Newport Beach, Pembrokeshire.
Black and white photography seems something of a dark art to me† but I have been inspired by some of my Flickr friends who really use B&W to express something different in their images. Monochrome processing enables you to concentrate on form and pattern and the quality of light... But colour is a difficult addiction to counter!
I struggle to imagine our polychrome world in mono. Most of what I do in this genre is trial and (mainly) error. But practice perfects they say (though I discovered long ago that perfection is too lofty a goal, so I'm happy just having fun really ;-) )
This image was taken recently on the largest beach in Pembrokeshire a short while ago. I’d not been on the coast for a very long time and the experience was a sensory delight! The waning sunlight and the incoming tide were enchanting. Oh to capture it! Ever the photographer’s cry…
I took loads of images: waves, ripples, sand, sunshine reflected… even some pebbles, and a kite surfer (though he quickly retreated damp from the cold). For quite a number of shots I took bracketed exposures because of the very high contrast in the light.
What struck me when I eventually reviewed them back home was that the low-key members of the bracketed triplets were strikingly more dramatic. They were almost monochrome too, except for a small rainbow of flare, so that made it very easy for me!
So this is my attempt to convey the drama, and it’s Thursday so that means 7 Days With Flickr!
Thank you for taking time to look. I hope you enjoy the image 😊
†An accidental pun, but it amused me so I left it in!
[Cropped to get the diagonal right and processed initially in LR. Then into Affinity Photo for the Haze filter, Topaz Detail for sharpening, Nik Silver Efex for the conversion, a dark vignette to concentrate the mind, and a bit of playing around with contrast. Finally a white frame with a bit of drop shadow (shamelessly plagiarizing someone else I saw who did it so effectively recently (thank you 😉)!).
Silver Efex added quite a bit of grain , which I didn’t immediately notice, but I rather liked the effect because it really conveys the way it felt at the time with the bright sun and high contrast diminishing the visual detail…]
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