A cloudy day at the beach is not a wasted day

Out of all the subjects I photograph frequently the sea is the one I come back to the most often. There's a seemingly endless variety of compositions to be made from the simple juxtaposition of water, rock, sand and sky. I'm perfectly happy on cloudy days just as well as sunny ones - in fact, sometimes I prefer them as it means I can get out the ND filters and shoot some long exposures like these.

The six photos that follow are from two locations along the west coast of Portugal just north of Lisbon. This stretch of coastline is known as the Silver Coast, so I've converted this set to to black and white to bring out the dull silvery sheen of the water against the cloudy skies.

^{Praia da Malhada - click the image to view full screen}