Clambake!
by Bear_Music

Comment:
Clambake: the clam's ain't baked. Don't ask em why they call it that. The clams are steamed and served in the shell, with drawn butter to dip. A fire is built on top of stones in a hole in the sand and tended for hours. Then the embers are raked away, seaweed is laid down over the stones, metal latticework over the seaweed, then lobsters, chicken, sausage, potatoes, corn tossed on that. All covered by tarps, and sand over that. The whole pile steams ("bakes" I guess) for an hour, then it's revealed, which is what you see here; the tail end of gathering the food.

Monumental project; over 100 lobsters, for example. 3-day party. I did 10 gallons of lentil soup and two hams for Friday night, the clambake was Saturday, Sunday morning breakfast for 60... I been doing this for 3 years now. The hosts of the party are getting on in years. This clambake has been an annual event for 35 years now. As far as we know, it's the last big, private (as opposed to commercial) clambake on the Cape.

These events used to be one of the mainstays of Cape Cod social life, with entire communities hosting them at the beginning of Autumn.

Thanks for all the comments. I barely had time to edit an image and get it in. The dark halo on the gal's head is sloppy masking. The "distortion" is the natural result of 10mm lens, circular objects at the edge get elongated.

Be a Tiger
by jrtodd

Comment:
Hmmm.. Nice hook grip. Weight may be a little too much on left side, ball a bit far back in stance, but hard to read the angle. Nice shot, thouhg. (grin)

Dreams Can Come True
by kevinswope

Comment:
Pity the trees are sharper than the car. Striking shot.

New Day
by redmoon

Comment:
I presume the softness is intentional, but it does not work for me.

Mean Machine
by Bowerbird

Comment:
"feels" more telephoto than wide angle... More foreground might have helped give a sense of space. Helluva machine.

California Coast
by kmbr2001

Comment:
I know that scene well, I think. Just where the Big Sur starts, south end. I wish you'd leveled the horizon, though. Overall the PP seems a little extreme,e specially in the bright part of the clouds.

Runway 24
by Falc

Comment:
How the HELL did you do this?

Anglers Angle
by M.O.C.

Comment:
OOOH, that's powerful! Beautiful work!

Autumn
by ShutterPug

Comment:
Seems liek there's a lot here that could have been improved in post processing. The image needs more clarity and luminosity IMO. It's a lovely scene. I don't know if the softness was a conscious choice, but if so I don't think it was the right choice here.

Land of the Rising Sun
by mpemberton

Comment:
Too perfectly symmetrical to work for me. More detail int he foreground would have made this composition more palatable. I can see a hint of it, but not enough to carry it.