I have reasons to avoid cobbled shorelines. Legitimate reasons. They’re frequently steep, and they don’t hold a lot of material from the drift. Driftline treasures that do stick are apt to fall out of sight, lost in stony interstices. The largest cobblestones accumulate on the higher leveler zones, so even on level ground the footing’s unsteady. I sound cranky. In fact, cobbled shores are rare in my neck of the woods. By chance alone I find myself on sandy strands more often than not. Nevertheless, just a week ago I defied the odds and took a chance on the cobble-covered shore below.
I confess to another reason, a photographic reason, for keeping off the cobbles. On my home beaches dark skies, rain, mist and sea spray team up to create dark shiny cobblestones. On this background my closeups of lighter objects, things like drifted bottles, seashells, dead fish, buoys, and barnacles, don’t hold their detail. Conquered by contrast I usually stay away. Here, I put aside my differences with cobbles and discover something I hadn’t imagined. Cobblestones are as fascinating as my subjects.
At the far end of the beach, Short Beach, I discovered a lost and drifted crab trap. Can I get away with calling this a closeup?
See these and other closeups from the cobbles (even a shark’s tooth) on my Wrack Line 2019 page.