I am attracted by the timeless and ever changing place where the waves wash across the edge of land. On this occasion clumps of kelp presented another element - an offering from the sea.

Kelp - washed up on Blacksmiths Beach, East Coast Australia.

After spending some time choosing the most photogenic, wave arranged seaweed I set up the camera with a six stop Nisi ND filter.

At first I opened the shutter for about 5 minutes but found the incoming tide was advancing too fast and kept washing the kelp out of the frame.

I reduced the time to around 2 minutes and chose the clumps furtherest from the incoming waves - but still in danger of being moved by the sea because I wanted to show the blur of the water.

It took a few attempts but eventually I made three pictures where the waves came close enough to wash over the sand in the background but not so close as to move the subject during the exposure.

The movement you can see on the edges of the kelp is due to the strong nor'easter blowing that afternoon - one more player in the complexity and beauty of the shoreline.

Let me know if you have any questions or visit here to see a colour version.

Cheers,

Paul

Follow me on Instagram @lightmoods

I found kelp!