January 12, 2010

Shapes in the Fog

Last week Sam asked for some more shooting information. So, before I discuss today’s photo, I will give you a few more details. First, I have shot at this location a couple times, but never got anything that I really liked. I had decided that I wanted to visit it when there was fog, as I did over the holidays. Second, I spent about an hour and half shooting and took about 230 photos (including several bracketed exposures for possible HDR). Today, I have only 12 images from the session on my hard drive. Of the remaining images, there are about six that I feel may be worthy of showing and another six that for some reason, I like—ones similar to the second image I presented on Friday.

Now, about today’s image. When I looked at this scene, I really did not see boats, piers, water and fog; I saw geometric shapes. And, that is what I wanted this photo to show. I felt that a sepia toned photo helped simplify it so that the shapes showed-off better. What do you think?

Enjoy.

Camera settings: Nikon D3, Nikon 28-70mm f/2.8 at 34mm shot at ISO 200, f/11 and 1/125th of a second.

Post Processing:

Lightroom—Set white and black points, added mid-tone contrast, added clarity.

Photoshop—used nik Silver Efex Pro to convert to sepia toned image.

11 comments:

  1. I think the idea is good. I question whether removing the color and using sepia in this case actually takes away some leading lines of reference. I'll have to look at it a few more times before I figure out the full impact.

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  2. I like the sepia toning. It provides a feeling of timeliness to the photo, which is one of the things that I think about when I see shrimp boats. I can see lots of triangles in the photo, but I do not think that is the first thing that I would see if I looked at this scene.
    Anne

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  3. My list favorite of your shrimp boat photos. Not sure I see the main subject or the point. Sepia toning is distracting.
    Charles M

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  4. I cannot see the geometric shapes but I like the photo. Reminds me of home.
    Debbie

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  5. Not sure I see what you were trying to show me. Also, not sure what the subject of the photo is.
    Sid

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  6. Like the photo but cannot see what you are talking about.
    Ted

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  7. Beautiful shot Patrick!

    I'm with the others though about not necessarily seeing the geometric shapes you want me to see (if I understand you correctly). The problem is that there is nothing abstract about the shot so I don't just see shapes or patterns; I see a very literal scene with sky, fog, water and boats. Does that make sense?

    Anyway, like I said, beautiful shot!

    Cheers!
    Barry

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  8. I agree with Barry. The photo is too literal to push me in the direction that you seem to have gone. To me, this is a very controlled composition of boats in the fog which you have treated with a nice sepia toning to give it a more ageless quality.
    The Professor

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  9. I find this photo to be intriguing because the item that is most in focus, the boat in the foreground, is a very small part of the photograph and is generally not the more noteworthy aspect of the photo. Larry, must admit, I do not see the geometric shapes.
    Steve

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  10. I like the sepia toning. What I like about this photo is that you have a very detailed part of the photo and then some not so detailed parts albeit fog or DOP. Very nice and pleasant to look at. You should do a series on the fog, Larry, you have an eye for it.

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  11. Like most I do not see the shapes. But, also like most, I like the photograph. I like how controlled all the elements appear.
    Sya

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