<<< o >>>the long road 78 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

The ancient Greeks, apparently, had a different view of time to us. Where we feel that the future stretches out in front of us, the past left behind, they viewed the past as being in front of them, the future rushing up from behind. And in many ways, I guess that makes sense: we can't see the future, only the past – more recent events more clearly than those that happened long ago. As for why I'm mentioning this, I'm 43 today, and while I'm not of an age where it seems like quite the event it did when I was younger, it is a day when I pause for thought and look back. And I guess, on the whole, things have been pretty good :-)

captured
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
8.04pm on 6/6/06
Canon 20D
EF 17-40 f/4L USM
17mm (27mm equiv.)
f/11.0
1/160
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
100
no
RAW
DxO Optics Pro
2x1
 
2x1 + fylde coast [scenic]
comment by Gavin at 08:32 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday Dave! And what an incredible shot to mark the occasion. The lines in the sky are just amazing, and the placement of the boats is perfect. Hope you have a good night!

comment by James Darling at 08:33 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday. And nice picture.

(you should put together a amazon wishlist. not saying I'd buy something, but it seems a common way of getting money out of your visitors)

comment by ps at 08:33 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday :-)

comment by laanba at 08:36 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday!

comment by Jamey at 08:43 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Please don't use DxO anymore. Sysagent will never let me hear the end of it ;)

Nice shot. Did you have to do mush distortion correction to get the horizon level? At 17mm I should imagine it had a bit of a curve to it.

comment by djn1 at 08:52 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Gavin: thanks. I'm just scanning some old photos for my daughter, after which it's wine and curry :-)

Jamey: the reason I used DxO is because it automatically corrects lens distortion. So, no, I didn't need to do anything else to the horizon. By the way, why won't Sysagent not let you hear the end of it? (I suspect I should know the answer to this one).

comment by Mystery Me at 08:52 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Back atcha - Happy Birthday ;o)

comment by Michael Stanton at 08:57 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday! Great shot too, love the colors.

comment by Ameen at 09:04 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday, great image mate

comment by PhilB at 09:14 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Many happy returns. Great atmospheric shot to mark the occasion too! ;-)

comment by andres at 09:19 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Great sky. I only know you by seeing your photos, but that's an important part of you, so happy birthday.

comment by shooter at 09:19 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Great photo I love the sky, the vapor trails lead nicely to the boat, the framing is on the money to...

comment by mooch at 09:25 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

I'd prefer to see a little more sky. On a serios note, this is lovely. The clouds happen to draw the eye down towards the veseel. Which, I like...

comment by Joe at 09:41 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

You're obviously not afraid of wide open spaces! Very nice photograph...

comment by Albedo at 09:46 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday Dave !
And thanks for the info about the Greeks, I didn't know... I'll get to bed a little less dumb than I woke up ! ;)

comment by Heath at 09:51 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday David. I love the mood in this shot. Those cloud formations in the sky, along with the vapur trails are just wonderful.

comment by Jonas at 09:56 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Absolutly wonderfull.

comment by Nick at 10:14 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Big sky! I like the way the vapour trails lead us across and down to the tanker, then you notice the ship's got its own vapour trail. Great stuff!

comment by Bill Hooker at 10:22 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday!

comment by Dave at 10:27 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday, Dave. I wish I was 43! Then again, if the past is in front of us, maybe I can look forward to being so once more? Alas: 'What seest thou else in the dark backward and abysm of time?'

comment by Jamey at 10:48 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Dave - it was an in-joke really. Bit rude of me. Sysagent and I have an ongoing battle about DxO. I maintain that it's a horrible, unresponsive, unintuitive piece of software and he... Well... He likes it. It's quite fun, really. Gives us something to talk about and keeps us off the streets etc.

comment by Ben at 10:54 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday! Hey, you're only 30 years older than myself! :)

comment by rj at 10:55 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday! Some great weather (and skies) in the UK at the moment.

comment by Mark [londonrubbish] at 10:55 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Wonderful shot, I love the toning to the sky and the way all the contrails point to the ship on the horizon.

Anyway, Happy Birthday fella, I hope the curry and wine went down well.

comment by thukai at 11:02 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday, David. Beautiful sky. Nicely framed and composed shot. Makes you drift away :-)

comment by Valentina at 11:31 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

hola....soy de chile, me acabo de enterar de tu pagina...me encantaron las fotos...felicitacion....un saludo desde aca....
la de hoy ese cielo bello!!!!

comment by Stian at 11:34 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy birthday buddy! :)
Lovely shot, as always. Very nice composition.
Nice coloring in the post processing (I asume that's the deal?), it works very well with the sky and all...
Brilliant.. Did I say I like it? :)

Best regards, Stian

comment by Valentina at 11:41 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Hello...I'am from Chile, Ijust now your page on tv...I love the pictures...congratulation....I try see every day...I dont speak english and my english is bad, sorry....greeting from here.....

comment by mihai at 11:42 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

from my point, better then the other days...actually no comment about post processing...outstanding as always...and cuz it happens to be a special day for u...happy b'day and hope u still going to delight all of us with great compositions

comment by JD at 11:51 PM (GMT) on 8 June, 2006

Happy Birthday!

comment by Violet Lavendar at 12:35 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Additional felicitations from America's west coast! It's still your birthday here, so the celebration continues right round the globe with good wishes pouring in from all time zones. I hope you've had a splendid birthday celebration! Your beautiful work is your gift to all of us and we thank you and also wish you many more years of good health, happiness, and satisfying work in both your fields. Good wishes to you and your family for the coming year....

comment by paul at 12:40 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

the great thing about your photo blog is the text is often as stimulating at the visuals - this being a good example.

comment by JM at 12:51 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Bon anniversaire !
Big sky, great picture as usual !!!

comment by Deb at 12:56 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Well......you never mentioned that! (Does age still seem a socially constructed concept? Eh? Eh?) ;)

Happy Birthday, DJ. :) ~chink chink~

With regards to the image....the rapier claw of a "mad, bad and dangerous to know " Exalted One scar the stratosphere as, in a fit of boredom and implicit malice, he idly and mischieviously furrows the murky, monochrome buffers of reality....the tantalizing slivers of profound truth totally lost on the lone vessel as it sits, stoic and almost resolutely ignorant in its comfortable, cosy microcosm.


(Yes, it was a "kind -of" Wolfblass night.....but the pic is great at inspirng, innit?) :p

comment by Dave F at 01:06 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

I don't think I can compete with Deb's comment, so I won't even try ;-) Happy Birthday ~ have a great day, and please grace us with a chromasia shot of the festivities!

comment by Sharla at 01:17 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

(In the voice of Marilyn Monroe) Happy Birthday to you ....

Enjoy this special day and thank you for today's gift. It is usually the other way around but we enjoy your generosity.

Love the huge sky and clouds! The detail of the ship and horizon are just enough to make it all the bigger! Wonderful.

comment by Jide Alakija at 02:17 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy B'day buddy. You've come of age. Life really did start for you at 40 seeing that you've been running this blog for almost 3 years now. I think. Anyway Congratulations. May you live to see more great years.

comment by airfli at 02:38 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

first sky photo in DAYS.

Everything looks...

absolutely depressing

H A V E fun

comment by Jeet at 02:47 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

good one !!

comment by Robert at 03:14 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Wonderful shot, and happy birthday to you!

comment by frisky? at 05:04 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

wow now this is awesome!!!

comment by Thierry at 05:32 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Bon anniversaire !
Happy birthday to you !

comment by sigma at 05:44 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy birthday to You!
Good light, sharp lens and all the best for your pictures!

comment by Diana at 05:59 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Great shot of the sky. I've never seen it like that. I love it. Keep up the good work and happy birthday! :)

comment by navin harish at 06:49 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday Dave. Pause to look back or to look ahead at the past ;)
I guess the biggest achievemnt of anyone's life could be to look a it and feel that it was worthwhile.

comment by tim at 07:37 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

'63 -- what an excellent year, but maybe i'm biased ;-) happy birthday!
and, oh yes! love the shot -- you don't see many vapour trails where we live as you don't fly over Perth to get to anywhere...

comment by Amit Goyal at 07:58 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday!! And awesome shot :)

comment by chris at 08:26 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday. Have you been reading "Zen"?

comment by Mark at 08:55 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Amazing picture !

Happy Birthday

comment by peter at 09:30 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday. As for the picture: I'm a sucker for big skies :-)

comment by Rami at 09:53 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Amazing picture, I really like it.
Happy birthday :)

comment by Sysagent at 10:07 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy birthday David I hope you and your family had a great day!
:-)

Mmm I can see what you are trying to achieve with the shot but I would have prefered less of a muted colouring to the sky, i.e. more blueness perhaps contrasting with the whiteness of the clouds.

As for the ongoing DxO saga I am still using it and I am still liking it, I aint using it primarily for the lens correction features but more predominently for the lighting, Noise and CA correction it seems to handle very well in the one package...

p.s. When are me, you and John having this meet up on either your turf or if you fancy some green landscapes etc around here in the Pendle / Great Harwood area?

comment by p11 at 10:09 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Really nice,I cannt forget this picture.

comment by smo at 10:11 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday, lots of luck for you and your family. Keep up the good work.

As for the photo: Another great shot. I just loooooove the 2x1 cropping.

comment by Ron at 11:32 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday, and a great many more.
From one a great deal older, just a thought you might want to consider while pondering age. It was my 43rd year that I decided I hadn't done it right and should start over; packed in the business and went back to school for a year :)

comment by Raymond Tse at 11:50 AM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Great sky & happy birthday.

comment by Jennifer at 12:40 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday - yup getting older sucks (but the alternative is not good!) - oh for the days of 'pass the parcel' and jelly n ice cream! lovely shot.

comment by Paul Courtney at 12:47 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Hi Dave,
I was expecting this shot to be part of your 'Pictures for Airports' portfolio, as I feel it fits perfectly into that category. I can imagine sitting in the business class lounge sipping my G&T, glancing up from my laptop, half-noticing this shot before carrying on to my flight. Whilst sat in my plush airline seat I would once again glance up and notice out of the window how very similar the sky was to the picture I saw in the flight-lounge, making me wish I had paid more attention to it at first.
Belated Happy Birthday.

comment by david kleinert at 12:49 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy b'day! love the cloud formation! cheers :)

comment by Ian at 01:04 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday! Long may you continue pointing cameras at stuff!

comment by Timothy Gray at 01:05 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday first and foremost. Second, what a beautiful photograph! I love the idea of the oh-so-low horizon line....helps keep the image connected at all points and at the same time give the viewer this immense feeling of awe and scale.

comment by djn1 at 01:27 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Thanks everyone :-)

comment by Page at 01:31 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Some people believe you can tell the future through the clouds. Not very far of course, but at least how your day will do tomorrow. Really makes me wonder what they would think of this shot.

comment by m at 01:38 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Hippo Birdy two Ewes

comment by www.fotolog.com/chromasia at 01:55 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday!

I Help This Art With a Fotolog, You Know I'm Fans of You.

comment by David at 02:57 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday!

Next year you could do a conquest like the one you did rewarding those who figured what a picture was from, but with the reward being a piece of cake, yum.

Enjoy the day, and enjoy the year. And very beautiful picture. One can almost feel the time passing and the ship moving sooo slowly.

comment by rhys at 03:01 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Love the sky. I happened to be in St Annes last weekend at managed to get lots of shots similar- must have been something in the atmosphere- the clouds and vapour trails were brilliant.
check some of them out at H W A M.
happy birthday.

comment by Bob at 03:29 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

"Today is the yesterday you worried about tomorrow."

HBD.

comment by Etan at 03:48 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

A very happy birthday to you.

comment by Matt at 04:27 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

I hope with the summer coming, you begin to see more colour again. When I first started following your site, you were posting brilliantshots of your kids on the beach, awesome water scenes with lots of colour...Happy shots I guess. It seems lately you've been resorting to photoshopping images to make them look sadder or colder than they'd have to be. I'm looking for the old chromasia.

comment by Andy Cogbill at 05:03 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Dave, I haven't commented in a while, but I think this shot merits yet one more line of praise. I commend your courage in throwing away the rule of thirds on this one, as I think if you'd succombed to the "normal" 1/3 water, 2/3 sky split, you'd have lost so much of the "infinite" feeling of the scene. I think it's high time photographers threw away the RoT instinct -- though it certainly works in some situations, I think it's almost as hackneyed as centering and it prevents the dynamism so clearly achieved by this shot.

I love this photo.

comment by Jukka at 06:44 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

We are part of the unknown cosmos. This picture proves it. To watch it, makes one wonder, what is it out there...

comment by djn1 at 07:15 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Thanks again :-)

comment by Leddy at 07:44 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

Happy Birthday to you :-)
And thanks your photo .... everyday.

comment by nogger at 08:49 PM (GMT) on 9 June, 2006

A belated Happy Birthday. There, rushed up on you when you weren't expecting it. :)

comment by mars at 05:44 AM (GMT) on 10 June, 2006

Congrats, dude!

comment by Anne at 02:38 PM (GMT) on 10 June, 2006

Happy birthday! And thank you for our daily share of beautiful pictures.

comment by Riho at 09:28 AM (GMT) on 15 June, 2006

Huge sky, little ship. Nice