Monochrome Sunset

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

I go to Norfolk with my wife birdwatching at least one a year and I know that because the Norfolk coast is as flat as the proverbial pancake, that there will be absolutely no landscapes worth photographing for me. Yet every year I come back from Norfolk with one worthy shot, but never more than one worthy shot though I might add.

So after photographing for several hours on the same beach at the same time every evening for an entire week, with everyone who passed by making a point of asking me what the hell it was I was taking a photograph of exactly, as surely there is nothing to see, I finally managed to get this shot and it is of course the only one I did get.

Dave

[graeme]

It was worth the effort, nice one.

The tinting looks a bit heavy on my display.

[luxborealis]

Beautifully done Dave! Love the B&W and the tone.

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Thanks everyone and I am glad you like how I worked it Terry  .

Is this version better Graeme?

regards

Dave

[graeme]

Thanks everyone and I am glad you like how I worked it Terry  .

Is this version better Graeme?

regards

Dave

It's lovely.

[John Cothron]

Very nice tonal ranges.  I much prefer the 2nd version although I realize that is a matter of taste!  Great image.

[davidgp]

Very nice tonal ranges.  I much prefer the 2nd version although I realize that is a matter of taste!  Great image.

Yep, second version for me also...

Lovely image...

[Paulo Bizarro]

Nice coastal shot.

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Thanks again everyone.

Not usual for me to stake out a single place and then keep working at it, night after night in the hope of getting something. I am all for going back somewhere repeatedly until it gives in and I get what I want, but to do so every single night for a full week, with no option of an alternative location to look at, is unusual for me.

Perhaps I should try this type of 'fisherman' rather than 'hunter' approach more often.

regards

Dave

[farbschlurf]

I like both versions, somehow. I guess it's really a matter of taste.

Returning to the spot that often definitely was a great idea, great result.

[Chairman Bill]

It was certainly worth the effort & time spent.

[Krug]

A wonderful portrait of the place - personally I like both treatments but for me the first has too much warmth to be true to the essence of the area.

Amusingly - or just being a contrarian - it has always been the flat, non 'scenic', sparse and almost desolate nature of the Norfolk coast that I have enjoyed.

Unfortunately that has not deterred tourists and second-homers from London changing the character of so much of the area !!

[Krug]

P.S.  Given the excellent work that you show here from your regular habitats I am surprised that you only get one image per year on the Norfolk coast  ...  but perhaps one has to be an East Anglian native.

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

P.S.  Given the excellent work that you show here from your regular habitats I am surprised that you only get one image per year on the Norfolk coast  ...  but perhaps one has to be an East Anglian native.

Thank you very much John and yes I know it is very annoying, or perhaps I should say very annoying in a sort of satisfying way.

Here is another of my 'one and only' shots of Norfolk from a few years ago, taken of the decaying sea defences down at West Runton, a place I have walked around to from Sheringham for well over three decades now.

Dave

[framah]

Really nice work..both!!

What you do is what more photographers should do. Sit at one spot and just look at it. At some point in the experiment your eye will get past the 'usual" image and start to see the REAL image that is waiting for you.
I tried that in a small office room once. Sat in there  for 30 minutes without taking a single shot. By the end of 30 minutes, I was seing so many shapes and patterns that I never saw just walking into the room. I blew off a roll of film in a matter of minutes once the 30 minutes was up.

Sometimes it takes time for the image to reveal its true self.

[luxborealis]

Thanks again everyone.

Perhaps I should try this type of 'fisherman' rather than 'hunter' approach more often.

It's good to have multiple approaches to feeding your passion! 

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

With so many kudos, I hope a different view from a friend wouldn't hurt (I am assuming that all that wind in the north makes your skin thicker, no? )

It seems to me there are two shots in the OP one: sky and beach ripples. Combined together, they are but a typical tourist shot, chocolate-box pretty. You have a great eye for detail, as your second shot demonstrates, so I dare to suggest to use it more and elevate your vision beyond the obvious. In this case, the ripples themselves are worth a shot (pardon the pun). As for "beyond the obvious," this is my favorite quote from Minor White: “One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.”

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

With so many kudos, I hope a different view from a friend wouldn't hurt (I am assuming that all that wind in the north makes your skin thicker, no? )

It seems to me there are two shots in the OP one: sky and beach ripples. Combined together, they are but a typical tourist shot, chocolate-box pretty. You have a great eye for detail, as your second shot demonstrates, so I dare to suggest to use it more and elevate your vision beyond the obvious. In this case, the ripples themselves are worth a shot (pardon the pun). As for "beyond the obvious," this is my favorite quote from Minor White: “One should not only photograph things for what they are but for what else they are.”

Thank you Slobodan, your confidence in my abilities is appreciated enormously and yes I do have quite a few other images of the low spring tide ripples alone, as you knew I would it seems, as this was indeed what I was concentrating on photographing at the time, but then a small but very dark cloud obscured the sun for a just a few moments and so I rotated the camera upwards and took the shot as shown here above. Which I agree may have bedazzled me when reviewing all my images and stopped me from seeing the other and perhaps more meaningful work that I had also created. So leave it with me for a while Slobodan and I will see what I can find within my other shots of this scene to show you here.

But in reply to your Minor White quote, I find I must counter with a quote from the actor Tristan Barnard, who famously said "...the audience wants to be surprised – but by things that they expect."

Oh and I do not need a thick skin against your comments Slobodan, never have and never will, as I very much appreciate your input and know that when you comment or critique, that you do so in a way that will always give me something worthwhile to think about, as you have done here once again and I really do thank you for that.

regards 

Dave

[David Eckels]

I always learn so much from Slobodan's comments and I love your sense of aesthetics Dave. The surprise, for me, was the B/W rendering; most expect the brilliant colors of a sunrise/sunset, but often  I have thought about the scene from the standpoint of line, pattern, texture. I have wondered about this, but for some reason, I never went with my gut. I have also noticed that shooting into the sun there is a certain de-saturation that is intriguing; obviously depends on exposure settings.
As for the posting(s): Well done!

[Dave (Isle of Skye)]

Perhaps you mean something more akin to this type of composition Slobodan?

This is just a quick work through of another file from the same location, so nothing fancy just a preview of what you have pointed me towards and what I am now looking at 

Dave