Winter Drive Along South Beach, Washington, 2017

A black and white landscape photograph of a creek flowing into the Pacific Ocean at South Beach in Grays Harbor County near Grayland, Washington. — “Creek on the Beach, Grayland, Washington, Winter 2017”
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After a several hours drive, I arrived late morning on the Washington Coast at South Beach (the beach between Westport and North Cove, Washington). The weather provided for on and off rain showers with a steady, stiff breeze coming right off the Pacific Ocean.

I just caught the tail end of a rain squall as I was driving down the beach in my Land Cruiser.

The South Beach area of the Washington State coast is basically a featureless landscape (from a photography perspective) primarily consisting of sand, surf, and sky.

To add a little variety to my landscape photographs, I stopped at various creek crossings along the beach to break up the scene.

A black and white landscape photograph of a creek flowing into the Pacific Ocean at low tide along South Beach in Grays Harbor County near Grayland, Washington. — “Creek at Low Tide, South Beach, Washington, Winter 2017”
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Further down State Route 105, I found a few potential spots that would provide nice foreground elements for a landscape photograph, but my timing was off due to the harsh light and those locations would have to wait for another day.

While not technically South Beach, I drove into Tokeland, Washington and photographed an old abandoned dock and pilings not far from the marina.

A black and white landscape photograph of the Pacific Ocean along South Beach in Pacific County, Washington. — “South Beach, Washington, Winter 2017”
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I’ve been recently asked how do I make the decision to process an image as a black and white photograph. There are several considerations that are important to me.

There are certain scenes that I feel must be (usually) processed in color (golden hour light, autumn colors, sunsets, and sunrises, or any scene where color is an important element to name a few).
I don’t put my camera away midday. I’m always looking for high contrast scenes with shapes or textures to create black and white photographs.
Many times I find monochromatic scenes without a lot of color make for a great black and white photographs. Some examples for me include snow and beach scenes.

These aren’t hard and fast rules for me, for I break them all the time. Many times it’s just a gut feeling on whether or not I choose color or monochromatic processing.

A black and white rural landscape photograph of an old dilapidated dock in Tokeland, Washington. — “Old Dock, Tokeland, Washington, Winter 2017”
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The next leg of the day’s exploration would take me along the shores of Willapa Bay (see my blog post at Exploring the Coast of Willapa Bay, Washington, Winter 2017)