Illumination, a photo from Maine, Northeast

Photographer's Note

Ocean Park, Maine is a small beach resort village south of Portland and a constitutent part of the town of Old Orchard Beach. Every year in early August, Ocean Park holds an Illumination Night in which houses throughout the small beach resort town string up Christmas lights, people put on small performances, and residents and tourists wander the streets enjoying the sights and sounds.

One of the most popular activities is lighting candles and placing them in small holes dug on the beach; these candles can be lit in remembrance, prayer, or just out of a sense of fun and beauty. This was my first time at Illumination Night, and though I tried hard to fully capture the magic of all of those candles flickering, casting their light on the bowls of sand surrounding them, this is the only shot that really came close. It is basically untouched; merely cropped from the original with a couple ghost images from the candle glow cloned away.

This will be my last shot for a week or so - I'm heading to New Mexico and Colorado, neither of which I've ever visited. Looking forward to sharing some of the sights when I get back!

holmertz, worldcitizen, tyro, rbellemare, bukitgolfb301, delpeoples has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

holmertz (102834) 2012-08-22 7:56

Hello Andrew,
You captured a fine atmosphere and exposed the picture well. The facial features of the girls are clearly visible and the little boy is nicely silhouetted.
I wish you good luck on your journey.
Best regards,
Gert

worldcitizen (16108) 2012-08-22 8:18

Hello Andrew,
I like the warm light and black background in this photo. They way the candles are illuminating the girls faces is beautiful. The people are placed perfectly in the frame. I would have thought you needed a longer exposure to get this kind of detail in such a dark scene, but your exposure worked very well. Have a great time on your trip!

mjw364 (1466) 2012-08-22 9:16

Hey Andrew

What a cracking shot - I love the way you hve got the light spot on here and how the bowls of light strcuture the overall image with the two people adding the focal interest.

Enjoy your trip take care.

Mikie

tyro (30513) 2012-08-22 9:25

Hello Andrew,

What a fascinating note! And what a fine photograph with which to illustrate it.

I can well imagine that you must have needed to take several pictures here to get one that really turned out well - but this one certainly has. The light on the girls' faces is lovely as they crouch around the little crater filled with lighted candles and the other little craters dotted around the frame add to the interest and the fine composition.

Lovely warm lighting, perfect exposure (in very difficult circumstances) and excellent detail and sharpness too.

Excellent!

Kind Regards,

John.

P.S. Have a safe and enjoyable trip to New Mexico and Colorado - I'll look forward to seeing some interesting pictures on your return!

willperrett (14215) 2012-08-22 14:04

Hello Andrew
This is a clever crop (I assume it's a crop from the aspect ratio; yes, you say it was!). The placement of the two figures top left exaggerates the "rule of thirds" to good effect. The deep shadows, completely blocked up, would usually be a problem; here they add a sense of mystery and magic. I think if I were cloning stuff away, I might have been tempted to remove the green and blue lights by the girl's leg. But this is a fine piece of work anyway.
Regards
Will

rbellemare (2109) 2012-08-22 15:32

Hello Andrew,

Hope you're going to have a nice trip and looking forward to see your pictures. Your picture of the day is very beautiful. Those islands of lights are well showned. The soft light on the girls faces is the main feature of this great picture.

Have a good trip.

Réjean

lousat (139352) 2012-08-23 4:03

Hi Andrew,very nice and strange thing to see and a magnificent capture,not easy details and colors in these difficult moment,i like the composition and a great atmosphere! It's nice to see something to different on TE,i like it!Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

abmdsudi (95869) 2012-08-24 18:05

Hi Andrew
In this type of shot your precise timing is so vital wehn you release the shutter, you either make it or the opposite. it's a great shot with minimal striking elements and I applaud your attempt and variety in photograpy. the warm illumination is stunning angaist total darkness with just sufficient clarity glowing on their facial feasture tha mkae the shot. A very well taken shot, Congrats, TFS
Warm regards

bukitgolfb301 (54014) 2012-08-26 1:17

Hi dear Andrew, how are you?

Greatly fantastic shot you get! So wonderful and also gorgeous night image. The position of each candle and also family's location is so mcuh balanced. Very Very impressive image. Thank you for your sharing and have a good Sunday!

Takero from Tokyo

delpeoples (60342) 2012-08-28 5:43

Hello dear Andrew

A very unique and artistic photo, so too the title. I like the contrast between the warm golden light and the absolute blackness. The human element is also a lovely touch. Nice work.

Warm regards
Lisa

jemaflor (147270) 2012-08-31 11:58

Hi Andrew,
Nice capture, light is well managed, interesting with people, good contrast.

Waylim (25436) 2012-09-06 18:23

Hi Andrew,

This just so cute, I love it. I would have love to see it myself. I love the glow of the light and the fancination in the children's face as they watch. The dark negative space works well to draw our attention to the illumination. I love how everything seems like it's floating in the dark of the night.

Way