Port of Baku Photo

Photographer’s Note

Although Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, is on the landlocked Caspian Sea, it has quite a busy port that services ships that are plying routes across the Caspian Sea.

Most of the ships are carrying crude oil, petroleum products and timber (40 of the 57 ships registered in Baku are oil tankers) and there are a couple of passenger services to ports in Iran and Turkmenistan as well.

This photograph was taken from a hill behind the port, looking across the bay to Baku. In the middle distance (behind the wharf) you can see part of the oilfield that stretches right down the coast south of Baku. Along this part of the Caspian Sea coast there are many small oil rigs on shore as well as large rigs offshore, and much of the shoreline is severely polluted from oil spills.

lestans, TGULUMSER, kaptan, pboehringer, ktanska, plimrn, John_F_Kennedy, KevRyan, feather, kiwi_explorer, yso, euryan, AiresSantos, TOMHIL, riclopes, rjb874 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

TGULUMSER (12496) 2008-03-29 10:05

Hello David,
An amazing and colorful view. What a busy place this is! You captured a great moment,
Thanks for sharing with us,
Best regards,
Tulay

lestans (15448) 2008-03-29 10:10

Hi David
interesting subject and very well composed, I like the harbour in the foreground and the town behind.
Baku is a famous place but I seldom saw a picture about it.

TFS
Livia

kaptan (1442) 2008-03-29 10:13

Good sharpness.nice colors.TFS.Nezih

powoj (1655) 2008-03-29 11:42

Hallo,
Superb shot. Hot colors, good POV, and oilfield in background.
Good job.
Piotr

vincz (19039) 2008-03-30 7:55

Very special place, focused on oil with all the sad side effects on the environment. You go a good catch of the harbour atmosphere with lots of depth and beautiful colours.

pboehringer (770) 2008-03-30 21:30

David,
a place that certainly is not quite often showed us here at TE but in the movie with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond. Interesting composition with the horizontal layers of the water, port, water and finally at the very end the city of Baku. The strong colors of red, blue and yellow gives a great contrast to the overall image.
Peter

ktanska (16514) 2008-03-31 3:04

Hi David,
Quite a view. Rusting ships and sea of oil towers. Industrial city which is easy to guess to have it's share of pollution problems. Grim view despite colours and sunshine.
Kari

plimrn (19600) 2008-04-01 22:31

Hi David,
I HAD to go to your latest photo to find out where in the world you are; however with a jump from the bahamas to malasia, I can hardly be diasappointed that you were in Azerbaijan last July!! The name sound like the end of the world, but the photo shows a busy, modern port!! Your note explains well why the port is so active.
HLJ, Pat

John_F_Kennedy (31197) 2008-04-04 3:50

This is a very spectacular and expressive city photo! Weel seen.
Best wishes,
Achim

KevRyan (22346) 2008-04-06 4:26

A very nicely organised shot David - the fore, mid and background are alive with interest and detail which could only be bettered by some live human presence - the colour and strength of the horizontals makes me a really great landscape image.

I look forward to visiting Baku one summer - I went in January/February this year and it was pretty cold!!

best wishes Kev

kensimage (8539) 2008-04-07 0:28

A very colorful scene, David, and well-composed. It captures the jumble of stuff one sees in a place that's not laid out in any particular design. But it's jumbled in layers that create nice depth and keep everything clear and not muddled. Well chosen POV. Regards, Ken.

pasternak (13214) 2008-04-15 4:06

Great shot, David, the composition is flawless with several layers of interest and nice contrast of red and blue colors.

Cheers
A.

feather (49858) 2008-04-18 7:58

We can always rely on you to show us something interesting from a less visited part of the world. Your high POV works very well to over-look the port and the town across the bay. the boats make an industrial image very colourful. Well done
Kath

archimatica (13222) 2008-04-18 14:56

Great urban landscape.
The composition have several layers of interest.
Best regards
Renzo

kevinos (6927) 2008-04-18 21:46

You do manage to get to some exotic destinations, David,you clearly have exceptional travel opportunities. I like the strong pattern and patchwork of textures and colours that fill the frame here. The composition is very horizontal and lines but the one boat, in the bottom right is turned against the line and seems to tie up the composition nicely. regards kevin

kiwi_explorer (12195) 2008-04-20 2:09

Hi David,
Quite a busy port and a wealthy one too with all those crude oil. But I'm sorry to hear that with all these wealth the environment suffered. Very good documentary photo and notes. Well captured and presented. Well done! tfs\
Cheers,
Renier

yso (3183) 2008-04-20 13:12

Hi David,
Interesting composition with so much details of the port, colours are very intense and the perspective well seen with the town background.
Regards,
Yves

euryan (8345) 2008-04-20 15:06

Interesting photo. I like the different layers from close to far. There is so much crammed into the frame. I remember cross-training with some soldiers from Azerbaijan a few years ago (Operation who-knows-what). They kept telling me that I should visit Baku. Since I'd never heard of it, I thought that it must be a small town, but now I see that it's huge. Just goes to show how much there is in this world to see, and no one can see it all.

AiresSantos (41866) 2008-04-21 7:41

Hi David
Very nice view of the Baku's Port. Excellent colours and sharpness. I like your POV and how you managed the light
Have a nice week
Aires

capthaddock (28640) 2008-04-22 18:15

Hideous subject, exquisite light, but it works because of the horizontal layers, the strong contrast of the abundant rusted metal with the sea, and the bleak concrete up and down skyline which complements the industrial atmosphere.

(I don't know if you're still in KL, I will be in the neighbourhood the 1st week of July, possibly passing through KL)

sacavem (8223) 2008-04-23 9:34

Olá David,

Excellent sight since the port until the a city that if it sees in the deep.Very nice colours, and sharpness.

Regards,
Filipe

Miha2ou7 (4901) 2008-04-28 2:06

Hey David,

The perfect industrial photo. Nice depth, the colors are well saturated and its generally very sharp. More than that, the motive is composed wisely, and it really gives off the sense that something huge is happening here.
Nice work.

Enjoy.

riclopes (32957) 2009-01-21 2:01

Olá David, impressive view of the Port. These colorful giants can be pretty charming and attractive for photography. You did a good work with the FG. The shapes and colors of the boats along with the reflexions are appealing. Also the cranes have interesting graphic qualities, reminding me of a comunity of dinossaurs - love that yellow girafe neck at right. The vision of Baku in the distance completes well the view.
p.s.- after reading your critic to my post of Abu Simbel, I'm very curious about your trip in Egypt - hope your enjoying it as much as we did. In spite of the hassling, we loved it.
cheers,
ric