Dreaming of the Beach on a Winter Day
Looking across the sand dunes toward the lifeguard hut and the beach at Cocoa Beach, Florida. Looks nice, doesn’t it? Especially when looking at it through a computer monitor on a cold winter day.
By the time you are reading this, we may or may not be under several inches of snow, if the weather forecasts are to be believed. Or maybe some sleet and freezing rain. Or maybe several inches of snow on top of that sleet and freezing rain. Or maybe just rain, depending on what sort of temperatures we get. You never can tell with those weather forecasts. Maybe they should just call them weather guesses instead of weather forecasts. I know it is hard to get it right every time because while weather patterns can sometimes be predictable, at other times they completely catch you off guard. Sort of like opening a can of biscuits. You never quite know for certain when it is going to go BOOM!
However, the weather guys (and girls) do seem to be fairly confident of our potential for snowfall right now, so I thought about sharing a beach photo, just to play it safe and stick with something warm and nice. Snow photos are sometimes good, but they are better after the snow has gone and you are just left with the pleasant memories rather than the bitter cold temperatures and traffic fun. And by fun I mean nightmares. Which always makes me hope that if we do get snow, it gets started early enough that they can cancel school and stuff before everyone (mainly my family) has to leave home. Because people don’t drive well in the snow around here. Some of them don’t even drive well in good conditions, so imagine how much worse it gets when you add in a lack of traction.
Anyway, I bet the beach people (and the hotels-near-the-beach people) do quite a bit of booking business this time of year. What better way to entice people to come enjoy your warm, sunny beach than to remind them of how warm and sunny your beach is on a cold, snowy winter day? Works for me. Just looking at this scene makes me ready to go, and as I am writing this it is still above freezing and raining instead of below freezing and snowing. Of course, I love the beach anyway, but on these winter days, it seems even more inviting. But maybe there’s a very smart reason that you see a few more beach commercials on TV during this time of year. That’s probably not a coincidence, I’m thinking.
But now that I think about it, even on a warm, sunny day here, I would probably still fall for some beach advertising, even when I am already sweating from being outdoors around our house. Because when is the beach never a good idea? Besides the obvious answer of when a hurricane is approaching?
So yes, the beach is good for me any time, I guess. I mean, I forecast.
The day is Yours, also the night; You established the moon and the sun. You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made summer and winter. - Psalm 74:16-17
About the Photo
While this looks like a simple photo, it was a little more involved than just pushing the shutter button, thanks to some post processing. I layered in a few different elements on top of the base photo, all taken from the same Raw file. I created one exposure for the darkened sky, bringing out the cloud texture and color just a bit from the original gray. I then created a lighter exposure to bring out the sawgrass texture just a bit more. Finally, I created an even lighter exposure to make the lifeguard hut stand out more and not look quite so dark. Just some little touches to make a nice scene look even better. And if you wouldn’t have realized that without my telling you, then my mission was accomplished.
Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus M.Zukio 25mm f1.8
Date: June 12, 2016
Location: Cocoa Beach, Florida
