I shot this a few weeks ago at the coast. I was there primarily to shoot sunsets and almost missed this because I was a little bummed about knowing there wouldn't be a sky full of spectacular color because of the (ever present ;>) fog bank on the horizon.

Equipment for this shot was a 24mm lens on a 35mm body, Velvia film, f22 and be there. I prefer the milky effect of the water rather than "freezing" it. No filtration was used, and the only Photoshop tweaking I did was to get the scan to look like the slide.

I shot several frames (over a dozen) of this scene, and yes, I did get quite wet. But that's normal for me. Thank goodness aluminum tripods don't rust. ;>

Keith

http://www.spiritone.com/~kclark/

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), July 20, 1998

Answers

I am impressed... The moving water effect fits well in this image. I do think the background is distracting though. Maybe a slightly higher perspective would have helped emphasize the foreground and less distraction of the back ground.

-- Tait Stangl (taits@chemsite1.com), July 21, 1998.

wow wish i could see the detail in the left part of the frame though, it may be the scan but it looks a bit dark.

-- Altaf Shaikh (nissar@idt.net), July 21, 1998.

Keith,

I like the colours in the picture but I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Is that a piece of driftwood sticking out in the center? I wish there were less underexposure of the left side. Perhaps this is due to the scan? If not, using a GD at a 45 degree angle (\) would reduce the contrast between the top triangle and the bottom triangle. It's still a nice shot but I'm just not sure as I said what I'm seeing.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), July 21, 1998.

I see plenty of detail on my monitor, then again I have the brightness turned up all the way.

-- Tait Stangl (taits@chemsite1.com), July 21, 1998.

It's SUPPOSED to be contrasty. I shot it that way on purpose. The area behind the log is in shadow because of the low sun angle. The 16x20 cibas have plenty of detail and started selling the minute I hung one.

You should probably calibrate your monitor(s). I use a professional 1.8 gamma monitor.Try using this test strip. You should see all 20 steps from pure black to pure white.

Keith

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), July 21, 1998.

Tait,Keith,

I've only 15 levels visible from the test strip that Keith has (thanks). I'll try another machine and see if I can get a better image. Soooo, ignore my eariliar comments.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), July 21, 1998.

Paul,

heh heh.. ;> Thanks.

BTW, you can more fully check any monitor with the test patterns here:

http://www.zdnet.com/pcmag/features/hardware/1517/montest/testlead.htm

Or here:

http://www.displaymate.com/demos.html

I realized my post may have seemed a little confrontational... I'm glad you didn't take it that way. Whew... From now on, I'll wait till I've had my morning coffee and workout before composing mail. ;>

But hey, if it's to dark for you even with a calibrated monitor, then what can I say...I did post it for a critique, after all. ;> And I do appreciate comments.

In answer to "what is it", it's all one twisted piece of driftwood that forks off. I was using the fork to both frame the cliffs and "point" to a huge offshore rock formation. Admittedly, the offshore rocks are difficult to see in this tiny thumbnail... Sometimes I guess size does matter... ;>

Cheers,

Keith

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), July 21, 1998.

Keith,

I'm looking at it with a better monitor. Wow! Very nice. I like in the composition the zig zag down the middle that sutures the land and sea together. The driftwood ( yes, now I can clearly see it) points off to the open sea which further helps to emphasize the depth. Very nice contrast. Well done.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), July 21, 1998.

Bob,

I'm wondering if it is worthwhile to have a small thin grey scale as a divider between the picture and the text. The test strip Keith provided ( see above) demonstrated that I had a bad monitor. If anybody else has an opinion on this, I'd be interested in hearing it.

-- Paul Lenson (lenson@pci.on.ca), July 21, 1998.

This is really nice, I like the flow of the shapes. The composition seems a bit unbalanced, the motion on the water is towards the left and the cloud also is on the left. I'd prefer it with either no cloud or a cloud (fog) filling the entire sky, but that is nit-picking...

-- (andreas@physio.unr.edu), July 21, 1998.

..not a critique, I think it's a great shot, just a comment on rusting aluminium. Salt water will corrode aluminium, I've had tent poles 'pit' after camping next to the sea, and stuff like carabiners need to be washed in fresh water after exposure to salt spray. Obviously most tripods are coated, but if your stuff is scratched up, or water may have got inside the tubing, it might be worth rinsing it.

-- Mark (mgibbs@fhcrc.org), July 21, 1998.

The colours are wonderful, of course, but what really makes this image is the sense of motion. However, I don't think anything above the horizon line adds to the image, and I'd crop it just below the horizon to focus on the driftwood.

-- Steve Leroux (steve@bigadventures.com), July 22, 1998.

Really a classic example of finding just the right viewpoint and exposure to turn the mundane into something arresting. Now that's photography. (But I rather wish the butt end of the log in the lower right corner weren't so lost in shadow).

-- Richard Shiell (rshiell@lightspeed.net), July 22, 1998.

Stunning!

-- Nico M (mostert@es.co.nz), August 01, 1998.

I showed this picture to my wife, and she immediately set it as the wallpaper on her computer. Need I say more?

-- Darron Spohn (sspohn@concentric.net), August 03, 1998.

Darron,

Thanks for the comments, and for your forthrightness.

As should be stated in the FAQ for this forum, all images are copyrighted by their creators and intended for critique only.

No permission for any other use is implied or granted.

I make my living from photography, so I hope you understand.

Thanks, Keith

-- Keith Clark (ClarkPhotography@spiritone.com), August 03, 1998.