Simon Ladd, Wild Shores (LIGHT/SHADOW - Entries close 30 September 2026)

I photographed this scene after waiting patiently for a beam of light to escape the clouds and spotlight a wave at precisely the same time it exploded on a cliff face. I shot handheld in colour jpeg but have rendered in black and white to accentuate the contrast of the light and deepen the drama in the scene. I used a fast shutter low ISO combination to freeze fast motion and get darker shades while keeping whites within range. Shot with Sony a7c ii. Sony 40mm prime lens. 1/1250 sec. f8. ISO 80. Edited using Capture One to crop, convert to black and white, and denoise sky.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.