Paternoster Morning, a photo from Western Cape, West

Photographer's Note

An early morning shot of Paternoster. In the foreground some small fishing boats rest on the beach, behind them you can see some West Coast style cottages.
Paternoster is a quaint fishing village on the west coast of South Africa. It has become a favoured holiday location for many Capetonians and the old fishing cottages have become hard to find amidst the newly developed holiday homes. The new ‘village’ fits in comfortably with the old insofar as the style of architecture is concerned; the cottages all reflect the style of the traditional Cape fisherman’s homes.
Even today the people of this 1500-soul village livelihood revolves around fishing. The main catches are snoek and crayfish or "West Coast Lobster”. The fishermen have fallen on hard times since the introduction of the crayfish season (Nov to April) and the quota system. Many local men ply the beach area tempting visitors with fresh crayfish, which have been caught illegally. The penalty for buying these crustaceans is severe, fines are high and cars transporting the goods (even if it is only one) can be impounded.
Once regarded as a pest, when they caught them in their nets fishermen would simply toss them overboard. Wagon-loads of dead crayfish were collected and sold to farmers as fertiliser. It was only when markets abroad, France in particular, where they knew a thing or two about good food, started to show an increasing interest in crayfish that fishermen began to can the product from 1890 onwards.
The popularity of the crayfish now means their dwindling numbers have to be controlled, through strict quotas and seasons.

This photograph is copyright of Rosemary Walden - © Rosemary Walden 2012. All rights reserved. Any redistribution or reproduction of the image in any form is prohibited. You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download, distribute or exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system

finlay, jjcordier, sevy, bukitgolfb301, Noel_Byrne, timecapturer, annjackman, delpeoples, macjake, abmdsudi has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

SNOOP_Chan (3474) 2012-10-11 8:17

Hello Rosemary, lovely photo here, i love the angle on the boats. Nice strong colors. Lovely composition, good sharpness.
Regards!

dta (51454) 2012-10-11 8:41

Hello Rosemary ,
This is a beautiful composition , the kind of picture that is more effective with the morning or evening light , that enhances the attracitvity of the colors and textures of the old boats .
Regards

emilbo (20852) 2012-10-11 8:52

Allô Rosemary!
Il fallait se lever tôt pour pour avoir un éclairage comme celui-ci et tu as su en profiter pour prendre cette magnifique photo. Ces vieux bateaux de pêche sont très intéressants et les couleurs sont merveilleuses.
Bravo! et toutes mes amitiés,
Emilius

mjw364 (3706) 2012-10-11 10:17

Hello Rosemary

I'm back after a few laptop issues so apologies for not commenting earlier.

You have beaten me to it! I have a few "boat" shots after my recent trip - in early morning light too! Not as warm and bright as this though. Great colour tones and fantastic composition. Pin sharp as always.

Mike

williewhistler (7283) 2012-10-11 11:03

Hello Rosemary,the three boats are conveniently arranged leading nicely into the scene as they do,the saturated colours have real impact in a sound composition.
Best regards Les.

finlay (1535) 2012-10-11 11:48

Rosemary

The warm early morning sun really brings out the colour in this shot, particularly the golden tones. Great pov too with a low angle on the boats that makes them look large in the foreground.

Finlay

francio64 (38188) 2012-10-11 12:56

Hi Rosemary,
bella immagine con un buon inserimento delle barche in FG che ben arricchiscono la composizione.
Belli i toni caldi della luce.

TFS!
Francesco

Highmountains (1834) 2012-10-11 13:02

The brightness of the imagery and the vibrance of the colours are very well done in this photograph. The beach, scattered with stones, pebbles and numerous other things, have these three brightly coloured boats as a centre of our attention. The light management is excellent. The background of high brown slope on the right and a line of light coloured buildings on the left also has been captured with sharpness and clarity.
Thanks for sharing this well composed photograph.

ACL1978 (5783) 2012-10-11 13:51

The curvature of this scene is interesting, Rosemary - almost as though the whole thing is turning away and to the right, between the directionality of the clouds, the angle of the boats, and the perspective. Great color and a very evocative scene.

Andrew

yquem46 (32271) 2012-10-11 13:55

Hello Rosemary
Nice light and colors in this compo
I like the way boats are positioned. They provide a very attractive FG
Have a nice evening
patrick

faletiz (10759) 2012-10-11 14:00

Hi Rosemary
wonderful light,perfect composition, loveli colors. Great shot! Have a nice evening
Letizia

Cricri (86463) 2012-10-11 21:56

Hi Rosemay
J'aime la composition de cette image, la lumière douce du matin sur les barques colorées, une image pleine de couleurs très attirante
Belle journée
cricri

jjcordier (62344) 2012-10-11 22:13

Rosemary
Ces bateaux, qui ont un peu subi les effets du temps, constituant un bon premier plan pour cette jolie photo où la lumière matinale joue aussi un rôle important.
Amicalement
JJ

sevy (13273) 2012-10-11 23:36

Hello Rosemary,

A nice warm lightning for this cute composition using nicely and efficiently the tiny colorfull boats in foreground. Then, the wide angle lens provides the depth to the view increasing the perspective.

Yves.

JFS (32153) 2012-10-12 0:12

Wow, what a marvelous image Rosemary! The light is sensational and the colors...and what to say about the composition...an excellent work as always. Thanks a lot!
Cheers,
Juan

carlo62 (12610) 2012-10-12 0:19

Ciao Rosemary
mi piace la luce di questa foto, è molto calda, la composizione è piacevole e le barche colorate un pò vecchie sontrastano con le case di architettura più moderna.
Saluti
Carlo

bukitgolfb301 (30067) 2012-10-12 1:03

Hi dear Rosemary

Another colorful and wonderful world you created. Best choice of panfocus appraoch via wide angle lens. Light shade makes very tatseful atmosphere. The contarst of wrecked boat and white houses are so nice. Thank you for your sharing and have a good day!

Takero from Tokyo

Noel_Byrne (7374) 2012-10-12 1:11

Hi Rosemary,
I love the low point of view you chose here, which shows these little boats off perfectly. Their rainbow of colours against the white houses and blue sky look very picturesque. Thansk also for the great note!
Best wishes
Noel

dkmurphys (36819) 2012-10-12 1:29

Hi Rosemary,
Very picturesque colors of the morning. I like the composition and the angle. Well seen!

Daniel

jemaflor (68943) 2012-10-12 2:29

Hi Rosemary,
Well framed with this colourful fg with boat, good depth effect and lovely result with this light perfectly captured.

timecapturer (30334) 2012-10-12 2:36

Hi Rosemary
WoW! What a colour palette this is. Your composition is perfect and the detailing exquisite but it is the light here that makes this so special. Handled flawlessly and the result a classic and beautiful image of real quality. Love it!

Have a marvellous weekend - Brian.

snunney (67346) 2012-10-12 3:33

Hello Rosemary,
A fine composition. I like the low angle of view and the juxtaposition of the boats with the background buildings. Lovely warm light and pleasant saturated tones.

thebest (3370) 2012-10-12 5:02

Hello Rosemary,

What wonderful colours these boats are painted - I love the angle of your chosen POV.
Well done on such a good photo.

Kind regards,
Dawn.

Glint (5573) 2012-10-12 6:38

Hello Rosemary,
I like the way this nice buttery light brings out the coloiurs of the boats.A well balanced composition.
Bev

marabu61 (3924) 2012-10-12 15:11

Hello Rosemary
Oh yes, very pitoresque, those boats just scream to be photographed. And taken in an pleasant and warm morning light, they are simply stunning.
have a great weekend
Daniel

mozzy27 (2051) 2012-10-12 21:01

Awesome shot Rosemary, I absolutely love it with all its bold colours and superb use of lighting. The POV is perfect along with a great sharpness and DOF. Nice composition. TFS
Cheers Peter

Matthew-Watt (6035) 2012-10-12 21:27

Hi Rosemary,

A true beauty. This is a sharp, vibrant and eclectic photograph. The rustic paint, the golden light, selection of dwellings and stunning weather combine to make a very effective scene. So much colour and life here. It would make for a good subject to be painted in watercolours.

Matt

annjackman (13219) 2012-10-13 10:01

Hello Rosemary,
You have caught that magical light again! A lovely combination of brightly coloured boats and pastel coloured cottages. Your viewpoint is very well chosen with the three boats taking centre stage in a charming beach scene. First class clarity.
Best wishes, Ann

delpeoples (44960) 2012-10-13 17:13

Dear Rosemary

I'm still reeling from the fact that the crayfish were once used as fertilliser! Wow, what a waste!

But to your beautiful photo. The boats are so artistically arranged (which I know you had nothing to do with, but it was you who chose the excellent POV). Their saturation and texture are wonderful and the warm light has illuminated the scene fantastically. You make an interesting point about the conflict between the old traditional villages and the new influx of tourism (and resulting modern architecture). Wonderful shot. Thanks for sharing.

Best regards
Lisa

Harshchahal (121) 2012-10-14 9:01

a very colourful picture with good saturation..

macjake (39235) 2012-10-14 9:05

Hi Rosemary
another very visually interesting photo.
its the colors that capture our attention immediately, its hard not to stop and take a peek at this one.
almost the entire frame is used up with subjects, I like the low pov looking upwards, it was very effective.
and talk about that lighting! beautiful golds and oranges striking the boats.
and yes, the boats...the star of the show.
charming indeed.
wouldn't change anything here.
enjoy your day
craig

abmdsudi (26281) 2012-10-14 21:35

Hi Rosemary
A beautiful and strong colorful shot, you have great eyes finding these boats with such vibrant and well saturated. An excellent composition in great quality, wonderful POV and all the elements are very well placed in the image, the contrast to blue sky is mouth watering indeed. Such glamorous hot and high quality. Congrats. Great infor notes
Kind regards

eldancer1 (17064) 2012-10-15 9:15

I think the best time to take photos is early morning just after sunrise and late afternoon just before sunset! Awesome capture of the morning light, it makes ordinary things look so wonderful. Good dof with sharp details. Very well done, tfs.

wolf38 (28190) 2012-11-04 0:17

Hello Rosemary. A beautiful photo with strong colors and great depth of field. Very good technical quality. These photos are perfect for an exhibition.
Best rgds, Wolfgang.

dekanski (489) 2013-01-30 12:01 [Comment]