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Staggering Beauty ... Indomitable Strength
Staggering Beauty ... Indomitable Strength
mocabela


Photograph Information Photographer's Comments
Challenge: Strength (Basic Editing I)
Camera: Canon PowerShot G5
Location: Cape Arago, OR
Date: Apr 10, 2004
Aperture: F/4
ISO: 50
Shutter: 1/1000 sec
Galleries: Nature, Seascapes
Date Uploaded: Apr 10, 2004

 Vast and powerful, the ocean is used but never harnessed... ridden but never tamed.

This was taken handheld at beautiful Cape Arago, which is along the southern Oregon coast, not far from Charleston. I thought including people would give the viewer more of an idea of the immensity of the rocks and waves that can be seen here... even on a very calm spring day. I'm hoping it will stay on the good side of 5.0, as it is my favourite photograph so far, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

I'm expecting this picture to not do so well, as many people might have a difficult time seeing "strength" in it - though I cannot imagine anyone who's ever been in/around the ocean denying its immense strength. Even after living around it for years, it still leaves me in awe of its sheer power and beauty. And yes, this photo was taken specifically for the challenge. :)

Editing: Curves and levels to correct a bit of over-exposure and to create some deep shadows (I didn't have time to fix my camera settings before that fantastic wave showed up, and I just had to get a shot of it), hue/saturation to remove the colour and give it a faint blue tint, resizing, border, and a small amount of sharpening. I think that's it.

Statistics
Place: 4 out of 282
Avg (all users): 6.7814
Avg (commenters): 8.1000
Avg (participants): 6.7368
Avg (non-participants): 6.8121
Views since voting: 3119
Votes: 279
Comments: 25
Favorites: 15 (view)

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AuthorThread
 04/21/2004 02:35:37 PM
Adding this to my favorites. Congrats on 4th (so close!)
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/21/2004 10:38:00 AM
I gave it a 10, and I'm disappointed it didn't get a ribbon. Very close though...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/21/2004 12:08:13 AM
amazing picture...show great strength...I love it! :D
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 Comments Made During the Challenge
04/20/2004 08:48:42 PM
Graet image ,shows great strength
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/20/2004 04:35:54 PM
great shot and certainly implies strength!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/19/2004 04:59:18 PM
The inclusion of the two people really makes this work since there would be no sense of scale or drama without them. I like your choice to go for high contrast black and white.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/19/2004 12:29:01 PM
not as many 'power of the ocean' images as I had expected, yours is great and the figures adds to the power of the images - great
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/18/2004 10:01:18 PM
great photo
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/18/2004 05:09:22 AM
I think a tighter crop of just the incoming wave would have worked better. Nice B&W.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/17/2004 01:51:03 PM
The human shapes add a great perspective. Nice positioning. I love the misty wave pattern in the top but the bottom rocky areas are very contrasty.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2004 06:40:53 PM
One of my favorites this challenge - the people make the shot a strong one
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2004 02:11:50 PM
This is nice. This is simplistic yet gets the point across because of the two frail humans in the foreground.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/16/2004 12:13:22 AM
Incredible. Great space.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/15/2004 04:05:43 PM
Great detail. The contrast adds power, although it seems slightly grainy because of it. Either way, it's a great shot, and the two people also add a lot.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/15/2004 04:01:49 PM
Good!!!! The strength of water cannot be beaten!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/15/2004 08:41:23 AM
Lovely.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 11:25:01 PM
very classic
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 11:08:24 PM
I really like this image. I don't care for the title at all, but I don't vote based on that. I use the title only when I can't understand what an image stands for. In this case, I think it does well all on it's own. Maybe that's because of what the ocean means to me personally. As much as blue water looks great crashing against rocks, I think your choice of b/w enhanced the feeling of strength and/or power.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 10:24:48 PM
I like this one! The strength of the waves, and the is it accidental that those people are in there? Because my first reaction is that those are swimmers/divers/surfers, and there "strength" adds to it. The action of the waves is the best part, I think. The foaming of the water is a nice contrast against the blackness of the shore, and the black and white work well with this photo. Great job!
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 07:19:19 PM
very nice view awesome capture of the surf. I like this, just wonder why the black and white?
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 02:33:52 PM
Cool perspective....shows strength of ocean/lake in relation to small size of us...
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 01:55:34 PM
Great photo! 10
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 10:29:00 AM
Certainly conveys the power of the sea.
well captured
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 08:51:26 AM
In this case, I believe the high contrast adds to the theme. Nice.
  Photographer found comment helpful.
 04/14/2004 12:22:34 AM
oo yaa waters powerful!!
  Photographer found comment helpful.


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