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On first impressions, this is a photo of a rock stuck in the sand, and so it is.
Found during a photography excursion on the beach at Conwy Morfa on the North Wales coast, I was strangely drawn to this particular arrangement and so I took this photograph without really thinking why.
On the surface it's a nice enough snapshot, but when I had the chance to think a bit more deeply while post-processing the file, I came to realise what had attracted me to the mini-scene in the first place.
This is a juxtaposition of contrasts.
There's dark against light, with the dark rock set against the light sand.
There's smooth against sharp, with the edges of the rock contrasting with the smooth contours of the sand.
There's large against small, with the size of the rock focusing attention on the size of individual grains of sand.
There's one against many, with the single entity of the rock set against the multitude of sand grains.
There's fixed against transient, with the fluid sand flowing around the sedentary rock in an ever changing pattern.
I bet if you try you can think of others as well.
So with a bit of time for study, this simple photo went from being just a passing snapshot to a deep and meaningful metaphor on the complexities of life.
Or maybe I've just been staring at the monitor for too long!
Filename - beach rock 11.jpg
Camera - Nikon D3100
Lens - 18-55mm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure - 1/80 sec @ f8, ISO100
Location - Conwy Morfa, North Wales
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Hand held exposure.
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