Pt. Reyes Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Pt. Reyes
.........

East and West meet here,
A sliver of gray that
Poseidon pounds and Eurus shears.
Here you alight for a moment,
The wind in your eyes, under a
Film of cold brine, krill,
A spout blows steam over the ancient back
in a fury that belies your calm,
your spine, barnacled, curves up then down,
fleeting, tail fin barely touching
the sky, you dive into the
blue depth.

Silence of rumble and song,
Of bubbles rising,
Haunting melodies of
Whistle and lament for the
Warmth of another being,
Gently floating towards you.

Share this song with me.

I want to see you baloon over
the rift valley where octopuses squirt
under the cold rock,
Where your shadow floats like a monsoon cloud
Past the jumble of algal forest,
A soft light filters through...

Rise, rise through the inky mass,
To the driving rain,
The surf pounds on the rock,
The foghorn sounds its plaintive voice,
A lost soul,
The light searches my horizon in an arc,
Again and Again,
Finding nothing but the
Agony of yesterday,
While a fog shrouds the darkening east.

[Some of you suggested I make the horizon parallel...I desisted because it would look too artificial...I like the rough cut of the tilted horizon here contrasting with the severely linear fence]

bombilla, Nicou, prantik, Dubsie, designsoul, aimee, photographer123, keribar, chc has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

bombilla (3402) 2007-03-06 12:19

When I've been along this coastline, the light has always been golden, and alive. You could almost feel it on your skin, feel it bathe your eyes. There was no difference between the light and the wind. But your vision of it is so stark, it's almost a shock. All is reduced to black and white, close angles and vague, amorphous distances. A California of quite a different mind. Best, -Hugh

Malko40000 (1328) 2007-03-06 12:33

Beautiful B/W If you could have straightened the horizon line and the house it would have been even better
Morris

verrefietsers (236) 2007-03-06 13:33

Great abd atmospheric! Indeed the horizon line should be straightened but i like this picture!

prantik (1134) 2007-03-06 14:34

How do you achieve such great contrast on a dull cloudy day? Did you use spot meter to expose the fence perfectly?

achakladar (786) 2007-03-06 14:36

A classic b/w shot, the white picket fence leads one's eyes to the horizon, wow !

mesutilgim (36906) 2007-03-06 15:27

Hello Animesh
Great b&w capture. Wonderfull compo ; very nice graphical effect.
TFS
MESUT ILGIM

bantonbuju (48682) 2007-03-07 1:32

good one,
\playing with high contrast can result in quite interesting effects...i like this a lot, particularly that the pattern made by man (white fence) crosses with the natural pattern of the weaves...
bw, j.

Furachan (0) 2007-03-07 5:28

Yes, dunno why but I've got Paul Strand in mind and flashes of a more modest (les grandiose) Ansel Adams in these rcent pics. Wonderful work with a quite power...
Well seen,
Francis

Dubsie (342) 2007-03-07 23:04

ahhhhh...
TFS,
Durba

michiels (4170) 2007-03-08 13:15

hello Animesh,

I like the strong composition with the b&w contrast. Great perspective here ! It's like the borderline between the wild nature and the world were people live.
greetings, inn

designsoul (21394) 2007-03-08 19:31

I have kept coming back without being able to comment, Animesh: both on this wistful shot, so judiciously tilted and so desolate in its stark contrasts, and on this poem, I wonder if you wrote it (?!), that fills me with awe... the two go together perfectly, wistfully, rhythmically, drawing me in to this world of longing.
sasa

aimee (941) 2007-03-09 9:48

just see your picture,
and believe in a new adventure,
a new story black and white,
where there is no false and no right,
i like very much this one,
i'm following in my mind the white barriers alone.

Congratulations, it's powerful and beautiful !
Have a nice week-end

Aimée

photographer123 (5759) 2007-03-09 11:22

Hi..
Wonderful monocrome...Well pattern shot...that fence creat a huge depth...which lead the eyes from left to right of the frame...good shot...best wishes...Subir...

keribar (42756) 2007-03-10 0:46

Whşte fences have always been an attraction for me too Animesh. I have a few taken in America and some in the Netherlands: But here we have a princely way of seeing it with superb graphism, and BW rendering The wave is well balanced with the tree on the other end. I am not too sure about the horizon, but it doesn't really disturb me.
I wish you an excellent week-end.
Izzet

Salil_B (737) 2007-03-10 11:07

I fail to understand this necessity of always making the horizon straight. It simply cannot always be done. If you want to remain true to the actual scene.
I find the white fence absolutely rivetting.
Salil

kensimage (8543) 2007-03-12 0:03

Hi Animesh, I guess you've already been scolded about the horizon, and I have to agree despite your comment about a linear fence. That horizon is just too unnatural. But otherwise it's a great photo, very graphic thanks to the powerful high-contrast tones. Very ominous and spooky, with the detail in the distance being so absent. A very likeable shot in every way but one. Regards, Ken.

chc (1468) 2007-03-14 15:48

Simply wonderful! I like the way you play with contrasts here. The DOF is well chosen and adds another kind of contrast (sharp in the front, blurred in the back). Well done,
christophe

nerve (10212) 2007-03-22 7:55

love this compo. and the image again.. i find parallelled horizons too sterilized too, its so much natural like this..
a beautiful graphic approach here, excellent.

brunorosseels (35) 2007-05-14 14:51

Superb B/W picture from the othes side of the atlantic see! Far in miles but close for the approch of photography... Beatifull contrasts. Let(s close our eyes and we can hear the ocean.

Bruno (Belgium)