Ian Bramham's Photoblog
Formby Point
Posted by Ian Bramham (Manchester, United Kingdom) on 22 July 2008 in Landscape & Rural and Portfolio.
A photo taken in the sand dunes at Formby Point on the NW coast of England on Saturday during some stormy weather with the sand flying everywhere in winds of about 35mph.
Formby is just a few miles from Birkdale where the Open golf championship was taking place and is where I used to live before moving to the Manchester area with work about 8 years ago.
For purchasing high quality archival prints of any of these photos you can send me an email by clicking here or by going to MY NEW WEBSITE where prices are listed in the gallery sections under each individual photo.
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Links to the websites of other photographers whose work I love and who have all helped me enormously over a long period of time. I find the work of all 3 to be inspirational.
dj.tigersprout from San Bruno, United States
what beautiful light! i love this winding 's' and the wonderfully contrasting colors here -- yellow into blue. gorgeous!
22 Jul 2008 5:12am
@dj.tigersprout: Thanks very much!
Sharon from Brooklyn, United States
OOHHH I love this one. First just because it's a nice change from the b/w (not to take anything away from them as they are consistently awesome!) and also because look at the fantastic light here! Makes the blue and yellow pop so nicely. Stormy and cool.
22 Jul 2008 5:13am
@Sharon: Thanks Sharon...I was really lucky with the light and knew that this one would be in colour as soon as I saw it on the lcd. By the way, the slight fuzziness in the sand area is because it was so windy and the loose sand was blowing across the surface....I came back with sand everywhere (fortunately none inside the camera!)
@~Kylie~: Thanks very much Kylie!
Ted from South Wales, United Kingdom
Ian I understand what Sharon is saying (and I agree) because here you've drawn out all the drama of the scene from the striking colours and heavy clouds. This is really quite special!
22 Jul 2008 5:56am
@Ted: Thanks very much Ted!
Mike from Lichfield, United Kingdom
Fantastic photo. The light is wonderful and the fence leads the eye nicely to the dark clouds.
22 Jul 2008 6:14am
@Mike: Thanks Mike....I was very lucky with the light!
@thib: Thanks very much thib!
ManuelaR from Hainburg, Germany
Fantastic light and tones! Absolutely love it... ;)
22 Jul 2008 6:39am
@ManuelaR: Thanks very much Manuela!
@Eleftheria!: Thanks Eleftheria.....I'm really pleased that you are keeping up with your photography. Give my best to your Mum & Dad!
hugo poon from hong kong, Hong Kong
Your superb composition and the contrasting colours have created the drama... wonderful capture!!
22 Jul 2008 7:03am
@hugo poon: Thanks Hugo....it was lovely to get such interesting light and clouds!
Mirko Herzner from Mühlheim am Main, Germany
What great colors (especially the sand) you have captured here. No footsteps. Seems to be some remote spot...
22 Jul 2008 7:17am
@Mirko Herzner: Thanks Mirko....I shot this in Raw format and saturated the colours in Photoshop. The place isn't too remote but very few people visit it especially on such a windy day. I'm posting a photo of the main beach at Formby Point as Wednesday's photo which will give you a good idea of just how deserted it was.
Peter Mannfolk from Landskrona, Sweden
Simply excellent, how did you process this one? /Peter
22 Jul 2008 8:46am
@Peter Mannfolk: Thanks Peter....as you know I shoot in 'Raw' format so all my photos are post processed. For this one I saturated the colours in Photoshop CS3 and added contrast using 'levels' both over the photo as a whole and in a few selected areas.
Erik from Amersfoort, Netherlands
Lovely shot, great contrast between colors, great composition.
22 Jul 2008 9:19am
@Erik: Thanks Erik....this is a photo I'd been wanting to take for quite a while but I don't live near the coast these days so it had to wait for the right opportunity (and the right light :-)
Monique from Koh Samui, Thailand
Wow! I already liked this as a thumbnail, it caught my attention immediately. In big view its stunning ... great colors, almost HDR-like. Great shot, glad your camera came out o.k. ;)
22 Jul 2008 9:21am
@Monique: Thanks Monique....I was really worried about the camera as fine sand in the air is supposed to be lethal for electronic equipment but up to know it seems not to have suffered at all (fingers crossed!)
@Daryl: Thanks very much Daryl!
MadScientist from Düsseldorf, Germany
This subject definitely needs colour: that warm light reflected by the sand is really beautiful, though the clouds tell that it isn't too hot. Love it!
22 Jul 2008 11:30am
@MadScientist: Thanks....if you watched the Open golf championship on TV you'll realise how stormy and changeable the weather was. I've lived most of my life near the beach here on the NW coast of England and have never seen it as windy as this with so much loose sand being blown about.
Michael Skorulski from Cigel, Hong Kong
Lovely. I like the way the sky seems to crush down on the fence.
22 Jul 2008 11:53am
@Michael Skorulski: Thanks Michael....I was really lucky to get a glimpse of the sun with those heavy clouds!
Lorraine from Canada
It's difficult to leave an intelligent, technical appraisal of this outstanding composition, It' difficult because it's a vision...I am struck by Awe
22 Jul 2008 11:53am
@Lorraine: Hi Lorraine....photographs for me are all about emotions rather than technical issues so I'm really delighted that you like it on that emotional level.
Pouhou from Apeldoorn, Netherlands
A nice density sky that the blue contrast with the color of the sand
22 Jul 2008 11:55am
@Pouhou: Thanks very much Pouhou!
@ordinaryimages: Thanks very much jf!
Teresa from Mountain View, United States
I agree with Lorraine. Sometimes it's hard for us to leave an intelligent remark. Sometimes we are left just staring in awe at not only the beauty of what is before us but how the photographer was able to capture it. Need I say you captured it well?!!! Actually, more than well!
22 Jul 2008 3:18pm
@Teresa: That's very kind of you Teresa....it's a very simple photo really but I've saturated the colours and added some contrast to get it to look like this.
The 'S' curve of the fence is something that i find really attractive compositionally (and it's used a lot in architecture too). I've used it before in other images like this one: http://ianbramham.aminus3.com/image/2008-04-13.html
Marcie from United States
Love the contrast of warm and cool color tones. The endless fence makes it!! Really nice composition.
22 Jul 2008 3:23pm
@Marcie: Thanks very much Marcie!
@Ramiro De Leon: Thanks for that Ramiro!
Cheryl from Texas, United States
this is really, really beautiful. great composition and that sky!! WOW!!! nice processing. hope the sand didn't get in your camera
22 Jul 2008 3:38pm
@Cheryl: Thanks Cheryl....I'm pretty sure the camera is okay as I've used it a couple of times since Saturday when I took this photo (finger's crossed!)
Paco Díaz from Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Wonderful composition. I like the color and the line driving us deep into the image. I like also the contrast betrween light in the field and this strong sky.
Very good, congratulations.
22 Jul 2008 3:51pm
@Paco Díaz: Thanks very much Paco!
@Cia: Thanks very much Cia!
@danthro: Thanks for that Danthro!
Laurie from New Jersey, United States
This is truly a beautiful photo. I love the leading line the fence creates here.
22 Jul 2008 10:11pm
Petou from Toulouse, France
I really like the fence here. Remind me the western coast of France where I spent my childhood vacations. Moreover what's make really interesting this picture is the contrast between the sand ant the cloudy sky. To put it in a nutshell you succeeded in capturing the mood ! Well done !
22 Jul 2008 11:22pm
Monique from Netherlands
Great depth and dramatic sky, the contrast between this sky and the sunny sand is beutiful
22 Jul 2008 11:26pm
Fliss from Melbourne Beach, United States
Love the shot... though I have never been to England to me it just looks like an 'English' sky with the storm rolling in ... one place I would like to visit one day...
22 Jul 2008 11:43pm
A.Boismier from Toronto, Canada
Wonderful photograph!
The light here is fabulous.
23 Jul 2008 1:10am
DarkElf from Perth, Australia
brilliant simple image! the contrast between the sand and the dramatic sky is very telling and the wavy fence leads nicely into the shot!
23 Jul 2008 2:42am
Vincent Bertrand from Montréal, Canada
I simply love it. It has all to do with that low angle POV shooting up that fence and gorgeous sky. Excellent use of that diagonal. That sand seems hot (I do NOT mean overexposed...)
24 Jul 2008 6:04am
Francesc B. from région parisienne, France
Your composition is excellent... a good work with tones and contrast... A beautiful dynamic with the wide angle and the curves of the barrier... perfect... hoping that there was no sand in your eyes and in the camera... :))
15 Sep 2008 11:54am
Kristian from Denmark
Love the lines, and the colours are perfect. My kind of shot!
18 Sep 2008 2:46am
Nikon D40
1/1000 second
F/8.0
ISO 200
15 mm (35mm equiv.)