<<< o >>>sailing by 19 comments + add yours
chromasia.com

This is another of the shots that I took yesterday, and initially I didn't think this one was going to work, mostly because the sky was a rather pale shade of blue; i.e. not particularly amenable to this sort of semi-dramatic treatment. But, on the whole, I think it turned out reasonably ok. Had I been a bit quicker I might have recomposed slightly, and had I known the seagull was going to enter the shot I might have used a slightly higher shutter speed, and if I could afford a decent polariser for all three of my lenses I might have used one, but other than that I don't think I'd change too much about this one.

Oh, and on another matter, I read over at blog.photoblogs today that I've been nominated for Best Photoblog at the 2004 Weblog Awards – which is cool :-) And while I'm not in the least bit bothered about the votes, it is nice to have been nominated and to have ended up in the final 15. So if it was anyone who visits here who nominated me ... thanks :-)

Update: My wife read this entry a few minutes ago, and she didn't have to say anything – she has a way of looking at me when she doubts something I've written or said – but the gist of it was, "yeah, right, sure you're not bothered about the votes". So ok, it would be nice if people wanted to vote for chromasia. On which note I think I'll add mention of the voting on the news section of my comments ;-)

capture date
camera
lens
focal length
aperture
shutter speed
shooting mode
exposure bias
metering mode
ISO
flash
image quality
RAW converter
cropped?
2.45pm on 2/12/04
Canon 20D
EF 70-200 f/4L USM
84mm (134mm equiv.)
f/7.1
1/250
aperture priority
+0.0
evaluative
100
no
RAW
DPP
minor
 
3x2 + Blackpool Tower + fylde coast [scenic]
comment by Jarod at 09:23 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

Cool shot. For some reason that bird just looks photoshopped in there.

wow, looks like I'm the first to comment! woohoo

comment by alan davis at 09:57 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

I lliked! Congratulations for the 2004 Weblog Awards!

comment by peterv at 10:30 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

I don't visit any other blogs! This is the only one worth my while! Congratulations Dave!

I Like the colour. I like the gull. Ilike the tower and the lamp and the placing.
What I'm not sure about is the lean. I'd rather the lampost was left out and the tower was vertical But perhaps the piicture could never have been taken?

comment by roderick at 10:56 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

Congrats on the nomination for best photoblog. You certainly deserve it.

Why not save yourself some money and just buy one large polarizer and get various step up rings? Not only with your polarizer, but you can standardize your filter set. Just a thought.

Keep up the great photography.

comment by nogger at 11:08 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

Love this one. I think the angle's great and the light and shadow's just brilliant.

Congrats on the nomination.

comment by Aegir at 11:35 PM (GMT) on 3 December, 2004

Yeah, Planet Of The Gulls. "Damn you! Damn you to hell! You did it!" etc. etc. ;]

comment by djn1 at 12:41 AM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

peterv: I'm a bit wary of taking shots of the tower in isolation. It's the most prominent landmark in Blackpool, and is likely to feature in quite a few of my shots over the months to come, so I'm trying to vary my approach.

roderick: I have thought about that (I really like the Lee system) but it would probably work out as expensive by the time I'd bought some lens hoods that would work with the filters. And I guess that the only filter I routinely use (or would if I had one) is the polariser. Anyway, I can't afford to buy anything else at the moment so I've got some time to think about it.

comment by keoshi at 02:25 AM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

Very nice capture here!

The angle is perfect as is the lightning... The seagull complements the composition very well in its quiet and peacefull flight...

~keoshi

comment by HiMY SYeD at 03:32 AM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

I christen thee . . . The Leaning Tower of C h r o m a s i a . . .

comment by Simon C at 12:49 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

I like the angled treatment and the textural backdrop provided by the clouds, but I can't decide about this. Do the three subjects complement or compete with each other?

comment by peter at 05:31 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

My first reaction when I saw this was "WOW!" Maybe I've read too much brooding gothic / horror novels, but the angle and colour of the shot and the various elements (tower, lamp, overcast sky, and large unidentified winged creature) all combine to pack quite a visual punch.

comment by 3rdMARTINI at 06:28 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

Pale sky or not, you really managed to pull every ounce of drama out of this shot. Very, very nice.

comment by nathan at 06:28 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

nice shot and congrats!

comment by Jeff Galak at 06:41 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

I really like the photo but the angle of it distracts me a bit. I almost focus on it more than the rest of the picture.

On the whole though, I love this site and definetly think you deserve the nomination. Congrats!

comment by djn1 at 08:42 PM (GMT) on 4 December, 2004

Thanks everyone :-)

comment by kW at 05:36 PM (GMT) on 5 December, 2004

=)
I voted for you. Your photos always inspire me to take better photos. Continue the good work! =)

comment by wookiee at 03:33 PM (GMT) on 6 December, 2004

Great lean to make things move with the bird.

comment by Jafar at 05:58 PM (GMT) on 6 December, 2004

'resonably OK'? What do you mean? This one is absolutely great.

comment by umal at 12:28 AM (GMT) on 13 July, 2009

Nice shot