Moreton Bay Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

Today I spent the day on a friend’s beautiful yacht in Moreton Bay off the coast of Brisbane. The weather was a bit patchy and we had to dodge a few squally showers but overall the blue sky prevailed. About 10km out from the marina I noticed this sailboat on the horizon which ended up overtaking us, when I read that it’s name was ‘South Passage’, probably referring to the channel of water between nearby Moreton and Stradbroke Islands. My next post will more than likely be a close-up of this vessel as it passed about 20min later.

Parts of the bay we visited today included the circumnavigation of Green Island and St. Helena Island; old coral cays which were once unflatteringly used as leprosy quarantine and Alcatraz style prisons. Today they are national parks which protect some important reef biodiversity and historic convict built stone dwellings and prison cells.

The wispy cirrus cloud is the main reason I took this photo, and the boat seemed to bridge the gap between water and sky quite well. The boat was intentionally small, I wanted it to look humble against the enormity of nature.

Matt

agustos07, dareco, InasiaJones, ChrisJ, lilimih33, crhieatt, angela926, MLINES, chpp, trekks, Dyerco, robertosalguero, JPlumb, cherryripe, jusninasirun, bakes888, euryan has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

agustos07 (971) 2008-03-16 2:26

Hi Matthew,

Wonderful composition, beautiful colors of the sea and sky. I'd love to be on that boat now!

dareco (17104) 2008-03-16 2:26

This is so very pretty. I like that boat, which like you said does seem to bridge the gap between the water and the sky. Very nice composition. TFS

sevy (13302) 2008-03-16 2:56

Hello Matt,

Interesting picture with a incredible sky with this cloudy pattern.
However, I feel the little boat is lost in the frame. So I propose to you in WS a cropping to focus more the look on the boat.

Nice Sunday,

Yves.

[workshop] [compare]

InasiaJones (20038) 2008-03-16 3:38

Hi Matt,

You never cease to impress me and it's clear in my mind that you can go as far as you want in the field of photography, because you are an obvious case of natural talent.

This is so beautiful! The tiny size of the sailing boat over this huge bay create a spectacular focus and a visual stress that draws attention. Cheers for the great proportions allowed to the water vs sky. Awesome weather conditions under which you've captured this nautical scene. The deep green of the water, the dark waves, the white sea foam placed perfectly under the boat, to underline its presence.

In all aspect, a great realization. Straight to my favorites!

André

ChrisJ (70099) 2008-03-16 6:13

Hi Matthew

I like the 'big sky' effect here, dwarfing the tiny schooner at right. Or is a ketch, sailboat, or yacht? Wonderful colour & sharpness, with a dramatic tonal range, in the sky. Tfs!

carper (64612) 2008-03-16 6:18

a very beautiful shot here Matthew,
the boat is fine detail in this fantsting paiting with the good sky.
the composition is very nice and the photojob is realy super.
very good sunday.
gr. jaap

lilimih33 (9872) 2008-03-16 6:32

Hello Matthew!
Lovely composition and fantastic sky!
Excellent perspective and perfect clarity!
The Sevys WS is nice, too, but I prefer your picture!
Best regards!
Lili

crhieatt (5143) 2008-03-16 7:55

Matthew,
Again, excellent clarity, and a wonderful composition. The simple combination of land sky and boat gel together perfectly.
Brilliant.
Regards
Colin

ps don't like the workshop.

anes_lc (14766) 2008-03-16 7:56

perfect quality ,i envy you for such capture ...great shot ,hard to say something else .my favorite :)
thanks sharing,anes

dkeus31 (26144) 2008-03-16 8:01

hi Matthew,
a very nice image, the boat is well placed into the composition, the sky is here also very nice.
regards
didier

angela926 (1882) 2008-03-16 10:40

Hello Matthew, beautiful seascape, fantastic sharpness and depth of field, beautiful colors and nice contrast, lovely light and very good clarity, fantastic composition, i love the placement and position anf the boat, very nice!
Angela

MLINES (10868) 2008-03-16 13:43

Hi Matt. This is a timeless composition which could be from 100 years ago, or yesterday! The swirling clouds and good placement of the sailing boat make it excellent in my view. Would be good as a poster.The natural and uncluttered look of this is appealing. TFS. Murray.

chpp (3966) 2008-03-16 15:40

Hi Matt
a simpole but very effective composition. with a dramatic sky and the beautiful ship as a complement
Well seen
cheers
C

gracious (20017) 2008-03-16 16:13

Hello Matt,
Thank you for this awesome seascape with us today! When I see the title Moreton Bay, I straight remember our mighty moreton fig tree around Auckland here, Now I really see the bay!
I loved how you captured the fg waves that show a smooth sail on the sailboat on the far horizon!
good pov with depth to have the beautiful sky and the clouds formation
a very pleasing image
P/S do you have a closer view on the bay?
regards
Tony

trekks (14262) 2008-03-16 20:03

hi Matt

Perfect sky to match the sea with its waves and a lovely sail boat fot this great composition.

Yes, I admit that to compose and frame such a vast sky and sea, we always struggle which format is best. Somehow, a vertical format is always one that we must try.

I like the color contrast here and the clouds definitely make it worth your effort.

TFS, bill

Dyerco (9032) 2008-03-16 22:04

Hi Matthew.
I like this composition with the boat as small as it is in the frame. It does indeed show the enormity of nature. Nicely composed and well exposed.
Phil

robertosalguero (2763) 2008-03-16 22:45

Hello Matt,

The sky is precious in this image. It add excellent dynamics to the overall view. The little vessel is well placed, even when is so small in the image. Good balance of light and sharpness. Nature truly is beautiful and you were able to capture that beauty very well. Thanks Matt.

Roberto

aadilj (17950) 2008-03-16 23:48

Wow Mathew, your photography sure is growing up real fast is is probably celebrating its 40th birthday! What you have composed here is a painting, deft strokes of colours and textures and such sublime impact that one can simply look at it without blinking.

JPlumb (3153) 2008-03-17 3:54

Hi Matt, you've picked up a couple of nice rollers right up front to set the foundation for this shot. The emphasis on the waves up front with the ship in the background works very well here. The sky is awesome, and with the portrait frame you've been able to afford it a lot of room. It makes things seem wide open and vast for this ship. Your textures in the sea and sky are very natural looking, with very good colour, and even though smaller, the ship exhibits very good sharp detail.

Thanks, John

cherryripe (18931) 2008-03-17 13:49

Hi Matt
Lucky you going out on a yacht and with wind. The last 2 times I've been sailing on Lake Geneva, we had to use the engines. I guess the weather is representative of what you've had most summer. But the water looks so dramatic, especially with the old-style yacht on the horizon and the animated sky.
Regards
Nikki
P.S. As you mentionned, I think the Rialto is losing out business to the Eureka tower but in my opinion the view is better from the Rialto and my lens couldn't fit through the wire on the Eureka.

skippy007 (6967) 2008-03-17 17:27

Hi Matt,
I think you achieved your objective well. Excellent clarity on this very well composed shot.
Well done.
Regards
Santo

jusninasirun (10185) 2008-03-17 18:00

Hello Matthew. You are lucky to be surrounded by various landscapes and some stunning architecture. This one is very well composed in vertical format. Your talent in composition is top class. I like the low angle shot here capturing the foreground details of the wave very well. The sailboat is very well anchored in that position and you have managed excellent sharpness of the subject in focus. You have managed all this with the cooperation of wonderful cloud in against that saturated blue sky. Well done and simply stunning! Regards. Jusni

azaf1 (15541) 2008-03-18 5:32

Matthew hi!
I love the sea and this one is a revelation. The beautiful cloudy sky the wavy sea and that beautiful sailing boat in full sail that gives this feeling of freedom and fleeing to far off places.
Well done
Argiris

ElAprendiz (7370) 2008-03-18 7:59

Hello Mat

This picture is more like a painting than a photo.

The portrait format has been well handled in this shot, highlighting the brioso sea in a vast, and most importantly, giving a real importance in this game that you can see clouds in the sky.

Good management of light, shade excellent balance in the frame.

John

crckt (7072) 2008-03-20 12:27

Hi Matt,
Really pretty! The composition is excellent keeping the boat off center and including so much of the sky. I like it a lot.
Well done,
Shaeri

bakes888 (18137) 2008-03-20 21:59

Hi Matt. Wonderful capture. The sky is indeed the stand out feature of this shot, not to belittle the wonderful yacht at all. Well composed, the vertical format works well with the sky in this shot. You would have needed an extremely wide angle lens to get the same effect with a horizontal format. Nice work and thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

euryan (8345) 2008-03-27 19:26

I'm a big fan of shots like this. What I mean is, shots that capture the grandeur of the earth while including a person or man made object that appears very small in comparison. Just like you say in your note. The close up version of that boat is good, but this is so much more interesting to me. It's sort of a minimalist composition. Great shot all around.
Regards,
Ryan