Storm waves

Waves were still high after the storm, and the fog was just lifting. I'd very

much appreciate your comments and suggestions!

Superb: strongly emotive capture of a storm. Have you tried darkening the left-hand foreground a little to keep attention on the tree and central rock/waves?

Well done Leslie, a good lighting to make a dramatic scene, a lot of action you have created here. The lone tree is great, well done. 

Sensational and very powerful image, Les. Well done, my friend. Regards, Lawrence

Well, you've really topped yourself this time, Leslie. God only knows how you summoned up this picture of raging power but it's among your best. Into my favorites.

Others already have commented on the image's display of the ocean's power.  I'd like to follow up on John's use of the term "emotive."  The ocean is clearly angry, perhaps furious. It is relentlessly pounding the coast with wave upon wave, which no doubt ultimately will change the shoreline's appearance.  Torrents of rain team with spray from the waves' impact to douse everything in this location with volumes of water; the rain falls in sheets driven in a variety of directions by the wind.  The lone tree, which has had the audacity to grow sideways from the rock, clearly will survive the storm; its roots cling to the rock in such a way that the storm will not budge it.

 

I am thoroughly impressed by how you composed this photograph.  Your POV was spot on.  While some photographers might have been tempted to boost the colors' saturation levels, instead you chose to leave them as your camera saw them (or you may have desaturated them).

 

I'd join Jack by placing this image in my favorites folder.  Right now there's still an issue with my homepage which prevents me from doing so.

 

 

 

 

A very powerful and dramatic capture with lots of mood and feeling. The colours are rich but natural. Great POV and composition all of which makes for a beautiful image. Best regards Ken.

Leslie,  Outstanding photo - there are so many elements that make up the drama, but it is the tree that is the most powerful.  

Nice composition and presentation, well done.

Ditto with everyone else- excellent!

Wow, mesmerizing image full of mystery, power and drama.  Fantastic... Mike

:--) !

Nice work,

 

Great shot, Leslie.  It really does show the power and fiery of the ocean.

Very powerful image, Leslie !!  Great mood.  Love the contrast between the dark foreboding  top part against the lighter waves at the bottom. Nicely composed as well.

I was compelled to check out your portfolio.  Outstanding IMO!! Your use of contrast and lighting is very impressive.

Very nice work...

 

 

Close to perfection, for me. A wonderful moment and light. Best regards. Peter

Where was this jewel hidden? A powerful, aesthetic, compelling magnificent photograph. Lighting is truly exquisite. Saw the thumbnail by pure chance, and what a rewarding experience it has been to look at it for a while. Visually and technically superb!

DG

    John, Tony, Lawrence, Jack, Michael, Ken, Sam, George, Gregory & Verena, Mike, Drew, Zbigniew, Janine, Jerry, Peter, and Daniel — Thank you all so very, very much for your comments and encouragement! I’m still struggling up the steep part of the learning curve for digital photography (probably always will be), so feedback like yours helps me tremendously as I try to figure out what does and doesn’t work. On this frame, I got extremely lucky with the timing—this was the first shot of the day, and the wave arrived at the island at the same time as I arrived at the overlook on the trail. I waited for about a half hour for another wave as big as this one to show up, and it never did. The raw histogram was distressingly reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower, so most of the post-processing work (all in Lightroom) was devoted to coaxing some contrast out of the image.

    Your comments have really honed in on what I was feeling when I made the photo: I couldn’t help but feel very small and very much in awe before the raw power of the sea, the roar of water against rock, the glare of cold sunshine through the lifting mist, and the smell of salt spray on the wind. And above it all, that resilient tree, looking a lot more calm than I was feeling. 

 

John - Thanks for the suggestion—I’ll give that a try!

 

Michael and Ken - You’ve zeroed in on one of the challenges I was dealing with in the image—the colors. It started off very unsaturated, and I mostly left it that way (after some rather dismal experiments with boosting it a bit). Though it’s hard to tell, I did increase the saturation in the waves a little in order to make the foreground feel a bit closer. 

 

Michael, Ken, George, and Jerry - The composition was a struggle, so your feedback on this point is very much appreciated. This is about a 50% crop of the original frame. There was a graceful ridge top to the right and above, and a nice left edge to the foreground rock on the left, but I ended up just focusing on what the tree needed for a supporting cast. In retrospect, I probably could have left in maybe 10% more on the right to pick up another rock and decenter the tree a bit more. 

 

Jerry - Thanks so much for the comment about my portfolio, and I really appreciate your mention of contrast and lighting. I started off shooting B&W film, and I sometimes have the feeling that I still am—it’s almost as though the color just happens to come along for the ride. 

 

And all of you — I’m going to be smiling for weeks from your feedback—Thanks!

Very nice! I won't try to repeat what's been said, but I have to say, "Hang in there, tree!"

 

This is fine work, Leslie.

 

--Lannie

joining the praise of the otheres. What I particularly like is the similarity of rough shapes of the rocks and the waves - as if the waves are the continuation of the rocks (or vice versa).

The fog and darkness of the background help to proclaim the juxtaposed highlights in the waves and tree as the primary subject

Great image, excellent energy and dramatic look.

A well balanced an powerful image. It reminds me of the images of french lighthouses along the coast line of Bretagne.

Leslie - Lovely. Where was this taken?

Peter.

The leaning tree gives me a first impression that a major piece of terrain is about to fall off into the sea which eases me into the poetry of the moment. The light dances to the strings of violin music while the sea is attempting to stir things up with a beat to a different music yet blending perfectly. Congrats on a fine image.