Seasoned Greetings.
This will be our last post of 2013. I'd just like to thank everyone for their contributions throughout another great year on Capture, and continuing the wonderful visual cornucopia. Corny copia? I'll leave the puns to Ian.
Before we all run off to the beach with Lilith Grace, we need to announce the winner of our Travel Photography contest.
After narrowing it down to a list of 11, the judges unanimous decision was ChrisW, who posted a number of excellent photos, but the ones that clinched it were the photos of the ruins in Tokomaru Bay.
Chris, if you could drop me a line by clicking reply, it would be nice to get the prize to you for Christmas.
Capture away.
At the beach...
...you see the vast open space between the sky and sea, all the way to the horizon. Reflections mingle and confuse the shapes of coast and clouds. Wet sand and water amplify the colours of sun and sky. Waves beat hypnotically. Spray fills the air with brine.
At the interface of land and sea, change is constant. Shifting weather transforms the beach from serene to dramatic to frightening, and back again. Storms leave unpredictable flotsam at the tideline. Sand and sediment shift in the wind and water. The outgoing tide conjures a subtly different beach each time.
There are so many forms of life here: flying, walking, crawling, burrowing, growing, swimming, opening and closing.
Sandy, rocky and muddy beaches support different sets of living things. Differing exposures to air and wind and water create widely varying ecosystems. Every rockpool has slightly different inhabitants. The more you look, the more there is to see.
The pictures below are some of the things I saw on my coastal holiday in Otago recently. I've visited this area, south of Dunedin, since I was a child, and I'll be moving there next February.
New Zealand has a lot of coast, and most of us have beaches that we have special feelings for. I look forward to seeing your favourite bits of coast. And tell us what you do in your summer holidays, coastal or otherwise.
Keep safe, and happy holidays, everyone.
by Lilith Grace
