Photographing the Haze at Llandudno West Shore

The sun was out, so Llandudno was the destination for a lot of people. We should have known. It’s odd, because if you ask anyone in Manchester where they go for a quiet day out in the sun, they’ll all say the same thing… Llandudno. I think it’s an addiction, and judging by the crowds we saw, I'm 100% right. It is the go-to destination for a sunny weekend in North Wales.

Technically, I’m not sure this is a "good" shot. The coastal haze makes everything look two-dimensional, but in this case, I actually like it. It makes the distant hills look like cardboard cutouts slid into the background. I almost wish that 2D effect were more emphasized.

The real difficulty was the composition: balancing the beach, the sea, and the hills. Too much zoom and you lose the scale of the hills; too much sand and... well, you just have a photo of a lot of sand. I think I captured the best version of the scene, even if it isn't a "great" one.

For those wondering why this doesn’t look like the typical Llandudno Promenade, it’s because this is the West Shore. It's far away from the glitz of the main strip. It was a warm day and quite nice to sit and have a coffee—if you drink caffeinated coffee, which I don’t. Oh well.