The surfers three...

Summer: The day started off murky enough, and quickly deteriorated until it started to rain. After dealing with some business on the phone during the morning I set out, suitably attired, for a walk along the seafront of Poole Bay, Dorset, where I was also buffeted by winds of up to 30mph (48km/h). Ideal shooting conditions.

Predictably, there are very few people about, enjoying the vagaries of a British summer, but they always make good subjects under such trying conditions. As I approach Boscombe I notice the heads of several surfers dotted among the waves, but they won't be of any help to me unless they come out of the sea. Nothing doing, it seems, as they are quite content to bob up and down with each successive wave that rolls in. Strange that none of them make any attempt to ride a wave, though.

I consider moving on just as three intrepid participants stroll along the beach and enter the water exactly where I wanted them to. I raise the camera, make two exposures, and the shoot is over. I had already planned a mono conversion when out shooting, and added some noise to the finished image in Photoshop, to accentuate the gritty feel of the scene.


24-70mm f/2.8D EX-DG Sigma lens.1/125 second at f/11. - 0.33 EV compensation. ISO 400

© 2012