Tag Archives: contemplative photography

A groyne standing upright by the seashore near Youghal.

The wooden post in this photograph is part of Youghal’s coastal defence system called groynes. They are structures built perpendicular to the shore to prevent beach erosion by trapping sand moved by longshore drift. These timber groynes at Youghal are regularly maintained and replaced as part of ongoing coastal management efforts by Cork County Council. The long exposure technique used in this photograph typically requires exposure times of 30 seconds to several minutes, using neutral density filters to reduce the amount of light entering the camera, which creates the smooth, ethereal water effect by averaging out the motion of waves over time.