January 24, 2016. Nepenthe, Big Sur Coast, California. We were celebrating my birthday with a day trip to Big Sur, and what trip to Big Sur is complete without an Ambrosia Burger at Nepenthe?
Satiated, I turned to see what my prospects were for a sunset shot. Laminated clouds? Check. Sea calm? Check. No fog bank? Check. Free of shipping traffic? No. There was a ship on the horizon, heading south at a good clip. Mental calculus brought me to the inescapable conclusion that it would ruin my shot. Damn.
I decided to shoot anyway, thinking I could get rid of the offending tonnage in Photoshop.
The sun descended. This ship approached on collision course, the skipper cluelessly unaware that he was messing with my shot.
Fine. I’ll shoot anyway. Click. Check exposure. Small adjustment. Click. Click. Click.
What. The. Farge?
No, Marge, it’s not a barge. It’s a ship in the shot sighted by the sun.*
This image will never be part of my Horizons collections, where there are no ship shots.
But it’s too good to sit in the archives.
(Nikon D750; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
* Not quite perfectly framed, actually. Required a slight adjustment in Photoshop. Very slight.
AMAGA Photography Blog 
Did you experiment with removing the ship in Photoshop using content-aware fill, or even manually?
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No I didn’t. Fact is, I actually like the ship there. The only thing I did in Photoshop was to adjust the symmetry, only by about two or three pixels.
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I like the ship, Michael. Quite an intense and vivid shot. And the spot you shot it from. Had a recent birthday in Big Sur but we did not do the traditional Ambrosia burger this trip.
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Thank you Jane. I do too. I could’ve easily removed the ship, as I said to Steve — but fact is, I like it. Isn’t it great to live in a place where we can make a day trip to Big Sur?!
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A really great shot! Love the drama in it with the colors. I don’t mind the ship being in there.
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Thanks Derek! As you’ve seen from the other comments, I like the ship there.
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Often we can make the most of something less desirable. It wouldn’t have been my first choice either, but you made a good image just the same. This sometimes happens to me at sunrise while at Acadia N.P. The cruise ships come in to Bar Harbor overnight while the travelers are sleeping…or partaking of the 24 hour food trough. I’ve missed a couple of shots but have been mostly lucky due to patience and a nice tailwind. I am no longer even remotely nimble so had to literally crawl over rocks to get down to this cave for sunrise. I think I might have followed Steve’s thinking had a ship been in the way but happily it floated across and left the horizon all to the sun.
Nice dramatic capture, Michael.
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Wow. That cave shot is pretty spectacular. Especially the lighting balance. Thank you for your compliment on the shot, Steve. Actually I had fully intended to Photoshop the ship out when I took the picture, but when I was in post, I changed my mind.
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Yeah, not bad for a claustrobe in terror. No need to clone the ship out. In a way it reminds me of shots I’ve seen of the ISS crossing the full moon.
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Not bad at all. Yes, now that you mention it it is kind of like that. Except the ship was closer. 😉
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Ha, ha..great story and an interesting shot!
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Fine shot, Micheal! (reminds me of: https://harrienijland.wordpress.com/2013/04/07/just-before-midnight-in-reykjavik/ We were waiting to see how the scenery would be at 00:00 hour, when this one came along..)
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Thank you very much! And wow, your shot just knocks me out. Plus those amazing mountains in the background.
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Thanks! There is more dark mystery in your shot; which I like! 🙂
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Thank you very much. I think that this means that we like each other’s shots!
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Very cool! The ship definitely adds interest, and even a note of drama, as the sun disappears and the ship sails into darkness.
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I’ll say!
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I think the ship adds an emotional touch to your image…but then I am a wife of a retired naval officer. Also, your image brought to mind…
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I have to say it’s a well-placed ship, Michael
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Thank you very much. It seemed determined to place itself.
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For me, the beauty of sunset at sea always was tinged with a combination of apprehension and excitement. It was a time for heightened awareness: for checking the rigging one more time, double-checking the course, and taking one more look at the weather. Without the ship, the photo would have been a lovely sunset. With it? It’s a strong, evocative image of a certain way of life.
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I agree. Which is why I stayed away from the content aware fill or any other tool to get rid of the ship, which would’ve been ridiculously easy. In fact, I did the opposite. I looked up the San Francisco shipping tables and schedules to try to figure out what ship it is. I never did figure it out but not for lack of trying. It looks like a cruise ship.
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Have you ever used one of the vessel tracking systems? Here’s just one. They’re great fun, and give a lot of information in real time.
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Thanks! I’ll try it out.
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I love it – that was the right thing to do, no question. I’m glad (but not terribly surprised) that you didn’t think you had to do what you’ve done before.
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When given a gift, I think it’s best to accept it. The next in the series gets posted at about midnight tonight Pacific time.
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Agreed! Way too good to sit in the archives.. I think it is grand by the way! 👏👏
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Thank you very much Julie. Check the one that’s going to be coming out in just a very few hours.
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So beautifully captured!
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Thank you!
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Amazing colours and tones.
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Thank you very much. Mother nature gets the credit for that. Although some credit does come from my policy never to blow out highlights unless I actually want high-key.
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Certainly – but it is the photographer who gets the credit for capturing mother nature.
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