There is a reason "beach" is part of the name for Myrtle Beach, which is why I felt at least one post in this series of shoots at the popular South Carolina resort community should be devoted to the sand and its iconic boardwalk.
I'm getting increasingly comfortable composing backlighted photographs, and the one you see leading off the post was my favorite from all of my "beach" and "boardwalk" shots on our recent visit to Myrtle Beach.
I was pleased that the blades of grass in the foreground -- whose texture I've come to appreciate as a nifty and artistic secondary element in beach-related photos -- didn't go too far up into the frame to distract from the silhouetted subjects. While this is, indeed, a monochrome conversion, the original color isn't a whole lot different, no doubt because of the heavy contrast introduced by backlight.
I took advantage of an afternoon sun to compose another silhouette piece integrating one of the piers into the composition in the image immediately below. It, too, is a monochrome conversion.
There isn't a whole lot more to say to set up the remainder of the images in this post beyond what I convey in the captions, so before transitioning into those images, here's a repeat of something I remind all visitors (and try to repeat in every post for the benefit of any new visitors):
As always, to view a larger, sharper version of an image in this post, simply click on the image. This is particularly useful when accessing the blog using a mobile device. To see a
full gallery of images from my shoot at the beach and along the boardwalk, click on the link in this sentence.
Photo geek stuff: I used my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens equipped with a polarizing filter and took three different exposures for each composition so I could meld them into one during post-processing using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software. The 8.0 f/stop was my constant during the shoot, which means my variable exposures were determined by the shutter speed. I used an ISO of 160 unless the full shot was in all shade.
Above and next two below: Anyone who has visited Myrtle Beach knows how the shoreline is heavily stacked with resorts. These images support that.
Back to more relaxing visuals, I again used wild grass (above) to texturize my composition ... and to frame the beachwalker near the pier. A thin opening in an otherwise thick layer of clouds (below) gives sundown some yellow and orange coloring.
Above and below: As the marker in the bottom right of the above photo informs, this sculpture (called "The Goddess of the Sea") by Kristen Visbal was a project of the Myrtle Beach Downtown Public Art Initiative. It was dedicated June 1, 2018, "to the people of Myrtle Beach for the enrichment of our environment."
A look down the boardwalk (above) and through a small covered alley between buildings on the beach side of the boardwalk (below). To the naked eye, the scene below, beginning with the pale green area on the left, is completely dark until hitting the bright-colored painted objects at the end. HDR processing added shadow detail to everything between the camera and the bright blues, reds, oranges and yellows.
Another slice of the boardwalk (above) and a closer look at the Dry Don's signage (below).
A little beyond Dry Don's, this couple sat, intermittently enjoying the entertainment of the pigeons (liked the one below) foraging for their next handouts from humans.
Above: Another look down the boardwalk, this time to integrate the flagpoles and lampposts into the composition.
I present the photo above (showing a section of the roof of Pier 14 restaurant and lounge) to set up the closeup shot below that juxtaposes the mannequin (shown in the above photo next to the Pier 14 sign) with a real person climbing down a ladder.
Above: It doesn't seem right to do a post about the beach and boardwalk without including at least one photo of the iconic Ferris wheel. For those of you expecting it, here you go.
Next up: Food and drink
Previously in this series:
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