In celebration of nothing

Finding barren places and empty spaces is becoming an obsession lately.

The more landscapes I produce, the less I like to include in them.

The incredible shrinking content...

Diminutive Dune - Sand Forms at Low Tide, East Head, West Wittering

Nikon D810, 50mm f1.4 Nikkor, ISO 64, 0.6 second at f11, tripod

18.44, 4th October 2016

For me, this is one of my favourite landscape shots of 2016. I am always on the lookout for simplicity in a composition but very seldom finding it to this degree in the UK.

This is West Wittering at low tide. Far from the sodding crowds of people and animals that ram the place at the weekend, I shot this one on a deserted Tuesday evening at 18.44 - about fifteen minutes after official sunset. I walked as far as I could northwards and worked my way back along the empty sandbanks at dusk. I found many compelling shapes and patterns in the tiny dunes - and with the sun dipping below a cloudy horizon, the diffuse and misty light threw the sand forms into subtle relief and provided a soft, pastel hue to the scene.

As I’ve said before, photography is as much about elimination as it is about inclusion and the emptiness of the sandbanks produced some really successful minimalist images. Being devoid of details and being more about mood, textures, atmosphere and the elemental motif than a specific subject, I appreciate that it won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but for me it was a calm evening of observation, mindfulness and fruitful creativity that produced a haul of shots that gave me immense satisfaction.

It really was a 'Zen and the art of photography' moment.

:-)