a foggy morning on the beach

it is often foggy when i take a morning walk on the beach. as soon as the sun warms up the fog quickly disappears so i have to be early to catch it. the fog is a special condition that reduces the general color saturation of the image which makes it an interesting choice when comparing color shots to black and white. the differences are more subtle than usual but nonetheless very present. this series is from Arawali Beach in southern Maharashtra, not far from the border to Goa. compared to Goan beaches this beach is far less developed for tourism and most of it is close to it's natural state. it's a great beach for both swimming and walking, especially nice early in the morning when you can have the beach mostly to yourself or the magical moments as the sun descends behind the Arabian Sea

as you can see the beach is almost empty in the early morning and the sea is relatively calm

in black and white the calm is even more pronounced with a degree of timelessness that i don't feel in the color version

though it may not seem like it, the woman in this shot is farther away than the man in the previous shot. i zoomed in to get her in the same general proportions as the previous shot but as she is farther away she is more in the fog. i prefer having someone or something fairly close to contrast with the diffuse foggy background but this woman is in between

in black and white the sand becomes more like the sky. had the waves not been there perhaps it might seem she was walking on water

in this last shot the image is more about the actions of the boys in the water. the boat out in deeper water is shrouded in the fog, and the horizon is barely visible but still the fog doesn't seem as prevalent. perhaps it is becausethe camera is pointed out to sea rather than along the beach

to me the color and black and white images appear much more similar to each other than was the case with the previous two shots, again i think it is mostly due to the dominance of the boys in action