The St. Petersburg Fishing Pier Photo

Photographer’s Note

Today I have a long exposure from the end of the St. Petersburg, Florida pier. This is an extension at the end of the cement pier, presumably to separate the fishermen from the tourists. St. Petersburg calls this place "The Pier" - it is downtown and right in the middle of the tourist area, so it gets a lot of visitors. I got there too early on this particular morning to see anyone other than maintenance workers power washing everything. It was barely dawn, the only lighting was the street lights on "The Pier".

I shot this on the same morning as "The Bounty", but a lot earlier in the day. I've been kind of sitting with this photo on my desktop, trying to decide if it is nice enough to post. I mean, I like it, but it is sort of dark and might not get much attention in the gallery. I've noticed that bright, flashy photographs get a lot of quick looks as compared to darker ones.

Anyway, I did very little to this photograph, aside from creating the frame, resizing and light sharpening in PS. I hope you all find something to like about it, if not, let me know why.

kingurek, JPlumb has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

BlueRaven (35) 2009-02-18 3:27

Hi Reed,

I do find something in this shot that I like. It has a great POV and the pier that seems to lead to nowhere has something very mysterious. The hint of sunrise in the background adds some dynamic to the shot.
Now, what bugs me a bit is that it is indeed very dark, as you said. A bit too dark for me, although it always depends on the screen settings, of course. I tried a little WS to brighten it up a little - hope it didn't destroy the mysterious atmosphere. Let me know if you like it!

Best wishes
Claudia

[workshop] [compare] +

I_WanderingSoul (652) 2009-02-18 4:13

Hi Reed,
I like this shot very much.
Sunset photos especially during that twilight moment look great. when the sky turns red and the evening is dark.
Great composition and very good clarity.
TFS,Neelima.

kingurek (608) 2009-02-18 7:01

Hello,
I like your POV with a bridge leading my eye toward gentle street light on the horizon. I don't think this photo is too dark. For me is bright enough and has its own atmosphere. The bridge is perfectly lighted by the street lights and contrasts beautifully with rising sun colours.

Greetings

Kinga

JPlumb (3153) 2009-02-18 15:48

Hi Reed, there's nothing wrong with dark. You have the elements that count in this shot, with the light on the pier and town lights and subtle sunrise in the background. Composition is good with nice sharp detail seen on the pier itself. The frame might be a tad overdone, but it does tie in very nicely with that sky.

Even though I like this shot, I was surprised when I checked your exif data; you shot this at ISO 100, which is a neat trick in itself with a D300. If you were concerned with the light, why didn't you bump it up some.

Thanks, John

delpeoples (5810) 2009-02-19 0:40

Hi Reed, really nice tones here, you've dealt with the light (or lack of) very well. The leftovers of the sunset / Blue Hour are beautiful and your frame really matches the photo. TFS, Lisa - PS Thx for info on the travel tripod.