Blue hour at the Jimenoa river I Photo

Photographer’s Note

I still want to show you some more victorian houses of Puerto Plata and maybe also the beach, but I don't want to be too monotonous, so here you have a view taken after sunset in the jungle of the banks of the river Jimenoa.

This mountain region around the small town of Jarabacoa is very scenic. Some call it the "Dominican Alps", but apart from the mountains and the pine forests, it hardly reminds me any European mountain region, because it's too evident that we are in a tropical region. Some 40 Kms / 25 miles (distance on the map, I have no idea of the walking distance) West of the town lies Pico Duarte, the highest peak of the Caribean (3098 metres, 10164 feet). Although it is quoted as the capital of adventure tourism of the country and it's clear that the tourism is an activity with some importance, we saw very few foreigners apart from an European couple that was staying in the hotel that is just to the left of the POV.

The image is a merger of two shots taken from a suspension bridge, with exposures differing 2 EV. One was used for the sky and partially for the water and another one for the the rest. Actually the one used for the sky (the darkest one) was darkened even more in PP. Don't ask me about its realism. I think that such discussion doesn't make much sense with shots made under such light conditions with which the differences between the way our eyes see the reality and what the camera sensor or film captures is even more evident than it is common. It is my première with such type of photos.

I have posted a WS with another POV and PP.

Location (latitude, longitude): 19.141015,-70.630464

zeca, JCG, japiey, Emile, feather, danos, pboehringer, lucasgalodoido, xuaxo, atus, Tort, ChrisJ, Charo, sufi, Docarmo, balatrek has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

zeca (20026) 2007-10-15 20:32

Olá José!
Bela paisagem, com lindas cores no céu e bonita textura de seda na água. Gostei do trabalho pp, fazendo da foto algo muito bonito de se ver. Bom trabalho.
Abraço,
Zeca

ViktorVaughn (1517) 2007-10-15 21:09

Hmm...I like both photos of this river.

The colours are so beautiful, not an everyday sunset with those purples. You've done an excellent job combining the two exposures allowing us to see the entire scene. Looks quite thick, and un-touched.

Regards

aadilj (17950) 2007-10-15 21:31

This one almost seems like a painting. Its sombre and so poetic. Well captured effort ineed. The pov and prxpective are great as well which ive this image a dream-like quality

japiey (9531) 2007-10-15 22:13

Hi Jose.

Romantic feel, and the BLUE HOUR is dreamy, dear friend.
Salutes.

jean paul

Emile (20177) 2007-10-15 23:11

Hola Jose.
Creo que tus dos fotos son excelentes, estan muy bien captadas en un momento ya de no mucha claridad pero que al mismo tiempo le da una sensacion de anochecer. El cielo se ve muy impresionante con el sol ya desapareciendo dando a tu foto un toque de romantisismo. No hay dudas que es una imagen tropical no de los Alpes.
Felicitaciones.
Abrazos.

danyy (69929) 2007-10-15 23:57

Bonjour Jose,
j'aime beaucoup les couleurs semi nocturenes de cette scène. Mais aussi son calme relatiff, car la rivière a tout de même l'air assez rapide.
Une photo sans grand point fort si ce n'eest ce ciel bien coloré.

Regards.
Daniel.

JCG (25875) 2007-10-16 0:39

Hello José,

I like very much the effect 3 dimensions of the image, we have the impression to be in the landscape. The light is extraordinary, I like very much. The wild side of places is returned well and this sky is magnificent. Thank you for the sharing José and for the interesting note.

With all my friendships,

Jean-Charles

vincz (19075) 2007-10-16 1:01

Fantastic jose. This is a superb photo with such beautiful colours. The sky and the colours behind the trees, wow... Great texture also on the river with 1/5 sec. A great picture.

feather (50560) 2007-10-16 3:08

Beautiful shot Jose. I was studying the image before reading your note and was amazed by the green tones showing from the bushes, when with a sky like this we would expect silhouettes. Your merge has worked very well, as has the one in the WS, although this one has more punch. The colours are wonderful and a change from oranges and yellows. Gilbert (gilou530) posted one yesterday where he had used incandescent WB to create an interesting result. I also like the smooth look of the river from the slow shutter speed. You are indeed giving us a great variety. Well done
Kath

UnTrained (0) 2007-10-16 5:25

Olá José,
strong impression in good darkness but excellent visibility. The dark green and the coloured sky around those soft enlighted stream is well done. Good job with good contrasts without flaws in my eyes. The curve makes the composition interesting.
Lieben Gruss, Ulf

danos (33730) 2007-10-16 6:17

Ola Jose,
interesting and romantic this pink mood of the blue hours of the banks of the river Jimenoa.The dense greenery that surround the river make the environment very attractive.As i see,you use the same method of the two shots merger,taken with exposures differing 2 EV.I can say, that the result is very attractive.Well done my friend.

Regards,Danos

elBud (2211) 2007-10-16 8:05 [Comment]

Show Comment

pboehringer (770) 2007-10-16 8:12

Jose,
the landscape is a rather simple one, but the blue hour certainly makes it special and your vision with the PP gave a wonderful atmosphere. Unfortunately I can see a lot of your brush strokes through the image and that compromises it somewhat. Specially alongthe border trees and sky.
Nevertheless a different post of DR, quite far away of the typical tourism driven places.
Regards, Peter

lucasgalodoido (16945) 2007-10-16 10:55

Olá José!
Muito bonita as cores desse fim de dia, na miniatura pensei que fosse uma estrada, uma bela surpresa ver esse rio aqui!
Parabéns e Abraço!

xuaxo (5911) 2007-10-16 12:27

Olá José
A miniatura parecia muito lilás, mas a imagem grande parece-me boa. Gosto do contraste entre as nuvens escuras azuladas e o rio tipo chumbo.
Desconfio que preferia uma imagem diurna.
Um abraço, F.

atus (15476) 2007-10-16 17:12

Very nice and attractive shot, José. The mainly soft purple of the sky/clouds makes the shot and at the same time the perspective and sense of depth is also great and completes it perfectly. Excellent light control and perfect sharpness which in combination with the depth gives the sense of a 3-D image. Very nice work!
Tfs and best wishes.
Attila

Stepan (27175) 2007-10-16 20:19

Colors make it a little unreal, but it's working. The purples tones are unusual. Well done.
Stéphane

Tort (2266) 2007-10-17 4:48

Olá José
Gosto da perspectiva, acho que ficou boa na hora do lusco-fusco. As cores do céu azul cobalto também estão excelentes!
Abraços
Juan Tort

ChrisJ (70521) 2007-10-17 6:25

Hi Jose

The riverbanks provide good linear [erspective. Nice motion blur of the flowing water in the river. Good colour, sharpness & pov. Tfs!

paura (39608) 2007-10-17 15:11

José,
Aí cabia bem uma HDR, não? A paisagem é incrível e o ceu lindo. Faltou o primeiro plano tomado com tripé e fotometria diferente ...

Paulo

jackart (5618) 2007-10-17 23:22

Hi Jose!

Very nice picture. Interesting tonation of colors with domination of purple accent. Good choosen parameters of exposure. You have extremaly hard light, but everything is sharp and very good visible.

Regards
Jacek

barrufeto_77 (25957) 2007-10-18 1:31

Hola Jose.

Desde luego, los colores del cielo son brutales, realmente bonitos y muy bien contrastados.

Una felicitación por la foto!

Saludos, Oscar

Charo (32190) 2007-10-18 2:58

Hola Jose,
Bella toma con ese río casi plata que nos conduce a mirar al bonito ocaso. Estupenda la textura del agua y los colores.
Cordialmente
Charo

sufi (9568) 2007-10-18 5:28

Merhaba José, my friend...
What wonderful colors!.. Also wonderful light and clarity... The point of view, the perspective and the PP are perfect... Also perfect idea...
TFS...
Stay well..
Salim.

Bluejeans (33423) 2007-10-20 3:32

Oi amigo ,
Fantastica foto ficou 3D , estas arvores ficarm muito bonitas , gostei da agua do rio parece um lencol de seda , e por ultimo o ceu muito belo , parabens!!!
Um abraço Gonçalo
Bom fim de semana

Docarmo (8862) 2007-10-20 7:46

Olá José,
Lindas fotos da "Blue Hour"!
Gosto mais do WS. Parece dar mais impressão de profundidade, talvez pelo galho de árvore à esquerda, mais em evidência no primeiro plano. Gosto mais também da textura do rio no WS e as cores me parecem mais naturais, menos saturadas.
Mas todas as duas são muito bonitas.
Parabéns!
Maria do Carmo

jmcl (14183) 2007-10-21 12:53

HI José

very nice layering .. as much as it is the light range it is also the crisp, sharp vegetation against the motion of the water and sky that makes this so effective. Tremendous. I love dark images and this is a beauty.

take care,

John

linask (2829) 2007-10-26 9:47

You have done a nice job combining two exposures.
I would prefer slightly warmer (less blue, more yellow) colors here. Maybe a bit less red would also look nice, but I'm not sure about it. If your original photos are Raw it should be very easy to modify.

Linas

balatrek (7419) 2007-11-16 14:53

Hola Jose,

SIn duda es un paisaje muy interesante, siniestro y encantador a la vez, el tiempo de exposición que elegiste ha creado un efecto impresionante en el agua, parece que estuviese helado, la perspectiva ha creado buena profundidad y los colores son realmente sugerentes, los árboles de la zona superior derecha parecen arder.

Saludos
José