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Author Topic: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island  (Read 5034 times)

Enda Cavanagh

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Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« on: April 04, 2012, 02:56:23 pm »

Hi All

I took this black and white photo of Achill island on a very windy but beautiful day in November. The usual view captured by many photographers is in the other direction, which is one of the reasons I decided to photograph in this direction. I think it is a much nicer view. The light was very changeable and the sunlight would just appear for a few minutes at a time plus the wind was so strong I worried about the sharpness of the image. This became more of an issue because I used a 5 stop Neutral density filter on my lens to slow things down, so as to show movement in the water to really capture the power of the ocean plus the fact that the image is actually 2 sets of stitched images. I had to wait for a slight lull in the wind long enough to shoot off the 2 sets of images, all with the same lighting conditions. To get a seamless stitch I had to not only have consistent lighting, I also had to have similar water movements, otherwise one would see where the 2 images joined. I always view the image at 100% on my screen after stitching to make sure I am happy with it. I love the power of the ocean especially in stormy weather. It is so hypnotic and I wanted to communicate that in the photo.



You can also view it on my website by clicking here

Many thanks

Enda
« Last Edit: April 04, 2012, 03:15:37 pm by Enda Cavanagh »
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rambler44

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2012, 08:32:43 pm »

Thanks for your explanation.  Very successful photo.
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Eric Myrvaagnes

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2012, 09:26:20 pm »

Enda,

It really works for me. I spent a good bit of time with the photo before reading your commentary. The power of the ocean, the rugged rocks, and magnificent clouds all come together just perfectly. Then, it was nice to read how you got it all to work. Hard work, but very effective. I'd lkove to see a really big print of it.

Eric
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Justan

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2012, 12:12:12 am »

Do you think a darker ND filter would have added or distracted from the impact?

Tony Jay

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2012, 02:34:58 am »

It is a fascinating image.

The conditions you describe would have made getting a sharp image quite a challenge.
I assume the stitch is a vertical one given the fact that the final image is roughly square.

This is another result that would benefit from a large print to fully express the dynamism of the image

Kind Regards

Tony Jay
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Enda Cavanagh

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2012, 03:18:22 am »

Thanks guys. That's right Tony. The camera was in portrait mode.

I think if I used a darker ND like a big stopper would have slowed the water movements too much. I wanted to show some movement in the water to really capture the power of the ocean

GlennMorimoto

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2012, 11:23:40 am »

Enda, quite a magnificent image!!  How did you keep the clouds aligned between the two exposures at the longer exposure times...didn't the clouds move?  Did you realign the clouds in photoshop and also the water? 
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shaunw

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2012, 03:22:34 am »

A dynamic  powerful image Enda i really enjoy your mono work. Tonal range/separation is good, texture, detail contrast all good youve captured a mood and atmosphere which is compelling....but for me there is a small ''but'' ive been coming back to this one since you first posted to make sure my immediate thought wasnt a one off....the foreground strikes me as over processed, it keep banging into the front of my mind every time i look at it that youve worked too hard on it drawing out every possible ounce of detail, it takes on a ''HDR glow'' for want of a better description which distracts for me, as i dont think the image needs much pushing ....it is dynamic and powerful enough.

Besides this subjective point...i really like it
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Enda Cavanagh

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2012, 06:04:46 am »

youve worked too hard on it drawing out every possible ounce of detail, it takes on a ''HDR glow'' for want of a better description which distracts for me, as i dont think the image needs much pushing ....it is dynamic and powerful enough.


Thanks Shaun. Do you mean water movement? If it is, the look you see isn't really from HDR. Once brought into CS5 I played with the levels to really bring out the drama of the water movements.

Enda Cavanagh

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2012, 06:14:10 am »

Enda, quite a magnificent image!!  How did you keep the clouds aligned between the two exposures at the longer exposure times...didn't the clouds move?  Did you realign the clouds in photoshop and also the water? 

Thanks Glenn. It's much easier to do than you think. The exposure for the sky was only a couple of seconds. The secret when you are shooting a pano consisting of 2 sets of images from underexposed to overexposed, is to start with the longest exposure for your shadows. The shortest is usually for your sky. You than change the lens movements to take the 2nd set of images, starting with the shortest exposure and working your way to the longest exposure. The exposures for the sky for both lens movements were taken right after each other so CS5 can easily stitch the images. What is much more difficult to achieve is to get continuity with the water movements. You have to watch how the water moves. First you pick a level of water and a pattern that will suit what you have in mind. The waves coming in follow a routine, you have the couple of high waves and than the water level drops and the waves have less power and the cycle continues. Your images should follow as similar a pattern as possible. Obviously not identical or you might be waiting a while (as in the rest of your life :D) CS5 stitched the images perfectly bar one patch. I than pasted in one of the images into the stitched image and made a layer mask making the join appear seamless.

GlennMorimoto

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2012, 10:09:50 pm »

Enda, Thanks for the tips!  You are the master!! Can't wait to see more of your work, thanks again!
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MTGFender

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #11 on: April 16, 2012, 01:55:30 pm »

This is absolutely a WOW photo!
Pramote
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Kevin Gallagher

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #12 on: April 16, 2012, 02:47:11 pm »

Hi Enda, what a great shot!!

Or, math thú

My gaelic stinks so I hope the web translator is accurate


Kevin in CT

 
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Kevin In CT
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Enda Cavanagh

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #13 on: April 16, 2012, 02:52:23 pm »

Thanks Pramote and Kevin
Kevin. I have more Swahili than Irish. After a quick Google translate I got "or are you a Math"  ;D No I am not a math. Are you saying I've a lisp? ;D

Kevin Gallagher

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2012, 02:56:14 pm »

Sigh... it was supposed to be "great job" 

Guess I'll have to fire that translator!!
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Kevin In CT
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Enda Cavanagh

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #15 on: April 16, 2012, 03:34:15 pm »

Ya Google translations always sound like they were written by a a martian

feethea

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Re: Pounding waves of the Atlantic, Achill island
« Reply #16 on: April 20, 2012, 06:13:54 am »

Superb (again!) - 'nuff said!

Barry
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