coast | alan frost photography

Posts from the ‘coast’ category

The fisherman’s hut

Fisherman’s trailer hut

This hut on a trailer is not the most attractive, in fact from a purely aesthetic point of view some might describe it as plain ugly or just a shed on wheels. However from a photographic perspective I was drawn to the subject. I asked myself what it might be used for and did it ever move from its isolated position on the shingle beach at Weybourne on the North Norfolk coast.

When I took the shot It was a beautiful autumn day, with clear blue skies almost devoid of any interest but for the small cluster of clouds immediately above the hut and a couple of gulls as they flew above the shoreline. For me both the clouds and the gulls make the image. Without them the hut on its own would not be so interesting.

Thanks to everyone who has started following my blog recently.

Looking through the archives again…..another fence in the dunes.

Fence in the Dunes

In my last post I went back in time to 2012 when I enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon taking some photographs at East Head in West Wittering along the Sussex Coast. At that particular time I was still using my Nikon D90, which I guess was my first serious or shall we say semi serious camera. A very capable DSLR with a cropped APS-C sensor. It has now been sold in favour of my Olympus micro four thirds system. Which in itself is still only an enthusiasts camera, although there are now a number of professionals who are happily using the Olympus EM1 and some of the best lenses available for this format. I am lucky enough to be using the EM1 and have done so since the early part of the year and although I really don’t feel I put it to the test I have been delighted with the results so far.

Anyway back to the reason for this entry and another image taken at East Head. I had previously dismissed this image, but two years down the road I like to think my processing skills have improved and the result is displayed at the start of the entry. Like so many of my images this was processed in Lightroom 5 and Silver Efex Pro. As opposed to a straight black and white conversion this photo has a ‘coffee tone’ added in Silver Efex, which gives a warmer feel I think it works on this occasion. I hope you like it.

Looking through the archives – Dunes Fence

Dunes Fence

There are occasions when I will look through my back catalogue and come across an image which I have not processed before. It can be fun, a voyage of discovery as I search through various folders hidden away in Lightroom, my default workflow program which I have used since 2009.

The above image of a fence on the dunes at East Head in West Wittering was taken in October 2012. When I first opened the shot, I thought it had promise and I immediately applied a square crop to the portrait 3×2 aspect ratio, as there was too much foreground and too much sky above the clouds. I also decided that I would process the image in a different way to my usual approach. After a quick black and white conversion in Lightroom, I exported the file into Photoshop, created a duplicate layer and smart object so that I could continue working on the image in Silver Efex Pro2.

After a few minutes of processing in Silver Efex, which included adding a ‘coffee’ tone, I returned to Photoshop for some fine tuning and the finished result heads this entry. Total processing time about 15 minutes.

For me I enjoyed returning to a set of photographs taken about 18 months ago. Reliving the memories of a wonderful afternoon on the sands and the lovely cloud formations which are of course a key feature of this particular shot. I very rarely delete any photographs from my catalogue, unless they are obvious duds from the outset, and this is the reason why. Going back in time can reveal some new images which have some merit and are worth looking at in a fresh light, using perhaps some newly acquired processing skills to create an image which can be classified a ‘keeper’.

Something completely different

My approach to land and seascapes is I think a fairly traditional one and it’s an approach that works for me. However I do see lots of black and white images using slow shutter speeds and taking a more minimalist view of the landscape. Concentrating on a small area can often result in something which has an abstract ‘feel’ to the image. Accordingly there are few if any reference points and little or no sense of scale. I guess this results in the viewer trying to discern what they might be looking at, a sense of mystery perhaps, which in turn begs the question – ‘what was the photographer trying to say?’ when he or she took the shot.

So I thought I would have a go a this approach myself. Its good to experiment, your eyes start to see things differently. Consequently I returned to a particular location as I could pre-visualise a subject matter which might work for this ‘new’ approach. I also adopted a different technique using a 10 stop ND filter to slow the shutter speed right down. This of course required me to use a tripod which also slows down the photographer. No bad thing in itself as you spend more time composing the shot and getting the right camera settings. The latter was more challenging than the former, as I had never used a 10 stop ND filter before. The Hi Tec filter I was using left a horrible colour cast but this didn’t matter quite so much as I knew I would be converting the image to black and white.

Shown below is the result of me trying to do something completely different. A 30 second exposure and I used Lightroom and Silver Efex Pro2 for post processing.

Remnants

For my first attempt at this style of photography I am quite pleased with the end result. Is it something I would like to do more of?…….I’m not sure but I enjoyed doing something just a little bit different, well for me anyway.

Oh and if you are wondering, the photograph is the remains of a jetty in Langstone Harbour in Hampshire.

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Bognor Regis – just being there.

Through my work and therefore out of necessity, I visit the seaside town of Bognor Regis on a regular basis. Situated on the Sussex Coast I have to say its not the most glamorous of resorts. Nevertheless the very fact that I find myself frequently in the town or driving along its seafront, it does provide some excellent opportunities for photography.

The three images which make up this entry were all taken on different days and at different times of the day.

The first image was an early evening shot taken in September of this year with the Olympus OMD EM5. I had just acquired the Panasonic 45 – 200 zoom lens (second hand from a fellow camera club member) and as I had not used it before, I was keen to see how well it paired with the camera and to see the results it produced. Its not every day that the such a beautiful cloudscape will appear in the sky, so I was fortunate to have chosen a great evening for its first outing.

The second image is what I might call a ‘grab shot’. Taken around the middle of the day I had been driving along the seafront when I noticed a rainbow to the north. If I was quick I thought, I could park the car, hurry down to the seafront and take a shot of the beach huts in the foreground with the dark clouds and the rainbow as a backdrop. Unfortunately rainbows go as quickly as they come, so by the time I got to where I wanted to be the rainbow had lost all its intensity, and seconds later was no more. Mildly disappointed at the missed opportunity I turned around and composed the shot below, which in my view was more than adequate compensation. The couple walking along was a bonus, as it takes your eye right into the image. The Olympus E-PL3 with 14 – 42 kit lens worked a treat.

The third and final shot was taken early in the morning just a few days ago. Again the cloudscape was the reason for stopping the car and getting out, but I knew some foreground interest was required. I walked down to the foreshore and captured the image below, again with the E-PL3 and kit lens.

A famous quote attributed to the photographer called Arthur Fellig, better known as Weegee, is ‘f8 and be there’. None of these shots were taken at f8, but the second element is certainly true!