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Groynes #14

Decaying groynes at Llanfairfechan, North Wales

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The story behind this image

The North Wales coastal strip is littered (if that's the right word) with quaint little seaside towns that were popular holiday spots in days gone by, but now are sort of sliding into genteel neglect.

Llanfairfechan is one such place. It has a great beach and views to die for, but you have to wrap up warm to survive here, with swimming and sunbathing practised only by the hardy few.

I love these little towns, they're a sort of living time capsule, and one thing I especially like are the decaying examples of beach architecture, left behind from a time when stopping the sand moving was considered important.

This particular set of groynes were catching the late afternoon sun as the waves of the incoming tide were gently breaking against them.

The combination of corroded iron uprights and weathered wooden planks were just too lovely to resist from a photographic point of view, so I spent a happy half hour trying different compositions and shutter speeds to try and get the best image possible from the scene.

In the end I chose this one as my favourite, shot at 1/8th of a second shutter speed to give just a hint of movement to the breaking wavelet, and with the shaope of the wave forming a pleasing acute angle with the line of groynes.

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Image data

Filename - groynes 14.jpg

Camera - Canon EOS 5D

Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm

Exposure - 1/8sec @ f11, ISO100

Location - Llanfairfechan, North Wales

This image - 800x640px JPEG

Conversion - ACR & PS-CS6

Comments - Polarising filter used to enhance colours