Daisies, Bridge and Path

This is one of the many photos I’ve taken at Breakwater Country Park at Holyhead in Anglesey.

It was taken at 3:30pm on the 20th July 2023 and developed from a single RAW file using On1 Photo RAW.

I Struggled …

When I first noticed the daises, Gill and I were heading eastwards along the coastal path at Porth Namarch towards the breakwater. I tried to frame up a composition of the flowers close in the foreground with the coast and sea as background interest, but I couldn’t make anything that offered any cohesion, balance and overall interest.

Perhaps this was exacerbated by my shooting close and ultra-wide, but I wanted something more than just the flowers without any supporting context.

I’m predominantly a landscape photographer after all!

Another Shot at the Shot

As mentioned in my previous post, we don’t spend as long walking the path as we used to since Gill’s stroke. So having passed the daisies and bridge, it wasn’t too long before we headed back.

And of course, when I saw the daisies again, I had to have another go at creating a successful composition.

After a few minutes of walking around the daisies, it occurred to me to shoot facing inland and include the bridge as a supporting compositional element. And with the path leading from bottom-left to top-right, the composition now had diagonal drama!

The daisies are suitably emphasised by being close at 10mm APS-C, making them occupy more of the frame.

Close and wide. My usual approach to most genres of photography, and I love it!

I did experiment with selective focus on the flowers themselves, wide open at f/4 for one exposure. But I didn’t like it and settled for the hyper-focally-focussed shot at f/8 – what I’m used to.

I Still Wasn’t Sure

When looking through the day’s shots, I still wasn’t sure about this photo and saw more potential with Post, Heather and Rocks at Porth Namarch. So I developed and published that photo first.

The Crop?

I initially thought this photo would only work as a 4×5 aspect ratio or similar, which doesn’t display well at this website – something which frustrates me a little.

Positive Persistance

However, I was desperate to produce a picture from this. So I ignored my preconceptions, set the crop ratio to my preferred 16×10 and adjusted the framing as I thought served it best.

And it seemed to have some potential, so I carried on with a more positive perspective.

I then worked on the development over a few weeks in my spare time, masking in various of On1’s effects and local adjustments, and returning several times with fresh eyes and ideas.

Eventually, I had the above image which, despite the initial uncertainty, I am now very pleased with.

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