Bite-Size Blog Post #79 - Dawlish Warren

18 Aug

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

I’m sure most of you are familiar with the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” It’s a phrase that encourages you to turn something negative into something positive. It’s a phrase that could be applied to almost every trip out with the camera, because it’s very rare that you’ll get perfect conditions. Of course, that ignores the question of whether there is such a thing as perfect conditions in the first place, but perhaps that’s a conversation for another day.

The reason I bring up this popular saying is that it very neatly applies to my most recent trip to Dawlish Warren beach. It’s a beach I love and have photographed more times than I can remember. It’s a special place, and it keeps pulling me back.

On the morning of my most recent visit, I had a glorious sunrise in my mind’s eye. I was imagining reflected light on the water, the undersides of the clouds catching the first light, and perhaps a little glow on the groynes. I’ve seen these conditions before, and it can be very special when everything comes together.

However, what I had imagined was very different from reality.

Arriving at Dawlish Warren, I found the beach cloaked in fog. Or perhaps sea mist. I’m not entirely sure where the difference in definitions lies! Everything looked rather flat and grey. This wasn’t what I had come for, but I needed to find something in my creative toolbox that would allow me to make the most of the conditions.

I’d been given lemons, and I was definitely going to make lemonade!

A black and white photograph of Dawlish Warren beach in fog. — **Dawlish Warren Beach, Devon** - Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 24-120mm f/4 S at 24mm, f/11, 60 secs at ISO 64, Kase Revolution CPL and 6 stop ND.

The key to getting a compelling photograph was to simplify the scene as much as I could. There was no colour to speak of, very little movement in the water, and the sky was blending into the sea at the horizon. For me, the creative solution was to remove what little colour there was and work in black and white, combined with a long exposure.

With the groyne being the only really definable object in the scene, I thought it could make for a striking composition. The simplicity of the scene actually became its strength. Rather than trying to capture everything in front of me, I could concentrate on that single structure and the atmosphere surrounding it.

So, was my lemonade tasty?

Well, I think it was. But I’d be interested to know what you think, so please leave me a comment below.