Near El Matador beach in Malibu, CA

I went back and looked at some of the other experimental photos I took in Malibu a few weeks ago and found this one.

Before processing it to black and white, I wasn’t that thrilled with it, but after working it in Lightroom and Photoshop a little bit, I’m finding that I like it more and more.

The dark black band above the rock is a wave coming in that hasn’t broken over yet. Contrasting this to the long exposure of the waves in around the rock, the incoming water looks like a wall.

Perhaps the best lesson for me on this trip was to learn how to shoot with the circumstances you’re given. The sky was completely overcast on this day and there wasn’t a trace of the typical blue sky that you normally get along this stretch of the coast. I remember thinking as I shot this series was that this otherwise bland sky would look great in black and white, assuming I could get the foreground elements to contrast the lighter sky.

The more I go back and look at this one, the more I like it. I hope you enjoy it as well.