I was standing in the middle of Southport Pier, catching the last gasps of sunlight as the sun dipped below the horizon. I was using my wide angle lens. I saw the tram, honest, but it was oh so far away through my viewfinder! When the driver started tooting I thought it best to move to one side. I quickly placed the tripod and clicked the shutter. The tram flew past in a blur leaving me with this…
Is it the fastest tram in the North West, or was I just a little bit slower than usual?
Just an early autumn snap of daytrippers at the beachfront in Blackpool. The long lines of the railings were gleaming in the afternoon light and the day was more than warm enough for folks to congregate on the beach.
We took a trip to the other end of the country for a few days. As it was a holiday I didn’t really have time to do much photography, but I did take my camera with me on the beach. This shot was taken hand held from the beach looking towards Brighton’s burnt pier. This pier has been the subject of many photographs, so I wanted to try and do something a little different. The shot was taken hand held, but slow enough to show movement in the waves.
OK, I admit it, these aren’t the colours that I saw when I took this shot. It was a bland, overcast day, the tide was out and the beach flat and lifeless save for the pooled water in the dips of the sand. What is a guy to do but play around with the colours and create something a little more atmospheric? It’s amazing the difference colour makes to our perception of an image. The original is quite flat and, perhaps, boring, but add a little colour into the equation and the whole becomes much more interesting.
One of the many abiding images of the Sefton coastline is the blown grass waveline of marram guarding the coast. The marram provides a perfect complement to the shoreline, soft grass contrasting with the flatness of the beach and shoreline on this stretch of coast. I love how the light changes every time I visit. The light on the water reflecting the blue of the sky. I call these sort of shots marramscapes 🙂
One of the few features among the marram grass on Ainsdale dunes is the fencing. This selective focus shot puts the fence post in the frame.
There are many paths to making a striking, or memorable image; some images are engineered for instant impact – either colour or composition, but become just as quickly; other images are designed to grow on you – not that tug of instant attraction but the gentle pull of something familiar and pleasant to look on. Ainsdale beach, with it’s lack of features lends itself particularly to the kind of minimalist image that grows on you rather than hitting you between the eyes.
When one thing is lacking in an image I often find that it allows for the enhancement of another aspect. In this shot, for example there is not a lot of micro detail – lines, objects etc. There’s just nothing to work on. So, instead of going for detail I’ve worked on the colour. No, it’s not natural, but then this is a statement, not an objective and functional facsimile, but a bold mind’s eye imagination of what it should be like.
Driving along the coast road in the beautiful autumn sunshine I got to Ainsdale beach with time for a 15 minute break before moving on to meet a client. I parked up just as the clouds covered the sun. As I wandered and hunted out a good viewpoint the sky darkened, then came the drops, then the camera went back in the bag to keep it dry, and then I went back in the car to keep dry. Of course, as soon as I had to move on to make my appointment the sun came out again!
The Southport coastline can be a little featureless, so I’m always on the lookout for something to add a little interest to these images. To be honest, I love the minimal style that this coast imposes on me, but the eye needs a focus and a direction.
I love these heavily cloud covered seas because the darkness of the sky is reflected in the sea, giving a wonderful dark line along the horizon. In contrast, the gentle slope of the beach provides a soft white line of tide rather than the athletic waves of other coastlines.
In combination the grass and sky provide the layers and the dark and white lines provide a focus for the eye to rest on.
The Sefton coast is a vast space, and once the autumn chill sets in the beach is largely deserted. On an overcast but warm autumn day you will see the occasional visitor loitering along the water’s edge. The tide comes in so gently on this gently sloping beach that it’s a rather tranquil experience standing and watching the water lap gently closer and closer to the tide line.
With the flat light on the surface of the water the sky and sea blend almost seamlessly into one vast bright plane of soft colour and light. The couple standing at the water bring a sense of scale and perspective to the image.