Storm and Stress Photo

Photographer’s Note

Good day friends.

It doesn't take long, not long at all. The people come streaming out of their homes; they look for a place to sit and breathe. That's all, a place to sit down and inhale the salty breeze passing cool along the river. It's the sensation of freedom on a small scale. Those people who stayed away from the sky during the storm.
This picture was taken after the tropical storm Ernesto passed over the mideastern coast of the United States. Not one hour after the rain stopped, did the humanity show its form to the sun and clouds again. It wasn't a bad storm; many have experienced worse. It was that Ernesto was the storm that showed its face right at the end of summer. When all should be calm and reasonable. Yet, mother nature is not reasonable, she rumbles and dances to her own time and song. She doesn't stay still for those that wish to control her, she demonstrates that which makes her uncontrolable. It is an awesome thing, the breeze.
Still, nature can show the most loving caress. She can envelope the land in a soft cover of blue emotion. Waking, she can stir one with the most moving of Ragas, light. Encompassing all of the senses; she pushes her might against you just as she lightly caresses you with warmth. It is not to be toyed with, nature. She exists to show us balance; what is right and wrong, soft and hard, strong and weak. With all that is to fear, we still can't wait to be in her embrace.
I watched as the trees swayed in the wind. I was sure that a towering mass of wood should fall straight through my small house. I sat in my driveway and watched the dance of the gods waiting to see if I would be the one that these towering idols would bump into. Not this time. I went to work and continued on my path unscathed. On my way home from that pastime known as work, I encountered these people trying soothe the rough skin of their life. She was there for them, even though they hid from her last night.

Fishing near Benedict Maryland...this is where the British landed on their way to burning Washington DC during the war of 1812.

Slight crop from the right to eliminate a little piece of pier. Convert to B&W, shrink then sharpen.

Please enjoy,
Chris.

PJE, Click3, Gerrit, macondo, robertosalguero, evanrizo, thaprem, balatrek, zeca, AiresSantos, sabyasachi1212, alita, dougie, arjun_das, Elaine_Blath, battousai, francbois, steevloki has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

PJE (19483) 2006-09-02 22:26

Chris thanks for the thoughts on this photo. Here on the west coast all has been mild all summer with lots of sunshine. I must say I love backlighting photos where highlights on the posts and dock make this photo outstanding. Also to crop the bright sun on the left is a smart idea for creating this composition. The clouds in this photo confirn the balance of the day will be enjoyable and calm.. for a while..Thanks for sharing!

Amos (670) 2006-09-02 23:33

I like your object and the drama after the storm was still there(the cloude).
Ajusting using ps level of the boardwalk and the poles will give more contrast.

Click3 (1871) 2006-09-02 23:42

Hola amigo Chris...a great capture...I love the balancing act of the elements...the fisherman...the boat...the horizon and the pier that lead you in captivating your look...Great ! B&W works wonders in this take. saludos, Robert

Gerrit (36229) 2006-09-03 1:30

Hi Chris,
beautiful composition and light and a very beautiful sky.
The B&W atmosphere gives a retro-feeling. Could be in the fiftees.
Regards, Gerrit

Dragonheart (8393) 2006-09-03 2:58

Hi Chris,
I love the lights, excellent composition and framing. Good POV and choice of BW.
Well done
Thanks for sharing
Best regards
Vivek

macondo (13271) 2006-09-03 3:02

I like the composition very much. The rather 'flat' look of the filtered b/w, quite dark and almost devoid of mid-tones, adds to the atmosphere, and does, as Gerrit suggests, give it a kind of 50s look. An interesting photo and good notes, Chris!
Regards,
Andrew

rosaline (0) 2006-09-03 3:39

Hi Christopher
I like the composition and the way the shot is staged with the boardwalk leading into the scene. The direction of the light is well captured here with the shadows giving good depth to the scene. I like the level of contrast as it is not too heavy and doesn't blow out to much of the detail. Nice pov and good framing.
Aubrey

priyasri_80 (363) 2006-09-03 4:13

Nice pic. The B&W effect has added beauty to that.
Priya

robertosalguero (110) 2006-09-03 4:18

Hi Chris,

I like the idea of having someone walking over the pier. The clouds indicate some good weather and make the sky look very interesting. Very good compo in B&W. It works well this way to give the picture a more solid character. it looks older :-)

Roberto

hay_kes (28562) 2006-09-03 4:48

Hi Chris,
Perfect picture.Wonderful B&W composition.
Regards.

hAyAti

evanrizo (456) 2006-09-03 8:23

I like it very much, very nice with these people and the great sky. A very good depth and good light control.
Thanks a lot.

Budapestman (42756) 2006-09-03 11:04

Hi Christopher!
Beautiful impression! Very spectacular and expressive silhouettes! Superb POV and excellent composition! Gorgeous glittering lights and fascinating details! Good choice the B&W! Very particular and interesting mood! Super!
Thank you, nice days
George

ahmetgedikli (22072) 2006-09-03 17:04

Hi Christopher,
Very nice black-white composition. Excellent sharpness, light and good POV.
Nice work.
Ahmet

oochappan (22032) 2006-09-03 19:45

A good turn to B&W Christopher well composed with the peer diagonally crossing towards the fisherman and the fisherboat aside and a well textured cloudy sky, pity of the overexposed sun reflection aside slightly pulling too much attention, maybe a healing tool in opacity could reduce this a bit. On the whole a good capture and the contrast is enough for me.
Greetings
Henk

t0mmm1 (5434) 2006-09-04 16:20

Hi Cristopher,
wonderful and well composed picture. I like how you've used the back light to create silhouettes of the persons and left them annonimous, but it's still recognisable the felling. Wonderful!
Have a nice day,
Tomi

balatrek (7419) 2006-09-04 17:01

Hi Christopher,

Good image, I like the option of b&w, the resistances are intense and the fantastic illumination, the composition is good, the small wharf creates a good sensation of depth, congratulations.

Regards

José

poulinp (4464) 2006-09-04 21:04

Very good composition here. The proportion water-sky is perfect and I like the way the boat on the left is going toward the light. Well done.

zeca (20026) 2006-09-05 0:09

Hey Christopher! I like this picture! Well, it´s not only because I am a fisherman, because I am also an amateur photographer and you caught me here for both sides! I like the lights and shadows and I think you´ve well choosed the b&w to present this shoot!
Regards,
Zeca

AiresSantos (42826) 2006-09-05 2:39

Hi Chris,
Magnificent composition with a lovely silhouettes. Good POV, excellent graphism and nice clouds.
TFS and greetings,
Aires

sabyasachi1212 (19546) 2006-09-05 5:11

Thanks for a wonderful thought provoking composition, Chris. Perfect choic for B&W. Your notes are as usual top class reading material.
Thanks for sharing
With Greetings from India
Sabyasachi

alita (477) 2006-09-05 6:45

Hi Chris!
a very good choice of the black and white for this shot!
I like also the contrajour in the photo and the composition!
greetings!
TFS

dougie (2920) 2006-09-05 17:03

Hi,
A photograph and notes to spend a lot of time with! I like the seeming urgency of the fisherman, unleashed, to reach his stance amid the overall calm of the scene. The slight harshness of the image imparts the freshness of the air after the storm very well. Thanks.
Dougie.

arjun_das (1850) 2006-09-06 1:26

hi christopher,
excellent pov to give the image a nice perspective view. choice of b/w is good. only thing is that the reflection of sun rays from water makes the left part of the image a little over exposed. tfs.

best wishes,
arjun

Filko (1122) 2006-09-06 11:48

The comment so long...my comment so small...
Well done!!! I like it!
fi

Elaine_Blath (6170) 2006-09-07 6:52

Hi Christopher,

this is an excellent BW photo! I like its atmosphere very much, the details are superb, compo just right...well done!

Take care, Ivana

battousai (827) 2006-09-07 21:26

Hi Chris,

I like you photo, though I think that some parts of it are too dark (bottom of the pier) or to bright (water on the left). Composition is really good here. Anyway, it has really nice atmosphere and your note about this photo is great.

Thanks for sharing

Pawel

francbois (480) 2006-09-08 8:41

Hi Chris,
You know a photo can be awesome from its own standing, but sometimes it's useful to remind viewers how it (photo in general) should be read. Thx for the notes so :)
The first impression so is that of daily life. The afterthought though is that of daily life... yet another day. Another day we see brighter than any other... thanks to the emphasis on the sun paddling the water, so clear in b&w. Thanks for the simple blink, to daily life, nature, and how balance is achieved!
Regards, F'

goodwill (4033) 2006-09-10 12:59

Hi Chris,
This shot has the stamp of Jinju;Rafal. The shot tempts to move along this fisherman and touch the waters of the sea, which means a good depth, and the clouds fill the negative area so wonderfully that the composition stands out on its own.
Cheers mate,
Rajeev

Jacobp (798) 2006-10-01 20:57

hi Christopher
The nice great shot.Good compositon.
I realy like this photo.
Bravo !!
jacob

Angshu (34089) 2006-11-13 3:57

Hello Chris
I love this compo. a lot with the diagonal pier, the walking angler and the fishing boat on the left. Very balanced composition & the direction of the light is well captured here with the long diagonal shadows. I like the level of contrast also. Well done my friend..and your lovely notes & captions!
Regards
Angshu

lcelvenes (0) 2007-02-08 10:27

Hi Chris.

What a note! Reminds of something Anthony Kiedis might have written :)
And your photo. Here goes.
1) Don´t know what it looked like in color, but this scene works very well for me as a B&W. I think it keeps the composition simple, and (for me anyway) makes it easy to take in.

2) Love the composition. Nice diagonal line created by the pier, and the guy fishing is a nice focal point. I think you´ve got the horizon well places also, and the sky with all the clouds looks great. The clouds actually form a very nice line (mirror-like) to complement the pier, which I think ties the image together well.
I don´t really mind the guy in the boat, but I´m wondering if the image would have been better without him. On the other hand, considering your note, and how people got out of the house as soon as the rain stopped, he fits in there. Without that knowledge, however, I think I would have liked the photo better without the boat (and the man in it).

3) Otherwise there´s not a lot to say. I would have liked the darker areas, especially by the pier, a bit lighter, as well as the man fishing. He´s a bit dark. Also, the left side has some OE (I´ll remember now ;). I´m not sure what kind of software you use, but some curves work in photoshop or Nikon Capture should be enough.

My thoughts (and no pennies lost). Hope they help. TFS :)

Lars-Christian