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This photo of Colwyn Bay, taken from the promenade at Rhos-on-Sea on the North Wales coast, isn't likely to appear on a postcard any time soon.
Pictured under stormy skies, this isn't the usual happy holiday by the seaside type of sunshine photo, but for those who know and love the North Wales coast this image will resonate as being much more true to life for this part of the world.
North Wales attracts more than its fair share of 'interesting' weather, with fronts streaming in off the Atlantic Ocean on a conveyor belt to form clouds and dump rain on a regular basis as the moist air is forced upwards over Snowdonia just inland.
This can be a problem for sunbathers, but for an outdoor photographer like me active weather is a wonderful thing, with the same piece of coastal landscape appearing completely different one day from the next.
So I wasn't put off by the drizzle and cloud on this particular evening at Rhos-on-Sea.
In fact I sought to emphasise the dramatic weather by using a 10 stop neutral density filter to slow the exposure right down, allowing the sea to become a milky reflecting surface and the clouds to blur into swathes of light and dark.
But in amongst all those moving elements I needed a stark, stationary focal point for this image to hold it together, which was provided by the Rhos harbour breakwater, slowly emerging from the sea as the tide receded.
So, not your typical seaside holiday snap then, but one that portrays a much more melancholy side to the North Wales coast.
Filename - colwyn bay 02.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 32mm
Exposure - 76 secs @ f11, ISO100
Location - Colwyn Bay, North Wales
This image - 533x800px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Tripod, mirror lockup and cable release used to prevent camera movement
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.