Coal dust

A recent issue of Outdoor Photography magazine included a competition on the theme ‘patterns in nature’ which had me doing a quick scroll through my Lightroom library to see what I had.

While I never got around to actually submitting the images, it had at least nudged me into processing a small series of frames I’d taken on a short visit to Newbiggin-by-the-Sea with the family. 

We wandered along the beach where plenty of coal dust had washed up (if ever you need a reminder of the long-lasting effects of industry than coal still washing up on these beaches decades after the last mine closed…) creating high-contrast patterns in the sand as the tide went out, leaving fractals and other patterns with the revealed white sand beneath.

I ended up with four images I like: two colour and two black-and-white, although even the colour images are just about monochrome. 

There’s so much visual interest in the tiniest of details, something I’m trying to pay more attention to when I’m out with the camera.