North Beach Greys
More from my recent trip to Haida Gwaii. These black and white shots are all from North Beach which is located between Massett to the east and Tow Hill to the west (visible in the distance in one of these shots – see map here). This is one of the few beaches left in BC where you can are allowed to drive on the sand. I don’t mind bikes, but when I am out in the “middle of nowhere” it is pretty disconcerting to have a jeep blast past on the beach. Every now and then the unwary lose a vehicle to the sea, so I suppose a price is exacted by nature.
I know it is a cliché to be photographing patterns in the sand, but that is probably for a good reason since they are often fascinating and fun to photograph. These were taken on an overcast day with very flat light and almost no colour in the photos, so I converted to black and white.
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Canon 5Dii with Canon 100/f2.8 Macro, ISO100. 1st, 2nd, 4th: f9. Others: f2.8.
burnt embers 
Wonderful textures. I love the gritty reality of the shell agains the grains of sand. Well played.
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Thank you Ryan. Gritty reality – that’s a beach for ya 🙂 The reality of sand between the toes and showing up at home days later.
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Following your blog is a true highlight of my day for me here, Ehpem, I love the diversity in your work and always come away learning something!
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Thanks so much Toad – what wonderful praise 🙂
Would you drive your Corvette on this beach? Something tells me not.
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Probably not so much, my good friend! LOL I am both amazed at the interest that man-made lines add to these sorts of semi-abstract settings, but at the same time it really leaves me less than impressed. I was taught to leave things as you found them… and nothing would be further from this concept than finding a stuck Corvette in the sand with a pair of sad looking Toads standing nearby!
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The car rental agency had a book full of pictures of their vehicles in a bad way, including sinking stern first into sand with waves washing in like some small Titanic going down. There are instructions at road entrances onto the beach about what tide levels are safe to drive above, and so on. Even so, the rental agreement for the car said in large letters No Driving On Beaches. For good reason.
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LOL! Wow, Ehpem, that’s quite the thing! That’s very similar to the warning you find on a hairdryer that says “Do not bring into bathtub”.
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Yeah, and probably at the hairdryer manufacturing company, or their lawyers, is a book of photos like the one at the car rental agency of people (or their remains) that actually should have heeded the advice. Sure makes you wonder, eh?
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Love the velvety textures.
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Hi Karen – I had to settle for car and bike tracks, I was really hoping for mussel tracks or similar, like you seem to have a knack for finding.
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Beautiful.
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Thank you Mike.
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Beautiful series.
Good line on the first three pics.
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Thank you David.
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That second shot is a masterpiece – makes me want to drop everything and head for the coast. Trouble is I live almost dead centre in the UK – and the coast is a long drive.
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Thank you Andy. Well, dead centre UK is a pretty nice place to be too, but a long sand beach with its huge horizon and fascinating details has a lot going for it. To get to such beaches from Victoria is also a long drive as they are mostly found on the west coast of the island – 4 or 5 hours from here (Vancouver Island is only a bit smaller than England).
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Maybe patterns in the sand are cliché but I enjoy them nonetheless, and I take my share, too. Texture and tone are subjects for a lot of photographers as much as sunsets, sunrises and baskets of kittens.
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Ah yes, these could have been improved by careful placement of a basket of kittens on the sand, at sunset 🙂
There is something about the ordered patterning of water worked sediment that is fascinating – a macro scale expression of the orderliness of much of nature that makes them a worthy subject of photography.
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