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Storm-Blasted Northern Shores
Storm-Blasted Northern Shores
riot


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Where Sea Meets Shore (Standard Editing)
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS
Location: Holyhead, Wales
Date: Sep 18, 2016
Aperture: 32.0
ISO: 100
Shutter: 6 seconds
Galleries: Landscape, Seascapes
Date Uploaded: Sep 18, 2016

 I originally set out to shoot a long exposure "water mist" type wave image, and produced a few six minute exposures of this scene with a x1000 neutral density filter, but ultimately ended up going with this - one of the low-aperture test shots with no filter, over only 6 seconds. The drama of the waves breaking fitted a lot better with the scene than a simple mist effect would have.

There was a lot of mist blowing in from the sea, so I set up the tripod inside the car shooting out of an open window to protect the equipment to some degree. To avoid shaking the setup, of course, everyone else had to get out of the car and stand in the rain. Shot with mirror lockup to further reduce shake (which would be very noticeable on such a long lens) and exposure started with a wireless remote from outside the car.

White balance set to daylight to accurately capture the deep natural blue of the dusk light.

Some loss of sharpness due to diffraction at the tiny aperture, but then this was only intended as a test shot originally - in fact I was surprised that at 1200px the damage is barely noticeable.

Editing: cloning out loads of sensor dust and a few hot pixels, curves to bring the washed-out scene into the full dynamic range and reduce the excessive effect of the blue in the shadows, crop, dodge and burn to accentuate texture on the middle rock, resize and three-level selective sharpen.

Statistics
Place: 32 out of 69
Avg (all users): 5.8246
Avg (commenters): 6.5000
Avg (participants): 5.5806
Avg (non-participants): 6.1154
Views since voting: 668
Views during voting: 93
Votes: 57
Comments: 3
Favorites: 1 (view)

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AuthorThread
Sony Alpha a1 II
Sony FE 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G OSS
 09/26/2016 11:55:10 AM
Hello from the critique club

An interesting image that meets the challenge

What a considerate bunch of mates you have, I’m not sure I could get away with throwing everybody out of the motor for an image! I have to say, I actually prefer this sort of shot over the long exposure misty scenes that have become so popular nowadays. Your scene is intensely blue rather to its detriment, I think you could say this is an example of an adherence to capture the scene as seen but resulting in a somewhat artificial end result that lacks credibility. Thanks for an interesting entry Eugene.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
Nikon D750
Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 35-70mm f/2.8D
 09/25/2016 11:23:00 PM
Very dramatic and lovely range of tones. My personal taste is that the blue atmosphere is exaggerated. I always resort to monochrome myself.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
Olympus E-520
Vivitar MF Zoom 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 Series 1 for Olympus
 09/23/2016 09:37:51 AM
Would have liked to rate this higher, but the overall color tone and dark detail detract, to me anyway, from the image. Still the intent is clear and my initial rating of a 6 was a bit too harsh. Now a 7.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
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