Since I came out of hospital last year after my serious health episode I have been working hard to get really fit again. This means that wherever I am my early morning walk is conducted at a faster pace than previously. So when I was visiting a friend in beautiful Blueys Beach on the mid-coast of New South Wales a few days ago, I crept out of the apartment just as the sun was coming up and set off up the stunning surf beach at a very brisk pace.
I had gone only 100 meters when I realised that I had not picked up my camera. I though “no worries” I’ll give it a miss this time. Then I looked along the beach and saw the surf rolling in, the sun breaking through the mist and the rocky outcrop of Seal Rocks outlined on the horizon. There could be a photo in that somewhere. So I turned tail and crept back in to picked up my X1.
And I am glad I did. I took just a couple of photos and this is one of them. It is a big crop and the colour original was very blue — because the scene was itself very blue. I spent some time trying to dial out the blueness but in the end took out so much colour that it was black and white and I decided that it actually looked better in monochrome. So I did it properly and converted the file in Silver Efex Pro.
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- You can find more from John Shingleton at The Rolling Road and on on Instagram at therollingroad.
David, my goodness. A grey card? No way. I’ve always found the auto white balance on the X1 very dependable and when the colour is not where I want it to be I adjust it in Lightroom. This particular morning it was bluer than blue but it was Blueys Beach after all.
Aren’t grey cards only carried by old men with view cameras and wooden tripods when they go into Yosemite?
John, I enjoyed looking at your monochrome version of Bluey’s Beach. Picking up on your reference to excess blue, do you ever resort to using a calibrated grey card in such situations?
Hi John, that’s a nice image and never a truer comment than the best camera is the one your carrying.
I have been out today with the X, using some of the settings suggested by Wayne and yourself. Hopefully I will have some useful images when I check later.
Dave