bathroom stop during our lunch!

I’d love to hear about your extreme elements shoots and how you prepared for them.