the Moselle is in town Photo

Photographer’s Note

Picture of downtown Remich that was flooded as the Moselle river came out of its banks. The floods started Wednesday 4 October and lasted until... well, I don't know when! There isn't anything about it in the papers anymore (and considering that I am part of a paper, I should know, but shhh don't tell anybody!)

This year the alert bar had been set up to 650 cm in Remich, stopping short of the worst floods that took place in 1983. The interesting facet behind all of this though, is that normally these floods take place in Spring... not in the Fall.

As I arrived to work on Friday "morning" and my boss/colleague asked whether I'd be willing to head down to Remich to take some artsy pictures of the floods I was all excited, and then as we'd already decided to head out to take night pictures with Mike that day, it all just fit perfectly together!

I'd never been that close to a river that had invaded a city. It was kind of a neat experience (although not very dramatic in any way). It was unfortunately still rainy (and stormy) so I missed a good number of shots I would have really liked to take simply because it was pouring rain.

I'm not sure whether there is a bit of distortion on the sides of the picture, although there shouldn't be as I was shooting at 60mm.
I haven't retouched the picture in any way. It's not even cropped.
Well, ok, I added the name onto it :P

An advance Thank You to all those amongst You who take the time to criticise and/or leave a comment!

Nikon D200
2006/10/06 20:13:44.4
RAW (12-bit)
Image Size: Large (3872 x 2592)
Color
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Focal Length: 60mm
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
30 sec - F/25
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 100
Optimize Image: Normal
White Balance: Incandescent
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Not Attached
Color Mode: Mode I (sRGB)
Tone Comp.: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Auto
Sharpening: Auto
Image Comment:
Long Exposure NR: Off
High ISO NR: Off

superpau, eska, Floydian, atus, rafalzurawel has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

beautiful_mind (294) 2006-10-09 12:05 [Comment]

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superpau (1460) 2006-10-09 12:16

Hi Julia
the colors are soft and warm, eventhought the city was flooded. and the mood of the photo is calm, like if they are waiting for the water to go away.
Well seen!
Saludos, Paula.

cobraphil8 (11652) 2006-10-09 14:13

Salut Julia,
excellente photo de reportage même si les conditions sont dramatiques pour les personnes qui vivent là... Tu arrives là avec une photo presque trop esthétique, cela efface la partie dramatique de la situation.
De magnifiques reflets dans cette rivière éphémère.
A bientôt
Gros bisous
Philippe

SchwebagMike (1490) 2006-10-10 3:35

Hi Julia,
Nice to see part of the result of our visit to Remich, which was such a perfect evening :D
Phillipe is maybe right by saying that your shot is very "smooth" for a situation that's supposed to be "dramatic" but then it was surely not a very big flood and people living here are allready somehow used to it, I had at least not the impression that there was much shock in people's faces we met. Besides isn't that art ;)
The shot is really very sharp and a bit brighter then the one I took from a comparble POV. Still the lights are not to brigth, so that's a great job! Even though it's for sure not technically a great picture, I somehow prefer my boat picture from the trip as it has people and action in it, but I agree that this is not really comparable.
Thanks for the great fun evening, Mike
P.S.:Really would love to see the picture you took with waste in front, or the one of the big scene with the fireman ...

nwoehnl (120) 2006-10-10 11:48

Hi Julia. An unusual photo and eerie in a way how the long exposure and the nocturnal reflections on the smoothened water surface give an almost idyllic aspect to what is actually a pretty dramatic event for the people living or working in one of the buildings in this area. Very interesting shot.

AmiBe (6042) 2006-10-10 16:50

Hello Julia,
une photo étonnante... ça fait bizarre de voir ces rues vides alors que l'éclairage publique fonctionne.
Belle prise de nuit à part ça.
Le panneau bleu rend cette image encore plus forte... La rue piétonne a cédé sa place à un lac.
a+

dvlazar (6488) 2006-10-10 20:39

I was wondering how that street surface could be so shiny - until i read that it was water! Very clear, which is important.
Cheers

ktanska (16695) 2006-10-11 7:18

Hei Julia,
Excellent combination of documentary and art photo. Reflections look beautiful on still water and street lights. (I would have thought that it would be risky to keep those lights on.)
Depth of the water can be gueesed from the level of those signs.
Sad thing to those who live there.
Kari

eska (520) 2006-10-11 7:51

Hi Julia.
Beautiful documentary photo and very interesting note.
The picture is so nice and peaceful that you have to keep in mind the tragedy of the situation. Mike's shots are more on the dramatic side but I like yours.
The only thing that worries me is the reddish tint which I have tried to correct in WS with somewhat meager success.
Greeting from Canada.
Chris

[workshop] [compare] +

atus (15476) 2006-10-11 20:22

Hi Julia,
this is great one, too. Perfect focus and sharpness, nice reflection and very good lighting. The vertical format works very well here. Tfs and best wishes!
Attila

Floydian (30970) 2006-10-12 3:27

Hu Julia,
Oeps, that's strange looking picture. It seems like an abandon city, something from a SF movies with that colour. But reading the story, seeing the details, the reflections...oh my, you were very lucky to captured such a serene image. For the people who live there not the best place, but i would surely have such a photo in my portfolio.
This is high class work...very good composed and exposed..!!
Regards, Henk

mpb001 (4600) 2006-10-14 21:26

Very nice shot, Julia. I like the tones of the lighting on the water and the unusual scene is very mood evoking.
Mike

vincz (19045) 2006-10-16 8:13

Very unusual picture, with uncommon light and reflection conditions. You did a wonderful job here at catching this unique atmosphere, calm reflecting calm. Vert interesting.

Voltri (1724) 2006-10-27 7:57

Julia, you know what is the most impressive in this photo? What it was posted w/o any post-processing!!! Simply amazing and made me think about purchasing a 'mirror' camera (whatever you call it in english :)

capthaddock (28640) 2006-11-01 11:09

Wow, scary but peacefully beautiful, you need a boat to to go the kebab restaurant, it looks like a ghost town, thougfh a very inviting one. Coincidentally I flew in to Hahn airport on the 4th, and drove along the german side of the Moselle river the next day, I had no idea there was a fklooding situaation in Lux, as all was normal around Cochem and Trarbach

BHo (2177) 2006-11-07 8:21

Very cool shot indeed. Would probably look superb in B&W too. Cheers~

rafalzurawel (229) 2006-11-14 16:15

Hi Julia,

Beautiful shot.
So peaceful and calm... I was surprised when I find this is not the canal, but flooded water.

I am from the area of Poland where we have sometimes a big problem with the rivers...
9 years ago was not that calm...

ANyway,
Very good photography,
TFS,
Rafal

[2]

peekaboo (22) 2007-01-20 16:27

A very interesting shot of an otherwise unfortunate situation. I like the shimmering reflection and I am curious if the lighting was as warmly light in reality as I am less familiar with digital photographic color rendition. This is a s good as most of your other shots I've seen.
Very Nice
Paul