What a wonderful afternoon I spent on Bournemouth Beach on Friday. You have to love the British seaside out of season; gorgeous expanses of pristine sand (Bournemouth is a Blue Flag beach) and hardly a soul about. I set myself a challenge and went equipped with only my wide angled lens (16-35mm on full frame).
It wasn’t the most spectacular of sunsets but gentle, beguiling, like the lapping waves. When I came to process these images, they seemed to demand a naturalistic approach.
With the horizons more or less in the centre of the frame, these images break the rules. I think that composing with the horizon on a third often works well as the photographer thereby communicates clearly what he or she is most interested in, the foreground or the sky. However, here I found myself wanting to efface the photographer from the landscape. And, truth be told, I just couldn’t bring myself to crop out any of that view. Half is the new third?
Focused Moments 
Beautifully done…third or half or whatever…seems like you’ve earned the right to do it as you choose and convention be damned when necessary…. 😉
My thinking is that rules are made to be broken. I like the compositions, especially the first shot. Then again, there are so many layers with the clouds and the water and the sand, that you can pretty much pick where to put your “third” (if you care?)
I’ve seen a lot of photographers “break” the rule of thirds and go for half instead. Sometimes what you’re photographing merits a half instead of thirds.
The pastel shades in the first shot are really beautiful. Does echo what a calm sunset it was.
It’s funny how some cameras nowadays give you the option of putting a “thirds” grid in the viewfinder. Talk about doing things by the book!
Beautiful photos. Love the beach at this time of year.