The sun sets right at the end of an old pier. What luck!... or was it?
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Feb. 5, 2009: I just noticed that this picture was displayed in a Flickr blog about 100 million geotagged photos!
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30-second exposure @F22
LEE soft ND grad 0.9 angled 9:30am-3:30pm
I used Lee 150x100mm soft ND grads with a Cokin z-pro holder.
Canon 5D
Canon 17-40L
ISO 50
RAW file processed with Capture One by Phase One
TIFF file processed with Photoshop
A few days before I made this image, I noticed how the sun would soon be moving over each day until it was setting right behind this old eroded pier as the summer solstice approached. So I knew to return to make a long exposure at sunset. It is good to arrive at a location with an open mind because you never know what to expect. I set aside my expectations and observe what elements attract the eye. In the RAW file, this image had an overwhelming amount of color, so I had to de-saturate the sky in order to get back the details, which had become lost in blobs of bright orange.
In October of 2005, Hurricane Wilma scored a direct hit on this island with category 5 winds gusting over 200 miles per hour. Many beaches were stripped of their sand, revealing old features not seen in many years, like this old pier on the north side of the island. I was told that before the hurricane, these pilings were under many feet of sand and that the beach used to extend well past the last post seen here.
On the first day of my trip, the sun had set to the left of end of the pier, but I knew that over the next few days, the sun would move a little to the right each day. (In landscape photography it pays to know how the natural world works, just as a bird photographer must know the habits of the birds to get the best shots.) On the last day of my trip, the sun set right at the end of the pier. I was ready and had an image in my head of what I hoped I could capture. Fortunately the sun dropped below the clouds at the last minute and became visible right as the sun set. I had taken photographs on the previous evenings just in case this evening turned out to be cloudy just to be on the safe side.
So, I was lucky to be on vacation during this time, but the rest was planning!
James Rye, stevenbulman44, thewayIfeel, Laurence Cartwright, and 3375 other people added this photo to their favorites.
View 20 more comments
ssushiholic 26 months ago | reply
i think i've lost all the ability to speak! simply breathtaking!
jeje.23 25 months ago | reply
Great composition
ryandean 24 months ago | reply
Brilliant in every way!
Edgar_Pereira 24 months ago | reply
Gorgeous and inspirational photo, I saw it at photo.tutsplus.com/
- Dave Morrow - 23 months ago | reply
was just here 2 weeks ago. We stayed at Na Balam, where did you stay?
PatrickSmithPhotography 23 months ago | reply
Thanks for your comments!
We stayed at Villa Las Brisas, a B&B on the south east side a few miles from this place.
artland 23 months ago | reply
Congratulations!
This is a wonderful shot!
You are invited to post it to:
artland
Mariano 1961 21 months ago | reply
Una foto increible.
harleylord 20 months ago | reply
great photo :-)
yaax 20 months ago | reply
tsss
Vu Dong 20 months ago | reply
Love it!
Olly Plumstead 19 months ago | reply
Awesomesauce.
Luís Henrique Boucault 18 months ago | reply
Very nice shot! Well done!
WorldTraveller98 16 months ago | reply
Excellent!
RedBerry™ 16 months ago | reply
Colors are incredible and I have never seen a picture like this!!
You are lucky photographer to have this moment.
Excellent.
Nicolas Homal [deleted] 15 months ago | reply
Awesome image! .
SedatPhotography 13 months ago | reply
nice one
philipleemiller 8 months ago | reply
another very personal invite to our new super group.
Apollo and Dionysus
... featuring only the highest quality images.
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Seen on your photo stream. ( ?² )
nick zadeh 6 months ago | reply
Ocean is like a pound and clouds are not clear focus.
rowanC82 5 months ago | reply
Outstanding shot