May 8, 2015. Sutro Baths, San Francisco, California. My general plan in shooting Horizons is to have water and sky and nothing more. In this scene I wanted the texture and pattern of light on the water juxtaposed with the soft clouds. Period.
But without a crane I wasn’t going to get high enough to get the rock out of the frame and the light was changing rapidly and then this huge RORO (Roll On Roll Off automobile carrier) lumbered into the frame and by my mental calculus it was going to take approximately fifteen minutes short of forever to get out of the frame and by then the light would be gone forever. Bah!
Ahhhh, but Grasshopper, one must be open to all.
I had to admit that the relative scale of the ship and the rock and their relative positions made a mighty handsome image.
And I must further admit that I was a happy grasshopper.
(Nikon D750; Nikon 28-300 f/3.5-5.6G Zoom. RAW processing in DxO Pro; Editing in Adobe Photoshop.)
Nice one Michael
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Maureen!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You achieved what you set out to do…love it.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Paula. I guess I did, didn’t I?
LikeLike
I assume you contemplated a Photoshop disappearing act, especially for the ship, and rejected the idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No such contemplation occurred. I simply changed my mind about what I wanted. And then I got what I wanted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah! the satisfaction that comes with Zen photographs.
LikeLike
Ain’t it the truth!
LikeLike
Sifu would be pleased!
LikeLiked by 1 person
He was.
LikeLike
In some situations, ship + rocks would be a very bad idea, indeed. Here it works, especially given the humor inherent in big-ship-little-rocks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
And the fact that the ship was going away from the rock.
LikeLiked by 1 person
the texture, juxtaposed, the soft clouds… made such a beautiful image.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Amy. That’s what I was going for originally. They are still a major part of the final image.
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is just like the discussion we’ve been having over on my blog, where a very wise commenter* stated, “The thing we all learn, sooner or later, is that you get what you get. It pays to be flexible.”
*Remember when you said that?!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do remember. I must be a pretty smart guy.
LikeLike
I’ve recently read that you are, in fact, very smart. And flippant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aw shucks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great!
LikeLike
Thanks!
LikeLike
I really like the toning here.
Great work!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much!
LikeLiked by 1 person
“I simply changed my mind about what I wanted.” Well done – the results are great too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. One has to be able to completely see what is in front of one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am glad that you adapted to the conditions and got yourself a nice shot. Sometimes life is like a box of chocolates.
My first thought was the New Mexico Shiprock but I was prepared for a nice surprise with the mention of water. I thought Shiprock was a mesa until I just Googled it and found out that it is a monadnock which is interesting since there is a mountain by that name in New Hampshire.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are just a bounty of curiosity and knowledge! And I must say that photograph you linked is just beautiful.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Good compositional choices, Michael. Glad you felt successful in your vision.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Jane. This is where one is reminded the value of thinking on one’s feet. And fixed ideas are very bad. (And what was I thinking trying to get a pure wide-angle horizon shot from Sutro baths?!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tell you what, that grasshopper did an awesome job with that camera! 👏
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Julie. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m glad you didn’t let the ship stop you, because for me, those pools of light towards the foreground are just delicious. And having the ship back there, with the detail up close gives the whole thing scale.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. That’s exactly what I saw. It really paid to be flexible.
LikeLiked by 1 person