Project 52: Week 38. Caught and sold

[billtils]

Last week's Project 52 featured some images from a visit to St Abbs, from a technique point of view (first time out with the ND filter) and were sort of "touristy/landscapy". This week is also from that shoot, but is about St Abbs as an active (but tiny) port for crab and lobster fishing. The sequence catches one of the boats returning to harbour, unloading the catch, and selling some to a lucky customer.

I hope you enjoy the images - we certainly enjoyed the fresh crab we had for lunch .


Back to harbour:




Unloading:




Selling:

[Shadowman]

Nice series, I think the first two could accept a bit of a crop at bottom.

[billtils]

Thanks John. Yes, I can see what you mean about the crops, but I liked the rope bottom right in the second and it gives a diagonal up to the top left. I'd probably could take a bit off the left too in the first.

[rudi]

Like the first one best, Bill. Boat - rock - house (well, little castle maybe..) very nice. And than I saw the 'pole' in the middle, maybe I would remove it......

[billtils]

And than I saw the 'pole' in the middle, maybe I would remove it......

Thanks Rudi, but not sure what you mean by "pole". Was it the infrastructure on the boat that can be seen clearly in the other two images, or there is something that looks like a path going up from the shore to the house?

[rudi]

... not sure what you mean by "pole". .........….

hope this picture explains better what I was trying to say (red outline)...

[billtils]

hope this picture explains better what I was trying to say (red outline)...

Indeed it does - well spotted rudi and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[NorthernFocus]

There's no shortage of subject matter around a fishing harbor. And you chose some good stuff. I really like the first image. I agree with the prior suggestion that cropping a bit from the bottom would be an improvement. Also it may have been even stronger had you tripped the shutter a few seconds sooner placing the boat further right with it motion carrying it into the frame.

In the second shot I agree that including the coil of line on the dock adds interest. So much so that composing to make it even more prominent might have been nice. In that shot IMO the manor house on the hill could have been eliminated.

The third shot with the sale going on is pretty interesting. Shooting a bit tighter may have also worked. IMO in that shot it was not important to include the entire boat in the scene to convey the story.

Overall a nice outing.

[skitterbug]

Good series! I like the first best - interesting landscape and the sky has texture. I have trouble not over exposing the sky..... Your photos are well done!

[billtils]

...Also it may have been even stronger had you tripped the shutter a few seconds sooner placing the boat further right with it motion carrying it into the frame.

In the second shot I agree that including the coil of line on the dock adds interest. So much so that composing to make it even more prominent might have been nice. In that shot IMO the manor house on the hill could have been eliminated.

... in that shot it was not important to include the entire boat in the scene to convey the story.

Overall a nice outing.

Thanks for the feedback Dan.

I've had a quick look at the shots and agree with your points on each. With the first one, unfortunately time travel is still restricted to sci-fi and the shutter clicked when it clicked so there's not much I can do there. I'll try cloning and cropping to take away the house in the second, to make the boat and rope the main elements of the image. I did try a tighter crop with the third but it always seemed to end up with a distracting element on an edge but I'll look again.

[billtils]

Thanks Sandy. I tend to find skies a bit of a problem too! I used a gradient mask and a nudge to the highlight slider to tone it down a bit here.

[NorthernFocus]

Thanks for the feedback Dan...unfortunately time travel is still restricted to sci-fi and the shutter clicked when it clicked so there's not much I can do there. I'll try cloning and cropping to take away the house in the second...

Now if we had a time machine it wouldn't be very challenging would it?

My comments on the first two shots were more towards things to think about next time you shoot a similar scene.

[Manfred M]

I think you have a few good "establishing shots" when it goes to story telling; it shows the viewer the setting and background of what is happening and is usually a "long shot" like these. An establishing shot is used a lot in the motion picture industry to set the scene for the story. It is also a very effective technique when doing a pictorial series.

A set of closeups from the wharf where the boat docked showing the unloading and sales would have made for a great pictorial story.

[billtils]

Absolutely Manfred! A few dockside shots of the unloading and sales would have been just the ticket. Sadly the dock configuration is a 'U' and I was at the end of one of the legs, too far away in time and distance to get it. Even more sadly I didn't think of it ...