NZPhotographer Issue 29, March 2020

Richard Young is a full-time landscape
and wildlife photographer based in
Wellington and the founder of New
Zealand Photography Workshops.
He is a brand ambassador for Benro
Filters and a printing ambassador for
Epson New Zealand.
www.richardyoung.co.nz
BLACK BEACHES
The deep shadows of floating islands and black
sand beaches define the structure, transitions of
tones within the sky and sea guide our eye across
the image, and the luminosity helps connect distant
parts of the frame. All of this can be lost if our eye
is caught by unwanted distractions like ripples on
the water, the ebb and flow of a wave, or the
prominence of clouds. By choosing to capture these
photographs with long exposures I have helped to
render out these distractions and turn them into a
blank canvas, giving presence to the subject.
Captured over the space of two years on Taranaki’s
coastline, with its volcanic black sand beaches
and the westward-facing sky that dances from a
vivid hue to a soft pastel tone at sunset. One image
speaks a little differently to the rest, as this is where I
started, and over time how I wished to tell the story
of this landscape developed. Reconnecting with
this dramatic coastline has offered me a place to
refocus both my mind and my vision.
March 2020 55