Forum Competitions #117 Rocky shorelines

[Dennis G]

Hello everyone,

Thank you Gill for selecting my image as the winning entry, have to say i'm more than a little shocked i didn't think it had a chance considering the strong pool of entires, also thank you to all for the good feedback and comments they are appreciated, apologies for the delay only just picked up the results so with that said one of my favourite themes is landscapes therefore with that in mind the next theme is based on rocky coastlines or shores from the most dramatic to peaceful and calm lochs or lakes.

I look forward to seeing your entires and good luck to all.

The deadline is midnight 17th November.

Dennis

[yachtsman1]

After spending 3 years of our life afloat, we have a wealth of images, however from a shortlist of 48 I chose this. Taken 4 years ago on a visit to Northumberland.
Eric.

Curry Point Whitley Bay by E & MS, on Flickr

[melbarnes]

This is Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, Caribbean. The sea here is crystal clear and very safe for swimming; the large rocks form small tunnels - ideal for for swimming through amongst the colourful marine life. Virgin Gorda can be reached by boat from Tortola (the main island in the BVI); Beef Island has the main airport (shed!) and is joined to Tortola by a causeway.

If you ever go to Tortola (a favourite stopping place on P&O cruises), you'll have many good photo opportunities - especially if you take a trip to Long Bay Beach at the west end of Tortola, and if time permits, a boat ride to Virgin Gorda.

[gwenbarnes]

This was taken on a recent holiday in the late afternoon. There were lots of beautiful rock formations around this man made lake.

[Donna]

The Jurassic Coast, good old England, in August this year - we went to the New Forest for our wedding anniversary and we couldn't miss out on seeing this. It's just next to Durdle Door on the way towards Lulworth Cove. Never seen such an amazingly clear blue sea in the UK before!


Cheers,

Donna

[GERRYG]

THE GREAT ORME LIGHTHOUSE

[KEASLA]

Whitby Shoreline by KEASLA, on Flickr

[Janice Freeman]

Brewing Storm - taken from the shores of Lazise on Lake Garda.

Lago di Garda - Lazise1.jpg (111.28 KiB) Viewed 10505 times

[Tracey McGovern]

Here is my image, taken in Scotland earlier this year.....

IMG_6736-v3-web-v2.jpg (126.17 KiB) Viewed 10471 times

Tracey

[Paul Jones]

At the head of Loch nan Uamh, three miles west of Lochailort, Scotland, is the Loch nan Uamh Viaduct.

[bazzasmeg]

Waswater shore line

Regards, Barry

[John]

Dawn Over Loch Awe.jpg (183.05 KiB) Viewed 10373 times

Dawn over Loch Awe. We made and packed the bacon butties the night before, just having the flask of coffee to prepare in the morning. Then John, Sue's cousin< and myself made our way from Dalavich down onto the shores of Loch Awe. It was something like a 5.30am start. When the sun started to rise, we started to shoot. This was shot on film, Kodachrome 64, loaded into a Pentax MX camera with SMC Pentax 15mm f/3.5 lens.

[keith richardson]

Hi,
Elgol, Isle of Skye. ( again !! )

elgol stones 01.jpg (199.07 KiB) Viewed 10350 times

Regards, keith.

[Dennis G]

Thank you all for your superb entries, the results and comments will be posted this evening

[Dennis G]

Hello everyone, as promised the results of this competition are below together with my thoughts, first time i have judged a competition so i hope i got it right, thanks for all the entries all of which were capable of winning, anyway my top three were so difficult to place anyone of them could have won for different reasons so here goes.

Eric –Curry Point, Whitley Bay
Eric this is a very nice image of a spectacular part of our coast, the road and fence line leads the eye perfectly towards the beach and the dominant lighthouse in the background, that said and just for this competition I would have preferred to have seen more of the coastline and what was going on beyond the road than the actual road and fence, which I think slightly weakens what would have been a perfect shot had you taken it from the beach and fitted the brief more, but nice shot anyway.

Mel - Virgin Gorda
Mel, I’m not sure if you stumbled on this location by accident but if you didn’t well spotted, the rock formations are so random and unexpected particularly when you think of a coastline like this, the colours are stunning with the outlet from your vantage point leading perfectly towards the open bay and the moored craft , the hilly backdrop in the background breaks up the horizon nicely, the only point I would make is that the bay looks a little too busy in such a small area for me other than that nice shot, well done.

Gwen - Lake Powell
Gwen, this shot could have been potentially perfect, simple but nice rock formation not too fussy or busy and the colour of the rock face I could imagine when the sun was rising or setting would be spectacular (you haven’t got a shot of that by the way have you ?). The contrast between the colour of the rock (which reminds me of the Sinai peninsula coastline) against the dramatic sky just adds even more flavour and interest to the image, well spotted shot, the only point is I would have liked to have seen a slightly longer stretch of this coast may be a pano but very well done.

Donna – Jurassic coast
Donna, it looks like you were risking life and limb to take this stunning shot I know this area quite well and your absolutely right it’s an amazingly beautiful place, I really like the line of the coast in this image and that’s down to your composition, the three different shades of the sea which naturally highlights the horizon at the top right of the shot leads the eye way off to sea nice touch. I think you have composed the shot well whether that was intentional or not, but it doesn’t matter you have captured a lovely image, well done.

Gerry – Great Orme Lighthouse
Gerry, Again taken from a superb vantage point showing a nice view of the lighthouse, i like the vibrant colours between the landscape and the sea , I also like the well chosen or well found rocky foreground which blends in nicely with the stone on the lighthouse in the background providing a nice depth of field if you look hard enough its almost 3D, the shot sort of draws you in making you want to look over the edge of the foreground rock in the hope of capturing a more dramatic coastline, well thought out and very nice shot, well done.

Keasla – Whitby Shoreline
Well I asked for dramatic and rocky shorelines and this image doesn’t fail to deliver it has everything that I asked for, rolling waves in the foreground lapping the mound of fallen rock at the base of the cliff, the cliff face revealing the many years of rock formation, the stunning dramatic sky, each element of this image has superb contrast which complements the whole shot, the fact that it is in mono just adds to the effect, very nice well done.

Janice – Lake Garda
Janice, another nice shot I like the dramatic sky / cloud formation and the natural light that lights up the faint lines of the mountain range backdrop, as I’m not familiar with this location I couldn’t work out what the brick paving on the beach was for or is that a raised path anyway whatever it is the way the shot has been taken provides a very interesting illusion and that's what I like about this one it’s unusual, the post in the sea prompts a story and adds an interesting aspect to the composition, good post processing well done.

Tracy - Scotland
Tracy, For me Scotland and the Highlands in particular is an amazing area of natural beauty and I think you have captured that here, I love everything about this image it has it all, just enough water to not cause a distraction which laps over the random rocks on the shoreline, the rocks and posts leading out into the loch (I’m assuming it’s a loch) leads the eye to the mountain backdrop as well as the stunning sky, i was drawn to a nice little touch with the pebbles in the left foreground indicating the beginning of a pebbled beach behind where you stood which leaves you with a feeling of “to be continued” the colours are good, the processing perfect and not overdone, well chosen shutter speed to add a slight silky effect to the water’s edge, very nice well done.

Paul – Loch Nan Uamh viaduct
Paul as with Tracy’s you can’t avoid getting stunning shots in Scotland and this is another one, I know this area well and again this shot has everything I have asked for, the rocky foreground is a nice starting point that leads to the viaduct on the opposite side taking the eye in a horseshoe journey around the bay, cleverly taken shot that makes you take in all the bay, nice contrasting colours particularly on the foreground rocks with a very familiar mountain backdrop, the only thing for me is your stamp in the bottom right, spoils it for me, but well done.

Bazzasmeg – Waswater shoreline
Barry I couldn’t help but to keep coming back to this one and each time my opinion of it changed, this image again captures everything I asked for, love the rocky foreground of the shore with its contrasting colours and the tree branch to the right just dipping in the water providing good reflection, the foreground shoreline again takes the eye on a right to left horseshoe journey around the bay to the foreground mountain range which for me is absolutely stunning and further back in the valley you just make out the cloud rolling over the mountain top, if all that’s not enough, the water itself beautifully reflects the mountain range and the dramatic sky, the shadow on the water in turn reveals the rocks just under the waters surface, the lone bare tree on the left hand shoreline completes this stunning composition, very well done.

John – Dawn over Loch Awe
John, admire your tenacity lovely shot the light just enough to create this fantastic reflection in the loch of the tree line to the left and the stunning early dawn cloud and sky, the sun glinting off the rock formation in the foreground and middle ground is spectacular the shades of blue that the natural dawn light provides is captured well although I’m not that sure if it has made any difference to that effect by using film, the textures and contrasting shades on the rocks are so vivid and clear to see, beautiful scene wish I had been there to shoot this as one as well, for me it was just short of a 14 point stag stood on the end of the jetty looking out into the loch, maybe that’s asking too much.

Keith – Elgol, Isle of Skye
Keith, stunning contrasts throughout this shot, the shoreline rock formations and rock pools provide beautiful reflected natural light which in turn cleverly highlights the colours of the individual pebbles on the shore, can’t help thinking about a volcano larva flow when I look at this foreground, to the right I can just make out the grassy cliff top with what looks like snow on the lower ledge, again it takes the eye in a natural journey around the bay to a stunning and dramatic mountain peak range, nice cloud formation that look post storm, with the water nicely lapping the rocky shoreline I can see some reflection in the loch which nicely adds to the composition, nice colouring great composition, just wondered if you had taken the shot earlier the water may have been calmer providing greater reflection of the mountain range. Well done.

So my top three are in reverse order are:

3rd Keasla -Whitby Shoreline
2nd Tracy - Scotland
1st Bazzasmeg – Waswater shoreline

Well done Barry, over to you.