Log Ashore
A few weeks ago I featured a couple of long exposures of waves swishing like a diaphanous curtain in front of the beach. These pictures are from that same series, taken from above on a staircase that leads down to the beach in front of Beacon Hill Park.
At the time of my earlier posts I decided I did not like the distraction of the log and its bright colour and only posted b&w. This post is about one of those logs, the yellower one, that washed onto the beach, through my long exposures, sometimes showing up as a couple of ghosts as it moved and stopped and moved some more during the exposure. As a series I find them interesting because logs are everywhere on our beaches, less often seen afloat and rarely noticed as they beach themselves. This happens dozens of times a day on the beaches around me, but I pay scant attention. This time, I caught it ‘on film’ and rather like the series documenting the progress from floating to resting on the sand.
I have put the series into a gallery so they can be moved through in the order they were taken, as the log came to rest. The last shot features the log from beach level.
Click on the first image below (upper left) and you will then be able to navigate through the gallery.
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- from beach level f-16, 10 seconds
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- higher and dryer f-11, 5 seconds
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- swirled against f-11, 10 seconds
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- draining dry f-11, 10 seconds
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- wave kissed again f-11, 10 seconds
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- High and dry f-11, 10 seconds
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- High and almost dry f-11, 10 seconds
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- First rest f-11, 10 seconds
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- Ghostly log rides ashore in stages f-11, 10 seconds
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- Log appears, with ghost f-11, 10 seconds
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See this map for the location of this and nearby posts on the beach.
Canon EOS 5Dmkii, Canon 50/1.4 lense, ISO100; see captions for aperture and shutter, Cameron ND Fader filter, at about 4-5 f-stops of density.
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burnt embers 
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Cool!
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Thanks Danita. Wet too 😉
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What a totally unique post to enjoy, my friend! Natural and abstract in it’s presentation, this set tells the story of the log very well! Love it, my friend, you really have a great ability for this work.
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Thanks Toad – what kind words! Around here its pretty hard to find a direct overlook on a beach like this, so its nice to be able to get a shot down onto the waves. The long exposure, and the angle, makes them quite abstract. I must return to that spot in other conditions, I think there is a lot of potential remaining.
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Nice series of photos..
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Hi Efrata and welcome to my blog. Thanks for your comments and I hope to see you back again. I noticed your posts about Australian wines and will have to go back for a closer look. Great photos too 🙂
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Very nice show of movement. A great series.
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Hi Joseph – thanks so much. It is very west coast isn’t it? Logs on a beach with pebbles and waves. 🙂
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It’s a great place and your photos show it intimately.
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I remember the first one in the series from before and thought at the time it was one of your most sophisticated and elegant photographs. Martina
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Hi martina – “sophisticated” and “elegant” – two new words to grace the comments section of my blog! And very welcome they are. Thank you.
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Fabulous idea Ephem! I love these images and all the swirling water and ghostliness of them. Beautiful and nicely executed.
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Hi Karen, thanks so much. I really like the curtains of foamy water draped transparently on the beach, but it can be really hard to photograph. Long exposures seem to work for that, but are pretty hard to control – so much happens in 10 or 20 seconds that its a lottery when you push the shutter.
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Nice series! Although similar, each photo is very unique. Well done.
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Hi there – welcome to my blog, I hope to see you around some more. And thanks for your comment. Each photo was a bit of a shot in the dark hoping for the effect I was after and that the waves would line up nicely with the beach, and so on. My earlier posts were of the ones I liked the best, but these ones worked out too – I think the subject matter is just plain old photogenic.
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Beautiful. I love the diaphanous curtain of waves against the pebbles and driftwood. The ghostly log in stages is wonderful. I like how these images are a great foil the heaviness of yesterday’s image. It shows your versatility.
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Hi Ryan – thanks so much. I can barely take credit for the versatility of the natural world that presents itself to my lens. There is a great deal in my photos that is unplanned and not really seen. But I will take you compliment gladly 🙂
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I really like this series of photos, they each have a life of their own. The slow shutter technique works well with the moving water. I also like the low color saturation on them. It brings out a tension as well as a calming effect on the photos.
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Hello Ken – thanks so much. I did nothing to the colour saturation, at least not on purpose. The contrast adjustments I made would probably have added some saturation, or brought the colour out. So, just a low colour scene I think. Interesting what you say about the effect of lower saturation is, or at least is in this circumstance. I have to think about that more. I can see vivid colours having the opposite effect, but have not really thought about the reverse. It would explain to me why my son always goes for a desaturated look in his photos – he likes calming effects.
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