Click on the image for licensing terms
It's hard to believe that this photo was taken just a few metres away from the pier at the popular tourist resort of Llandudno on the North Wales coast, as there's very little evidence of human activity in this shot.
It just goes to show that a photograph can be both deceiving and truthful at the same time. If I'd just changed my camera angle slightly the scene would have changed from rugged coastline to holiday resort.
And that's one of the learned skills of photography - what to leave out.
An artist who uses paints and canvas to express him or herself can choose what to include in the picture, as painting is an additive art form. That is, you start with nothing and add stuff until you're satisfied.
However, photography doesn't work like that. Instead, photography, especially landscape photography, is a subtractive art form. That is, you start off with a meaningless jumble of visual information and by thoughtful elimination of distractions you end up with a photographic composition that has coherence and meaning.
That's what I did here, at dawn under the pier at Llandudno. Who could tell that this is a photo of a seaside resort?
Filename - cliffs waves 07.jpg
Camera - Canon 5D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure - 1/6sec @ f8, ISO100
Location - Llandudno, North wales
This image - 568x800px JPEG
Conversion - ACR & PS-CS2
Comments - Exposure chosen to slightly blur waves
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2024 unless otherwise stated.