Lighthouse of the Île Vierge. Photo

Photographer’s Note

Lighthouse of the Île Vierge.

From this website:

"This is the tallest traditional masonry lighthouse ever built and the tallest lighthouse in Europe, designed to be visible at a distance of 50 km (31 mi). There are 365 steps to reach the gallery, 400 in all to reach the lantern room. Construction began in 1897 and required five years. The centennial of the lighthouse was celebrated in July 2002. A masterpiece of French architecture, the building has an elegance rarely seen in lighthouses".

More information about the lighthouse can be found here

Click on Map:[view] to see the aerial picture from Google Earth.

Taken as JPEG: PP in PT Lens, FastStone and PhotoShop 7.

Exposure: 1/250s: F7.1: ISO 200: 28mm focal length.

saxo042, tyro, nazirbadar, Longroute has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

saxo042 (15592) 2009-09-25 9:10

Hi Peter,
It quite easy here to follow your compositional intentions! There is a very obvious line that starts at the lower left corner, follows the boats, conyinues along the persons (even along the arms), and passes another boat and creeps up the light house! That line, at least the first part of it, also forms a triangle together with the other line of the quay, that starts at exactly the lower right corner. The third triangle side would then be the lower frame of the picture, or maybe that line in the concrete between the closest boats and the persons, I´m not really sure. But this is definitely a very well composed picture, Also a picture with many fine colours. The whole photo is "an area of particular interest"!
Kind regards
Gunnar

tyro (2664) 2009-09-25 9:34

Hello, Peter.

Well, I'm not so sure that I can see the "compositional lines" here quite as well as Gunnar can. I can certainly see the line from the red/white/blue boat in the lower left corner travelling all the way to the lighthouse - are the other two sides the horizon and the left side of the frame? The horizontal "thirds" are well shown, of course.

Composition apart, the colours here are lovely, with that great splash of colour in the foreground. An interesting note too.

Could I try to upload a little workshop, now that I have downloaded FastStone, to see if I can draw some lines and attempt to see what your "composition lines" are? It reminds me a bit of looking at the stars and trying to envisage how the "Plough" looks like a big bear or how Orion looks like a warrior!

Kind Regards,

John.

[workshop] [compare] +

nazirbadar (219) 2009-09-25 10:07

Hello Peter,
And immediately this picture has changed my mood,
and I with my family have started planning for vacation.
Really a fantastic picture.
Atmosphere perfectly represented.
Greetings
Nazir

Glint (3042) 2009-09-27 11:15

Hello Peter,
the first thing that struck me here before the obvious compositional elements of foreground, mid ground and distance interests and the lighthouse at exactly on thirds from the right was the surreal quality of the distant water. The little rocky islands are dotty about the blue water in something like a circular formation.Almost akin to a fairy circle, not of toadstools but rocks. Perhaps this is where mermaids meet to discuss matters of salty import!
regards,
Bev

TopGeo (21737) 2009-09-28 5:37

Hi Peter! Appreciable picture and theories with regard to the picture the photograph and her capture and dynamics! Believes each spectator should he has free the brain in the view of each picture! freely it shapes his own personal opinion! Most excellent the picture splendid the thoughts I praise you!
regards
Georgios

Longroute (9295) 2009-09-30 10:39

We seem to share both the love for seascape and Brittany! (:-)

Actually I discovered your gallery watching a ws Gunnar made where a blue grid and yellow lines help to analyze the composition... There' a lot to say about that matter, just the most important is that, especially when photographing landscapes or seascape, very often you don't have any control over those lines. What I mean is that once you have made your decision to photograph a certain subject, i.e. a boat, and its surrounding, i.e. a harbour, in most cases it's the actual scene that decides the best position and so all those lines...

For instance, this photo: I would have chosen like you to include the small colourful boats in the fg, the family on the rock and the distant lighthouse. Once you take this decision the composition is already set, and only minor adjustments can be done.
I usually do this intuitively and I'm sure I would have shot the same scene as here. The place is charming enough and all those subject I mentioned had to be included... our skill is just that of seeing the scene we like and doing our best to get it "right".
I think you did!

Best regards,
Donato