Ice Ripples

You might be wondering what part of the world your looking at here, The

Alps perhaps? The Majestic Pyranees? ....The Grand

Rockies? ...well,,,nothing quite so spectacular, these are merely the

sand dunes on Formby beach, and the ripples you can see are coming

from me standing in about 12" of semi frozen sea water,... well what

else would I be doing on Christmas Eve! Your thoughts and comments

are always appreciated Thank You.

A delightful picture with a grand caption full of smiles. Merry Christmas. The lack of scale is very effective in this image. 

Tranquil, ticklish ripples ... ingenuous composition.  Delightful exposition.  I enjoy this very much

The waves and the dark tonal is the key to me. Nice details in the horizon line. Awesome.

Thanks for sharing. All the best. Regards.

Like Kaushik, I find the ripples and the gradation in the color of the water to be most interesting.  To me, it's a very tranquil, peaceful, and quiet photo.

It's a beautiful image Alf.  You would not obtain such a beutiful shot 'over here' in 'Cana'der'......if it were possible with the temps we had Christmas Eve...'you'd be hav'in no toes left to be sure' ! Tranquility and calm your message is sending. Thankfully it was too early to be enjoying some 'nog'....or we'd not be seeing such a lovely composition. Hope your Christmas Eve continued on a 'Beautiful Note'.  most Sincerely, Gail

Nice creative image, Alf.  Just for the fun of it - not to diminish what you have done with the ripples - I thought I'd offer this option - perhaps as a separate image.  Most interesting sand dunes and great reflection.  The best to you and Happy New Year.

I usually like crops, because they often reveal another image within an image.  I think Larry's crop is a good example.  I'd concur with Larry's own assessment -- it's not necessarily a better photo, just a different photo.  Larry's crop gives more emphasis to the dunes and their reflection, with a bit of the ripples still remaining for a nice effect.  The nature of the photo has changed considerably with this crop, so it really is another photo within Alf's original photo.  I expect some will gravitate towards Alf's original, while other's will prefer Larry's vision.  Such is the diversity of viewer preference, and it's an example (IMO) of one of the values of a site like PN.

Wonderful Alpine scenery from Formby Alf,very convincing,the shadows give it scale,excellent work,regards

Alf....  Well, you ruined it for me!  I admired this from the thumbnail to the large size, all the time thinking it a grand mountain range full of snow!  Then I find.... sand :-).  Very well, I still like the composition and the beautiful simplicity.  As Stephen noted, there will be different views.  I gravitate toward the original because of the dark foreground; so full of mystery, but having the dynamic range it pulls my eyes even stronger to the bright subject.  An excellent presentation.   Ahem, I won't even guess about you being out in the freezing water on Christmas Eve ;-).... Mike

An excellent capture ,composition and presentation !!

Wishing you a Happy And Prosperous 2011.

 

Ramesh Sathyamurthi

Well, I hope there was hot toddy waiting for you when you got home. Or did Father Christmas get it first. Great image. I love sand dunes.

CRAIG

Sincere thanks for your interest and positive comments, this is one of the few times I have seen a lack of scale works in favour of an image.

All the best for the new year Craig!

Alf

DONNA

I'm  pleased that my ripples tickled the right places : - ) , but most of all I'm pleased that you enjoyed it. Sincere thanks for your visit and feedback

Best Wishes

Alf

KAUSHIK

Sincere thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, very much appreciated. I suppose the detailed dunes can be partly attributed to their relative proximity, so I can't take toomuch credit for that. : -)

Best Regards

Alf

STEPHEN

Many thanks for your visit and positive feedback. I suppose it could be argued that it would be even more peaceful and tranquil if I hadn't waded into the icy pool with my size 10 wellies, but perhaps the laguid ripples themselves add to the laid back atmosphere.

Kind Regards

Alf

GAIL

Many Thanks for your visit and positive feedback. On this particular day it was only -6c but it had been  -15c the week before in this area. The icicles on some of the rooftops we passed must have been some 30" long. But I'm guessing these tempratures are just normal to you guys! I've never seen weather like this in our part of the world before, and I was amazed because when we got to the beach at the edge of the Irish Sea, the waves that lapped the shore were made of slush! Christmas eve and Christmas day was brilliant! I do hope you had a good time too.

Best Wishes for New Year Gail!

Alf

LARRY

Many thanks for stopping by, and for your interest in this image. I really like that crop, it puts a different emphasis on the whole composition, but in a very positive way.

Cheers Larry! and best Wishes for the New Year

Alf

STEPHEN

I'm inclined to agree with you. The image is different and offers an alternative to the original that retains it's aesthetics but changes it's emphasis. The ability to see the "landscape within a landscape" is one of the skills that I admire in fellow photographers, I think this is a skill that is sharpened with experience and practise as I seem to be getting better at it myself, though I must confess I didn't see this particular crop. But as you say, that's the beauty of a site like PN.

Cheers Stephen!

HARRY

Many Thanks for stopping by, and for your positive feedback. You just gave me an idea for an alternative title "The Formby Alps" : - )

Cheers Harry All The Best for the New Year.

Alf

MIKE

Oooops! sorry mate! I Just couldn't lie my nose is big enough already : - ) I was tempted though! Not often you get snow on the beach round here, not in these kind of quantities, the edge of the sea actually turned to slush. I'll post a few more in due course. I'm very pleased you liked it Mike.

Best Wishes for New Year!

Alf

RAMESH

Many thanks for your visit and encouraging words, much appreciated.

Very Best Wishes for New Year

Alf

ADRIENNE

The sand dunes at Formby are part of a nature reserve, they are home to some endangered species like the Natterjack Toad and the Red Squirrel, a great place to visit at any time, but spectacular with this covering of snow. I think father Christmas got the hot toddy and his reindeer ate me mince pies : - ) I did manage to rescue a couple of beers though!

Lovely to hear from you Adienne, Best Wishes for the New Year!

Alf

 

 

 

A beautiful scene Alf.   I am steered a little more toward the sweeping landscape in the crop, but I am usually inclined that direction.  As mentioned previously, the lack of scale really pushes the envelope, you really are unsure what you are looking at.  A wondrous capture with great ingenuity.  Best regards, and a happy Christmas with a joyous New Year...

-Dave

Good to hear from you! Many thanks for your visit and encouraging comments. I too like the cropped version and must confess to not having envisioned it myself first, but then I think I was maybe too engrossed in my self created ripples. I'm really pleased you liked this one.

Sincere Best wishes for Christmas and New Year

Alf

Looks like a mountain range in Antarctica to me.  Nice reflection.  I love the arcs made by the ripples.  They really make the shot special.  Nice soft light as well.

Yet another great shot...

Many thanks for your visit and considered thoughts, much appreciated! The ripples were purposely made to give some interest to the foreground, but  everything else is natural, in fact very little in the way of processing either.

Cheers Jerry

Alf

After looking at all your snow covered sand dune pictures I can say that I like this one the best.  This is very peaceful with the gentle ripples.  I like the contrast level in this image it is not as dramatic as in either of the 'arctic dunes' images and the dunes are better balanced than in the 'icing on the cake' image.

This is very beautiful!

Jim

Very nice image with superb sharpness and low light falling in the mountains/hills. Lovely reflections as well. Altough the title was named Ripples, I would still prefer the cropped version. Well done and wish you a Happy New Year!

JIM

Many thanks for looking through them all, and taking time to comment, very much appreciated. It is also very useful to know your reasons for the preferences as you have explained. This is the beauty of PN, people very often see thing that are not immediateley apparent to the photographer. This is also my favourite from the day, the light was softer due to the late afternoon winter sun.

Best Regards

Alf

JOHN

I like the crop also, it's possibilty was something that I wasn't aware of immediately, so I'm really pleased Larry pointed it out. The Pano type composition adds to the illusion of the photograph being of mountains, and not just a few snow covered sand dunes. Sincere thanks for your feedback John much appreciated.

Best Wishes for 2011

Alf

Beautiful...yet, kind of ominous. HNY, BR,vf

Wonderful image dear Alf!

The colour tones,view and reflection are as well and eye-catching,also!

Take care & happy new year for you and your dear family!

Best regards(Bobby).

VLADIMIR

Sincere thanks for your visit and positive feedback. "Ominous" is an interesting adjective for this innocent little photo : - )  But I suppose the dark foreground and mysterious depths could be cause for that.

Cheers Vladimir

Alf

BOBBY

Many thanks for your visit and very kind words, I liked this one best from all the photo's I took that day, perhaps because I made the ripples in the first place, I felt I had influenced the shot more than the others.

Best Wishes to you and yours for 2011 Bobby!

Alf

Very creative Alf! I think you had us all fooled. Looks like some serious mountains in th background. The only give away to the actual scale is the size of the ripples in comparison to the mountains. Excellent, creative work guy!

All the best,
Neil

Preciosa y muy bien vista composición, con una estupenda luz, tonos y reflejos. Felicidades.

Un cordial saludo -Tolo.