Friday, February 03, 2006

Sable Island in December - Post 1

So I have just got back from Sable Island and am slowly sifting through my images to pull out the good ones. I shot 99% of my images in RAW so they require a bit of processing before I get them into photoshop to fine tune. Takes a bit of time but I hope to keep putting up the best images as I get to them. Some of the images are very much Sable but there were lots of images that could have been shot anywhere.


Wood In Sand

This is one of those images that could have been taken on any beach. I like it because of the different colours and textures in the sand and the same in the wood and the light sand takes the viewer to the wood. I filled the frame with the wood because, along with the sand, that is the interesting part of the photo.





Trunk on Beach

Lots of drift wood is brought up onto the north beach. Some of it is huge as is this trunk. When you see the sea play with wood this size as though it was a football, you realise the power of the sea, just feet in front of you. I liked this trunk because it looks and feels huge. There were also small pools in the trunk and different textures and shades of colour. The sky adds to the image as do the small rock particles scattered on the beach. The slope of the trunk takes the viewer in.


Lighthouse at dusk

This is a Sable Island photo. The lighthouse in the background is the east light which is minutes from where our cabin was. We pass by this image everyday. On this occasion, it was dusk and the light and sky were stunning. This was early in the season. Later on, lots of seals filled this area and changed the scene.





Male grey seal

Not far from the image above is this path that leads to our cabin. One day, this large male appeared. He was completely oblivious to me so I could crawl up to him and get quite close without him paying much attention. I love the curvature of the grass which frames this image so well. He also has a nicely curved body which complements the curvature of the grass. His look is also great: like he doesn't give a damn.


Sunset on South Beach

At the end of the day this sunset developed. I took many many pictures of this sunset (probably the best of the season) and quickly chose this one. More will likely appear. I like this one because 1. the colours of the sky are varied and pastel and they reflect very well on the wet sand. 2. The direction of the wet sand takes the viewer into the photo, 3. the beach to the right is darkened so that it creates a contrast but does not pull the viewer away from the main scene of the sunset. It might need a little cropping. 4. the sea adds a nice divide between the sky and beach which I think is needed in a photo like this.


OK. They are just a few photos that I quickly pulled up. More will appear....

Dams

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damian

I love the image of the wood in sand. Great simple curving shape, isolated to give it an abstract feel. If this was in the foreground of one of your sunsets...wow, what an image that would be - great foreground and great backdrop.

The other beach sunset is lovely too. Think I may have cropped it more to take out some of the dark beach on the RHS, make it more of a square format. Lovely image, though.

The seal is brilliant. The use of telephoto, and the framing are perfect, since the roundness of the seal is echoed by the shape of the grass. The only change I'd make is to clone out some of the blurry few strands of grass that partially cover the face, as this should be clearly seen. Otherwise, it's near-perfect. Good work!!

Critical Light said...

Hi Ivan,

Again thanks for your views. I too like the wood in the sand for the same reasons. However, this image doesn't work when you zoom out; the wood really needs to be centre-stage; so using it as a foreground focus point doesn't work (tried it).

Your right about the sunset and the dark image to the right. It does need some cropping.

And yes, I like the seal too and will try to remove some of those distracting grass stems. Thought about it but decided to leave them in to see what you thought.

Cheers, Damian (good to be back)

Anonymous said...

Damian

I disagree - if you had a true wide angle lens (anything around 17mm or less in the old-35mm format)you could make it be large in the scene, but have a backdrop behind it, and work as an overall image. The wideangle would allow it to be centre stage, but with a context too. I've done this with many similar type of scenes. Takes more careful composition though.

However, your image here works great, as it isolates it and focusses interest inwards. Really like it.

Good to have you back - I need to get posting now!!