Thursday, March 27, 2014

Dorset Day 3 – Thick fog inside and out



Woke up after another fitful night’s sleep, feeling as though the contents of my head were wallowing in a mucilaginous swamp, while my limbs were groaning in protest over some grievous offence they obviously felt very strongly about. Not sure if it was because of the immoderate exercise I’d subjected them to, or just because I was feeling a bit peaky. Either way I was feeling about as lively as this old fella.

Took the short drive down to the seafront to get some shots in the misty conditions, cue more long exposure images of beach groins and minimalist compositions. If I hadn’t got at least one decent shot of this style from the past few days, it was time to step away from the camera and take up something a bit less creatively taxing.


A few viewpoints looking along this beach groin into the misty conditions beyond.


A shallow depth of field gives these pebbles some prominence.

After spending a while on the chilly shore, it was high time to stroll into town for a decent coffee, and thanks to Fortes coffee shop, that’s exactly what we got. Plus, by the blessed healing power of caffeine, I was even starting to feel less cadaverous, and more like a real functioning human being.

Once that was done, we strolled along the seafront, taking in the views of Swanage through the murky haze. I got a quick picture of a lone sailing boat, floating in the surrounding brume, before heading to the old pier again, to get some atmospheric shots of this characterful old structure.


No long exposure required here, or the boat would have been in a bit of a blur.
I like this composition, with the jumble of houses piling up on the right of the image, and the curvature of
the old pier as it snakes across the smooth ocean.

Once we felt the soupy conditions had been comprehensively captured, all that was left to do was head back into town and avail ourselves of some cracking fish and chips for lunch. Which seemed to bring me fully back to the land of the living.

And that was my time in Dorset over with, I had to get on the road and head back home, and although the weather hadn’t been optimal, it allowed me the opportunity to use techniques that I don’t use a great deal, and that’s always time well spent.


Quite fitting that this should have been the last image I took, It seems to have taken the minimalist
approach to the extreme.
Back to Day Two

4 comments:

  1. An amazing photo. Such certainty and such emptiness.

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  2. Lovely stuff, Martin. Cracking pics and superb commentary. However, I've decide to junk the photography for now, and go Collect Some Dirt!

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    1. Thanks Mike. I have to admit I'm pretty tempted as well. More and more my eyes are scouring the ground for tempting morsels, rather than looking at the views...

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