Fishing boats

[Manfred M]

Mid-day photography is always tough because of the harsh light and associated harsh shadows. Given the right setting, things can work.

These three fishing boats are lying on a beach right where the Kerala backwaters meet the Arabian Sea. The people in the shot give one a sense of scale.

[Wavelength]

Classic

[Tronhard]

A beautiful shot - the tones of the natural environment complement the stronger colours of the boats themselves, while the upturned boat adds an interesting counterpoint.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done.

[Rebel]

Very nice Manfred, normally I don't like objects close to the edges of an image....

But that bird and pole frame the image nicely for me in this one... it also adds a bit of quirkiness to the composition which I like.

[IzzieK]

Manfred, a long time back I would not have thought of what you mean by shooting in the harsh sun, but with this shot I am understanding it because as soon as my eyes saw the image it dawned on me and thought "Wow!" Now I will have more reason to use my variable ND filters. The shot is almost glaring. Thanks for the lesson here. It is a beautiful, colourful shot and that far away post at the right hand side and the bird at the left balances this shot very well.

[Manfred M]

Very nice Manfred, normally I don't like objects close to the edges of an image....

But that bird and pole frame the image nicely for me in this one... it also adds a bit of quirkiness to the composition which I like.

Matt - the first thing I did was to clone out the stick and the bird. The second thing I did was to put them back.

I normally think like you on this shot, but the balance those two small items add to the image made a lot of difference in this case. Something to experiment with in the future, I think.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, a long time back I would not have thought of what you mean by shooting in the harsh sun, but with this shot I am understanding it because as soon as my eyes saw the image it dawned on me and thought "Wow!" Now I will have more reason to use my variable ND filters. The shot is almost glaring. Thanks for the lesson here. It is a beautiful, colourful shot and that far away post at the right hand side and the bird at the left balances this shot very well.

Izzie - a variable ND would be counter-productive in this instance.

All an ND does is reduces the light hitting the sensor, which forces either a longer shutter speed or a wider open aperture. A longer shutter speed would have blurred the water; something I didn't want as I felt that I needed the texture to counter the cloudless sky. As for a wider aperture, that would have decreased my depth of field and would have blurred the water in the foreground; again, something that would not have added to the composition of this image,

[John 2]

Matt - the first thing I did was to clone out the stick and the bird. The second thing I did was to put them back.

I normally think like you on this shot, but the balance those two small items add to the image made a lot of difference in this case. Something to experiment with in the future, I think.

I can understand that Manfred. When you have a composition that unavoidably, doesn't keep your eye in the frame (e.g. classic triangle or say a lead to the horizon), it helps to have a couple of stops (as in door stops) to arrest the eye before it goes over the edge. That's what these two elements achieve here. Nicely handled exposure. The shadows are a bit deep under the boats but at the size they are in the frame, I don't think that matters.

[IzzieK]

Well I thought I saw it before that you can use the variable ND filters for other things that smoothing water, making it more silky apparent the shot is not lost if it is only done on 2 stops and the background if water will not be as harsh, e.g., a water fall in the background of people. My understanding of that article may be wrong.

Izzie - a variable ND would be counter-productive in this instance.

All an ND does is reduces the light hitting the sensor, which forces either a longer shutter speed or a wider open aperture. A longer shutter speed would have blurred the water; something I didn't want as I felt that I needed the texture to counter the cloudless sky. As for a wider aperture, that would have decreased my depth of field and would have blurred the water in the foreground; again, something that would not have added to the composition of this image,

[Manfred M]

Well I thought I saw it before that you can use the variable ND filters for other things that smoothing water, making it more silky apparent the shot is not lost if it is only done on 2 stops and the background if water will not be as harsh, e.g., a water fall in the background of people. My understanding of that article may be wrong.

I suspect that given the harsh and bright light, the impact on shutter speed would have had a minimal effect on the water in this instance.

My point was more that I can't see why someone would necessarily want to use a ND filter in this type of shot. A ND reduces the amount of light hitting the sensor and the photographer has to compensate in some way. This generally means lower shutter speed which introduces some motion blur or a wider aperture which gives a shallower depth of field. I don't see a compelling reason for either of these in this shot.