Hayle Beach

It's a common fact that I love Hayle Beach.

Hayle is a small, North Coast Cornish Town situated on St. Ives Bay. The beach is an incredible 3 miles of golden sand (so the tourist-info sign says), stretching from Carbis Bay to Godrevy Lighthouse. More importantly, my parents used to live there.

Since they moved 'home' to Bath, my family and I haven't returned to Hayle for around 7 Years, at least until this Easter passed. We were staying near Falmouth and Hayle Beach was an obvious destination for a day or two beside the sea, especially given the wonderful weather we were blessed with.

With the tide out, the sea is a good few minutes walk from the sheltered cliffs, where it's best to set up camp. Ava and I took a stroll, so she could jump over some waves, obviously. On our way, I took this.


(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 98mm, f/7.1, 1/400)

I can't take any credit for the quality of the light - it's simply amazing, most of the rest I'm pretty pleased with.

If ever I was questioned as to why I shoot RAW, I'd point people this image. It was the middle of the day, and the harsh light can prove tricky from a metering perspective. There were a couple of lurking shadows, but the 5d Mk2 did a pretty decent job. I was able to adjust the tone curve to bring out Ava's eyes a little more very effectively. For me, this just makes the image.

I also tweaked the vibrancy a little in Lightroom. Ava's blue jumper was a rather lucky choice given the sky tones, and this just lifted the shot enough to really bring it to life.

I'm a little annoyed about missing her right hand, but this crop was pretty much straight from the camera.. should've got it right first time.