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Newgale Beach #1

Sun reflecting off the sea and sand at Newgale beach, Pembrokshire National Park, Wales

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The story behind this image

The Pembrokeshire National Park, Wales, is mostly all about the coastline.

With dramatic cliffs, pristine beaches and turbulent seas, set against a backdrop of somewhat variable weather conditions, Liz and I spent a lot our our time during our mini-break here enjoying the stark beauty of the many coves and inlets adorning the coast.

One beach we spent a time exploring was Newgale at the top of St Brides Bay, a favourite haunt of surfers enjoying its west facing aspect and big rollers.

Liz and I also enjoyed the west facing aspect of Newgale beach, but without getting too wet as we walked along the dunes in the stiff onshore breeze in the weak autumn afternoon sun.

Normally photographing into the sun yields disappointing results, as the extreme contrast renders most of the image either completely black or completely white.

But on this occasion, as we walked along, the sun was diffused behind a layer of high cloud, taking the edge off its brightness but still allowing enough directional light to shine through and reflect off the sea and wet sand below us.

So I paused took a few hand held photos, eventaully settling on this composition showing both the diffused sun and its reflection.

I'm glad I carried my camera with me, as you never know when such an opportunity will strike.

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Image data

Filename - newgale beach 01.jpg

Camera - Canon 6D

Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 50mm

Exposure - 1/400 sec @ f22, ISO100

Filters - Three stop neutral density filter used to darken the sky.

Location - Newgale, Pembrokeshire, Wales

This image - 533x800pxpx JPEG

Conversion - Adobe Lightroom

Comments - -1ev exposure compensation used to preserve highlights