<<< o >>>water wall 79 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

When I first processed this one, I really liked it, but now I'm not so sure. I think the problem is that I only had a very rough idea of how I wanted it to look when I took it, and I've not been able to come up with something that makes me entirely happy. I did try a straight colour version (which, because there's so much sand in the water as it bounces of the sea wall, just ended up looking muddy), and I also tried various black and white versions, but they all looked flat. What I think I probably need to do is rethink this one at some point, though that said: and I'm writing this bit after posting the entry, I have to say that I like it a lot better now I've seen it posted on chromasia ... not sure why.

Oh, and I should add that the amount of water coming over the wall in yesterday's shot was considerably less than in this one ;-)

On another matter: the new version of photoblogs.org went online recently and has switched from a system based on 'favourites', to one that uses tags and bookmarks. As most of you will probably know, the old version was based on i) the number of favourites a site accrued (which was used to generate the 'top 10' and 'top 100' lists), and ii) the frequency with which these favourites were added (this generated the 'hot photoblogs' list). The problem with the old system is that the top sites, chromasia included, were dominating the rankings, mostly because they were the sites that were most visible; i.e. someone would come along to photoblogs.org, take a look at a few of the top sites, and add them as favourites. What they didn't do, at least not as often, was explore the other 15K+ sites that were listed, many of which were/are very good, but, because they didn't have the same exposure as the top sites, they were much less likely to get picked as favourites. In other words, what started out as a fairly dynamic system had become stale.

The new version uses a different methodology, one based on bookmarks and tags. For example, if I come across a site that I like I can bookmark it, add a short description, and tag the site as I see fit. For example, I've tagged chromasia with things like beach, Blackpool, UK, sand, seascape, children, and so on. The 'top X' lists have gone, but the 'hot photoblogs' one remains, though it's been tamed somewhat by the inclusion of an algorithm that calculates how 'hot' a site is, not by just the frequency with which bookmarks are added, but the frequency in relation to how many bookmarks a site already has. In other words, a site with few bookmarks will rise up through the 'hot' list very quickly, in the first instance, but a site that already has a lot of bookmarks wouldn't rise as high unless it attracted a much larger number of new bookmarks. I'm sure there were clearer ways of explaining it, but I think that that's the gist of how the new system works.

So, the bottom-line, as I see it, is that photoblogs.org is now much more about finding types of particular types of photoblogs than it is about finding ones that are ranked higher than others. With that in mind I'm hoping that a fair few of you might drop by photoblogs.org and tag chromasia for me such that people interested in the sort of photography I do (style, subject matter and so on) will still be able to find chromasia in and among the 17,048 sites that are currently listed. If you'd like to do that my profile is here:

http://www.photoblogs.org/profile/chromasia.com/

Thanks.

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
1.08pm on 31/3/06
Canon 20D
EF 70-200 f/4L USM
84mm (134mm equiv.)
f/4.0
1/1000
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
100
no
RAW
C1 Pro
2x1
 
2x1 + fylde coast [scenic]
comment by Jonathan Fleck at 07:57 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

VERY impressive shot, I really like this one, much better than yesterday's.

comment by ps at 08:01 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

oh fuck!!! outstanding!!!

comment by owen at 08:01 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

No need to be worried Dave, it looks like you already have a kazillion bookmarks ;) Superb capture of the power of the sea.

comment by djn1 at 08:03 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

owen: I'm not worried about the bookmarks, it's the tags; i.e. I'd like for chromasia to be findable (if that's a word) based on how you (i.e. chromasia's visitors) view my work. I've added a few tags that I think are relevant, but I'd also like to have a few other people add some too.

comment by owen at 08:12 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I see your point - it does seem to be the case that most people haven't had the time yet to add tags to each of their bookmarks. Hopefully that will come in time.

comment by djn1 at 08:19 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

owen: yep, bookmarks are more for the benefit of the person who creates them whereas tags are the means by which the database is searchable.

comment by Gavin at 08:30 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Very good point about photoblogs.org and really put forward. I agree with you, I think the new site is going to work alot better than the previous site, more exposure for the smaller blogs, which is fantastic I think. Also alot less spam for you maybe?

Such a wonderful capture. It took a while to figure out exactly what was happening in it, which I like in photography. I really like the processing, it works well. Once again, a fantastic shot. Hope to see more from this walkway.

comment by chiara at 08:30 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

WOW! Simply beautiful. I think this is one of my favourites of all. I love the tone you choose. You are right, I don’t think a color version or a black and white version would have worked as well but this tone adds a soul to the water that blends in perfectly with the motion and the texture that comes out. I can't stop looking at this picture. It's really a great image.

comment by Tom from (Lucerne Times) at 08:32 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

The photo looks great.

comment by Jeff at 08:32 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

This looks like you might have gotten a little wet here....

comment by djn1 at 08:35 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Gavin: good point, I suspect that there may be an overall reduction in comments throughout the photoblog community ;-)

Jeff: nope, I was quite a way back anyway, but most of the water goes straight up, and then straight down again. If there'd been an onshore wind it would probably have been a different story ;-)

comment by Johan at 08:39 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I see you've hade a colorized theme going on these last days. Very nice. The railing comes out incredibly good here and at first I didn’t even see the water. I always enjoy it when I react “nice…. Whoa!!”.

As for photoblogs.org I think this is a better way to track the blogs, I especially like the suggestions, but I like top lists as well and I will miss the old version.
Hope I get more hits with this new one though. ;-)

comment by sknop at 08:50 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I like the subject and tone of the image. Probably I'd have cropped it differently, leaving more space for the water at the top.

I'm also happy to see that photoblogs.org now uses a system which doesn't primarily favor the big fish.

comment by parikha at 09:00 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

i like the way the bold railings really stand out against the crashing water. it's kind of mesmerizing to just sit and watch waves explode like that, isn't it?

comment by Steve LLamb at 09:07 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

You dont need to worry, this shot is way cool. Very surreal, with the toning almost looks like something out of a scifi movie (wall of ooze or blood or something).

Yeah, I was wondering how the new site worked, sounds much more fair ;)

comment by Seth at 09:14 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Awesome capture and good explanation of the new photoblogs.org. I'll tag you up accordingly.

comment by micki at 09:18 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Well, I WAS going to say, 'No wonder yesterday's guy jumped,' but if it wasn't this bad, then I'll hold that remark back.

Wow, that is a wall of water! I'd love to see that in person. This will have to do. I love the tone to this shot, kind of icy cold. Very nicely done!

comment by laurence at 09:23 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

i think its a very strong and dramatic picture.

it takes a few seconds to realize that its water beside the fence, but once i saw it, i was like "Wow"

comment by peter cohen at 09:32 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

This photograph is about the strangeness of time too, in an odd, somewhat sneaky way... The juxtaposition of two utter "temporal opposites"...

The railing is ancient. It stands there day after day, and century after century (it's from Roman times, isn't it?).

The wall of water is there for a millisecond, and then it doesn't exist any more... it's component molecules moved on to other places and moments and forms. In effect, the water wall is SO indefinite and instantaneous that it isn't even really OF time at all...

And the railing stands there so established in its' permanence and unmoving time that the water wall is not even there to it.

And how many water walls (and strolling, twittering families and such) have come and gone, and the railing is there, pretty much just as it was a dozen (or a hundred) years before.

The photograph, itself being not really "of time" (the instantaneousness of it gives it a sort of special exemption from time), takes away the dramatic "temporal oppositeness" of its two very different-natured subjects (or maybe it highlights it)... On a computer screen (or on a print), the wall of water and the railing become some kind of strange temporal bedfellows, at least *appearing* to be of the same temporal ilk. To be able to do that (render such opposites into something temporally differenceless) must give you a tremendous sense of POWER, David! ;-)

comment by char at 09:38 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

This photo is absoutely stunning!

comment by weirdaily |@_@| at 09:43 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Realy great shot!!!

comment by Dacian at 09:53 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

absolutely beautiful image. great tones and detail! i especially like the black parts and the way the water looks like it's frozen.

comment by Nick at 10:00 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

As soon as it loaded I knew what it was - the wall of water I complained was missing from yesterday's!! The toning is probably the only one that works with this - no other colour would do - and here we can at least pretend the foam is white. A stunning shot with tons of impact (and sand ...)

comment by Jim at 10:15 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Very, very good! This is very powerful, striking etc. But also unnerving, a bit claustrophobic, and almost like it was done digitally, rather than out in the "real" world. Excellent.

comment by Howard at 10:17 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Definitely my favourite in recent weeks - not to say that the rest aren't special. I love this shot - the water looks almost plastic. Excellent....

comment by Mikelangelo at 10:26 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I really like this one. It has a CG feel to it. Very dynamic. Full of motion. Also feels as though the whole scene is made of ice, or scultpted in peuter (sp?) Very painterly.

I really like this one. great job!

comment by emily at 10:27 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

wow! It almost looks like a splash of blue paint that someone's pouring down from the top edge of the photo, if that makes sense! I like the way the light is reflected off the wet bricks - looks pretty wet and slippy!
By the way, this image doesn't seem to be in any categories :( Definetely deserves to be a portfolio!

comment by Clay at 10:51 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I love it when I have to ask myself "what the hell is that?"

After realizing what the image caught, I too was torn about 'is this the right way to display this image?'

And I'd have to say this is a fantastic capture and presentation.

comment by AngelC at 11:11 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Great picture, i like so much the colour process.

comment by Jennifer at 11:11 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

Just amazing!

comment by garyx at 11:41 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I like this shot, the water looks like a mosaic. Nice one

comment by Karl at 11:44 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

GREAT! Another great shot.

comment by Dom at 11:49 PM (GMT) on 5 April, 2006

I think that's a remarkable shot. I've not seen a shot like this before, and the postprocessing really works for me too.

comment by localhost at 12:17 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

F'king AWESOME!

comment by Adam Lee Dalziel at 12:20 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

another amazing photo - I'm begining to become rather envious of your skill


AD

comment by frans (the netherlands) at 12:30 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

whow! What a great shot! It looks surealistic, great job on the toning

comment by Brian Ritchie at 12:40 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

It took me a moment to see what this was - (time-) frozen water. With that tinting, it looks like a glacier's about to engulf Blackpool :-)

Out of sheer nosiness (and an eye for how much perseverance a shot like this might take): how many "dang - too late/early!" attempts did you make?

I like the cropping, it's preferable to showing the top of the wave. This way, that wave feels 50ft tall.

comment by vrish at 01:14 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

it looks like something from the movie Narnia. Very cool shot.

comment by Ojorojo at 01:53 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Are you dry after this shot? Really amacing.

comment by m y k o d a c h r o m e at 02:33 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

I wish I could take shots that made me this unhappy :-)

comment by Fellow Eskimo at 03:13 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Very interesting shot...alot of processing. I l ike the range in it though, and the effect of the water is beautiful.

comment by Mike Dougan at 03:37 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Impressive, I'm not much of a fan of toned images but this really work. Perfect timing and a very impressive image.

comment by Matthew George at 04:05 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Talk about a crazy shot! Amazing! I'm somewhat jealous. Way to make this one work. I love it myself.

comment by Bob at 05:08 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Holy mother of pearl. This is great, Dave! The most drama I've seen in a shot in a very long time.

A suggestion (if you're still not sure about the toning): set Saturation on everything but the water (railing and walkway) at about -35.

Wow! Again.

comment by Beth at 05:09 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

David this is an amazing shot - I love it, and I love the treatment.

comment by daniel at 07:13 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

a thing of beauty is a joy forever. this has a dark, haunting feel that is very beautiful.

comment by Lito at 07:37 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW
GREAT GREAT GREAT

comment by Lorbas at 08:12 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Great!!!!!

comment by BC at 08:50 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

that's really good!

comment by rAM at 09:43 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

A Freezed WATERFALL ??????????????

comment by David [mondaymorningphoto.com] at 10:08 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

While I will almost certainly fail to capture the succinctness of ps's comment, I can say that this shot surprised me. I was expecting another beach shot, tower shot... I was NOT expecting to be met with a railing in front of a wall of ice, which this shot so obviously is. Obviously. It's the colouring of this one, I think, which works so well.

No, I really did think you'd been to some polar museum built of ice, and snapped a casual shot of one of the museum's railings in front of a frozen wall!

Never mind. I'll get back to my day job... Take it easy :-)

comment by David [mondaymorningphoto.com] at 10:11 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Oh, and about the new photoblogs.org - is it because it's just newly reborn that I can't search for a photoblog by NAME? That's kind of annoying. If you enter a blog's name, photoblogs.org will not find it unless it has also been tagged with its own name. Seems kind of backwards in going forwards, no?

Maybe I'm just impatient, and that feature will be added. In the meantime, there's always google's site: operator :-)

Take it easy, again ;-)

comment by peter at 10:50 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

I'll leave you to decide the best way of presenting this picture, but while you ponder I'll give this a one big WOW! You couldn't have timed it better.

comment by Rhys at 11:04 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

This is brilliant! did you have to wait long for this?

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. ~Ansel Adams

comment by paflechien at 11:06 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Incredible, incroyable, fou, grandiose !
Plus cela avance, plus je suis bluffé par tes photos et leurs traitements, Bravo david. Que d'inspiration pour le novice que je suis, je m'incline devant un demi-dieu de la photo et de photoshop.

Cette photo fait surgir des peurs qu'on avait presque oublié à propos des raz-de-marée du mois de décembre 2004. On a l'impression qu'une lame scélérate s'est abattue sur Blackpool ! Fini les jackpot et autres grandes roues ! Mais non, ce n'est qu'une grosse gerbe d'eau sur un ponton.

Cette photo est vraiment impressionnante, bien retaillée et bien retraitée.
Avec cette dominance verte !

My english is not good enough to write it down, so let's take your dictionnary ! lol

Bravo !

comment by samuel lover at 11:28 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Simply great.

comment by Ruan at 11:50 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Great shot, I think the colour you used workes well with this picture. You are one of my all time fav photograpers !!!

comment by eterisk at 11:57 AM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

I am glad that you posted this one, even if you had some problems with the processing. It look like an abstract and it have some really good details and the muted colours work really well.
I agree that photoblogs is a much better site after the update.

comment by Maran at 12:52 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Beautiful..two thumbs up!

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comment by Christophe at 02:05 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

I like this shot, awesome picture.

Christophe

comment by AirBete at 02:15 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

I like the color tint you chose. Excellent shot.

comment by liming at 02:28 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

unbelievable!!falulous!!art-talented!!YOu must have the 3rd eye,isnt it?:)How do u create these wonderful works?
It is my first time to visit ur website.I am liming,an amateur-photographer ,from Beijing in China.I was really shocked deeply when i hit ur website,would u like to give me some advices about my pics?Thanks!

comment by JELIEL3 at 02:40 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Goddamn how do you do it? Everyday I come here and my jaw drops.

comment by muffins at 02:46 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Dear lord.... inspiring.

comment by djn1 at 05:29 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Thanks everyone, not least beacause this one was much better received than I expected.

comment by KPK at 06:31 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

This image immediately entered my personal top 10 images 2006 :-)

comment by suresh at 08:14 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

Nice shot. The tone is simply amazing

comment by thukai at 09:02 PM (GMT) on 6 April, 2006

FANTASTIC!

comment by Hervé at 11:32 AM (GMT) on 7 April, 2006

Excellent shot and reprocessing.
I've not read all the comments, but I find that the blue tone gives the picture an icy look. As if the water was a wall made of ice like in the famous ice hotel in sweden if I'm right.
I like the result, it gives me the feeling to visit a place built in ice by some elves of faery tales.

comment by Thinh Q. Thang at 03:17 PM (GMT) on 7 April, 2006

Perhaps adding "Awesome" as a tag...

This is truly a magnificent photo. I'm in awe as I stare at it. A moment captured in time that would've been otherwise overlooked. It has this cinematic quality to it.

Cheers.

-TT

comment by Mohammed at 08:26 PM (GMT) on 7 April, 2006

Cool freeze frame, but i dont know if i like the colors...

comment by flying cow at 10:02 PM (GMT) on 7 April, 2006

what a divine blue shot

comment by Tone at 07:13 PM (GMT) on 8 April, 2006

what and incredible capture - I like the blue - it must have been an exciting day on Blackpool seafront

comment by Suvir Venkataraman at 08:08 PM (GMT) on 8 April, 2006

Love the photo, the sheer volume of water combined with the aptly restricted greenish palatte is excellent.

comment by ryran at 02:01 PM (GMT) on 11 April, 2006

AWESOMENESS

I didn't realize it was water for quite a while... thought it was a rock wall of some kind. It immediately made me think of a video game--not sure what though--perhaps one of the trailers for Blizzard's 'Diablo 2: Frozen Throne' expansion pack.

Just, wow.

comment by Tuffer at 12:59 AM (GMT) on 13 April, 2006

Thanks for the explaination on photoblogs.org. I saw that it changed the other day and then quickly gave up on figuring out what was going on. Nice to know and sounds like the changes are good. It indulged my laziness of finding out myself what was up.

And, nice job on this particular photo.

comment by rosie at 12:23 PM (GMT) on 11 May, 2006

I bet you got soaked! Eeeew! I know only too well the texture of Blackpool sea. . . and the smell. Such a good guy for sacrifising yourself. It was worth it, it's a brilliant shot.

http://ro-boat.blogspot.com/

comment by Shirl at 08:41 PM (GMT) on 14 May, 2007

This photo blinds my eyes its too beautiful to stare at!!!! It kicks me in the Hinny.... Keep on keeping on!!