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Afternoon light reflects on the surface of the Pacific Ocean beyond the Point Reyes lighthouse.
(Some of the following is repeated from a previous post of the same photograph in a color version.) Although our trip to Point Reyes was not primarily to do photography, somehow I ended up bringing back quite a few photographs! This photograph was made from the iconic overlook at “the point” and right above the long stairway down to the historic lighthouse. On this afternoon high clouds were streaming in from the Pacific and casting a mottled pattern of light and shadows on the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
This spot is often completely socked in by clouds and/or extremely windy and cold. However, this was perhaps the most benign afternoon I’ve experienced there. The temperatures were very comfortable – we were a bit too warm on the walk to the point. The sun was out, and the wind was nearly still at times.
I wasn’t certain when I made the exposure of whether it would end up being a black and white or a color photograph. I’m still not sure! I’m sharing the color version first, but a black and white rendition will follow shortly.
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Thanks, Pat. I can’t decide! :-)
I’m often still surprised by how different a scene will look in black and white and color versions. Most often one or the other seems to me to be the better choice, but every so often I come across one where both have their appeal. I think that the black and white rendition encourages us to abstract the content of the image a bit more since it is less bound to the reality of the scene. In some ways, this may encourage us – as it seems to have done for you – to “see” elements of the image less as representations of reality and more as shape and form and light.
Dan
This is beautiful in B&W too, Dan! It’s interesting how color can change how you see an image. In the version you posted today, my eyes weren’t as drawn to the lighthouse as they were in the color version and I noticed much more in the light coming through the clouds. In yesterday’s post, I completely missed the subtle patterns in the light rays reaching towards the ocean, as well as the great shadows of the clouds on the surface.