Saturday, January 03, 2009

PHOTOGRAPHING CRASHING WAVES - A TRICK OF THE NIGHT

The Irish Sea, Ramsey. Would you swim in that?


I thought we would start the New Year in typical Isle Of Man Style, a day late. Don't forget we are laid back(translate as plain lazy) procrastinators who put things off until they absolutely need doing. Can you believe it is traditional for the Manx folk to actually partake of a swim in the bitter cold sea. Not in Ramsey though. Oh no. Far to lazy to do that, we leave that to places like Peel. As for me I'm just the photographer and you know the camera isn't allowed to get wet. What of this image though?


For a change some creative photography. You either like or you don't. Just an exercise in photographing rapid movement, light and colour. To me if I take an image I just want to snap it upload it re size it for the blog and that's it. This is one such image, but how was it done?Looking down from the jetty with the zoom on full of the telephoto lens to hone in on just the sea and rocks. The ISO was set at 200 which was really too low, but this allowed for the image to be quite dark, actually darker than the light around. The speed was speed set at 600 to freeze the action of the individual droplets and they fell. The lilac and beige tinge are simply a trick of the light, or should I say the lights around bouncing a lilac hue off boats and the jetty out of shot. The white foam being the lightest colour picked up the lilac where as the rocks are too dark to catch the colour then also bounce or reflect the lilac back onto the water. A trick of the light image turning a day shot into a dusk image. If you wanted to make it even darker you could pop a hood onto the lens which wood obscure all the peripheral light but we won't complicate matters too much. Are you bored yet? How sensible am I today!


I know if it was that simple you'd all be doing it and of course it's not there is a thought process involved.  That though was how it was done by the photographer and her camera. Not really an image for Ramsey Daily Photo showing you the bridge, or the shops but it's the one you have today a Turnersque seascape because I'm feeling that way. A photograph for photography's sake not a snapshot of Ramsey life. 


Are we all ready for 2009 then? 


Gary is building a new website for my sales photography. That and drawing bikini clad celebrities for a UK National Paper called the Daily Star.( The Sunday edition.) Apparently the work of an illustrator is a tough life. I don't think so!

Help! How do I backlink on someone's blog like you do on mine?

27 comments:

MumbaiiteAnu said...

That's a beautiful night shot of the waters and the foam, and an interesting photography lesson.
Happy New Year 2009.

Unknown said...

Great catch, Babooshka.

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Spooky B.

Andrea said...

I love that you explain how you take the pictures, I just got a new camara for christmas (my first SLR), so I have a lot to learn
Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

2009 best wishes to the Master. Explanations go over my head but I do love it.

Debbie Courson Smith said...

Backlinks are under Blogger "settings" choose "comments" - scroll down and you'll see backlinks. Click "show," the default is "hide." This shot looks like cherry soda...

Virginia said...

Just get on over here to B'ham and SHOW me what you are trying to TELL me. I know I should get it but I don't. Better left to the pros like you.
V

George said...

Thanks for explaining how you got this fantastic picture. I would like to think I could do the same thing, but truthfully I doubt it!

magiceye said...

incredible!

slim said...

The lighting is really interesting in this photo. Was Turner referred to as the "painter of light"? I vaguely remember a cathedral that he painted throughout his life. The interesting thing was the change in hue through the years; his pallette got more vibrant the older he got. Thanks for triggering the memory and thanks for being a regular visitor and commenter on my blog.

Gaelyn said...

It's an excellent image, even though I don't understand half of what you said you did.

alicesg said...

Lovely photo. Sometimes, I do love sitting by the seaside and listening to the sound of the waves. Happy New Year to you.

PeterParis said...

I know I should learn, but I still use my compact with all settings on "automatic". I feel that my camera does a better job than I would do. Maybe one day.... ? When I see what you and some others produce, I know I should do something. :-)

angela said...

I'm glad you asked that about the links because I'd been wondering too...

Thanks for the explanation. Like Peter I only use automatic and I know I could do so much more when I read your posts but...oh well perhaps in 2009.
Poor Gary..tough job he's got but, you know, someone has to do it..

Chuck Pefley said...

Thinking? Aw, that takes all the fun away :)

I've got the same back-link question. Boise Diva seems to have the answer and I'm gonna check in a minute.

Happy New Year!

Poopsie aka Blue said...

I too appreciate the photo lessons, even though I rarely remember to put them into practice!

Wishing you both a Happy New Year & a new laptop real soon.

Blue
x

Maria Verivaki said...

no, i would NOT swim in that
leave the swimming for a summer's day - all in its season!

Rune Eide said...

Thank you for the lesson - it was sorely needed...

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the lovely comments you left me.
This kind of shot I really love. I am planning on studying light this year. Have sleceted a couple of courses to try and help me understand it better. I love your bite sized lessons. Of to play around with todays lesson.
Will check out your new sales web site.
Am looking forward to Gary's new cartoons.

Tanya Breese said...

No, I don't think I'd swim right there, but I could sit there for a while! I can practically smell the salt in the air.

I enjoy your lessons. I've never read the manual to my camera till a couple of weeks ago so I've been playing with settings and trying to remember when to use which setting. I also ordered a couple of photog books from the library, maybe I'll be able to eventually take a good picture!

Pat said...

I think I would swim here (if I could swim; I'll just play in the water.) I like the shades....

Unknown said...

I like your lilac crashing waves! :-)

abc said...

I like the way the droplets are captured.

CeciliaGallerani said...

No swimming, but I'm more than willing to look at that lilac spray.

Susie of Arabia said...

I love and appreciate your photography tips - thanks!

Sparky said...

Oh, that is simply stunning! Thanks so much for sharing your talent with us all.
Sparky ♥ ∞

Gemma Wiseman said...

That soft lilac tone creates an amazing highlight for the foam and swirl of the waves!

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