The Lighthouse, The Thief and The Hairy Accomplice

The last two postings reflect the opportune moments that come along

when shooting something else. The person you see crossing the small

stream just kind of appeared whilst I was shooting the lighthouse. Of

course the title is just whimsical. Your thoughts and comments are

always appreciated. Thank You

The lighthouse has a powerful presence against the evening sky and does the rain soaked road (a hard combination to pull off). The person and dog in this shot are ill defined and only incidental to the composition.  The title calls unnecessary attention to them and makes them distracting.  Why is this person a thief?  There is nothing in the image to suggest this.  Titles are important.  They did color the viewer's perception of the image.  

Alf, forgive me if I take this one. Alex, the title is whimsy. You are correct, it does detract from the lighthouse by suggesting that maybe the photograph is not entirely about the lighthouse. It serves to piqué the viewer’s imagination, start the wheels turning, to draw the viewer deeper into the photograph. It says that the photographer wants the viewer to see the photograph less literally, that he wants to move the photograph into an entirely new realm that engages the viewer’s imagination with the fantasy of this serendipitous moment.

Alf, you're hitting on all four barrels lately. Love it!

just a hair early, i think.  the reflection isn't well defined, so i think you should've caught the silhouette instead.  best, j

Good Morning Alf, A fine lighthouse composition even if the title does envoke the mind to see more, hey I kinda like that. I guess it works. The above posters are certainly correct in their observations. Jamie is also correct in his. A fine B&W lighthouse image with a slash of color at the horizon what more could I ask for. Keep em' coming my friend.

BR,

Holger

ALEX

Thank you for your interest and thoughtful observations. I think the definition becomes slightly clearer in the larger view, but you are right, the person and the dog are incidental in as much as the photograph was never intentionally mean't to feature them at the outset. However with the inclusion of them being established should I have tried to ignore thier presence and leave the image untitled as you would suggest, and let the viewer perhaps miss the opportunity to ponder the possibilities,  or should I provoke interest and debate by projecting my own interpretation via the title, thus inviting inspection and question past just the image of just a light house?. Suffice to say I chose to do the latter and it must have worked to some degree as you stopped to question it and comment on it.  Aside from that, there is a very practical reason why I name every image, and that is simply because I can remember every one through reference of the title which consequently makes them a lot easier to find. Oh and to answer your question, "why is the person a thief" In the UK there was a crime prevention capaign aimed at residents locking cars and making sure houses were secure, the symbol for the campaign was a silhouette shaped just like the person in this image with the caption underneath "Watch out theres a thief about". Of course I don't expect anyone else to see the connection, but it just explains my whimsical reasoning.

Sincere Thanks and Best Regards

Alf

GARY

I think you put it far better than I did,  you really hit the nail right on the head with your analogy, one thing I would add to it though is the element of humour, well certainly from my part, of course viewers will make up thier own mind. But I know if I read a title that included the words "hairy accomplice" I would suspect some tongue in cheek intention. I have numerous landscape images that are "pretty pictures" and for the most part, thats what I aim for. But occaisionaly you get that "serendipitous moment", as you eleoquently put it, occuring that makes it a bit special for other reasons than pure aesthetics. I'm very pleased you liked it Gary.

Sincere Thanks & Kind Regards

Alf

JAMIE

I know, the wind was blowing hard from the estuary so the chance of a decent reflection was minimal. "should've caught the silhouette instead" I thought I had? Or perhaps you mean as a more clearly defined silhouette crossing the water? To be honest I wasn't sure if I would catch anything at all, as it was dark and the figure was hesitant,  (probably not wanting to get wet feet) which inevitabley it did. A tough one to get the timing that precise Jamie.

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

HOLGER

Sincere thanks for your interest and thoughtful comments. I'm really pleased that the title does evoke some thought. Personally I can't help having a vivid imagination, and if the title encourages thoughtful imaginative contemplation then its done exactly as intended. I'm bvery pleased you like it Holger, lighthouses being one of your favourite subjects I'd hoped you'd look in.

Best Regards

Alf

I Alf, I'll start with the title, I get it my friend, to me it looks like a thief in the night tiptoeing around the place. I think sometimes as photographers we can get a little carried away with our critiquing, we are allowed to have a little bit of fun sometimes with their own work. I would like to hope that I would never lose sight of the big picture, and not to get to critical of things that I would or wouldn't do in my photographic images. As a photographer in my personal opinion we have to push the boundaries, we have to go out on a limb, we have to try new techniques, they don't all have to be technically perfect, and they don't all have to have that golden selection to be aesthetically pleasing. document the photograph to what your eyes see and what emotions you feel without trying to please everyone you will never do it. the great photographers of our past and present always pleased themselves. I guess I have carried on enough! regards Grant.

Your extraordinary imagination at work again, I see!  :-)  I can see Jamie's point about the reflection.  But to play Devil's Advocate....I think your timing is perfect in that it captured the stealthy posture of the figure.  That's what I find interesting, and in light of your title even amusing about this image.  The one thing I would consider doing if this were mine (which I tried)....I would slightly dodge the silhouetted figure, not enough to prevent the silhouette, but just enough to make it stand out a bit more from the dark sand.  Perhaps a little on 'his accomplice' too.  Nevertheless, very fine work and story telling!

Another nice scene here.

As usual the composition, exposure and the level of detail is very good.

The reflection is pretty good from my vantage point. If there were blown up into a larger print it would feature pretty well in the photograph.

What I enjoy is the b&w tones of this photo contrasted by the color of the setting sun sitting on the horizon.

Despite all the attention the title is getting no one seems to have commented on this aspect and from my recollection this is not a motif that you normally employ in your photos.

This photo now has a layer of subjects that adds a new dimension to this black and white photograph which otherwise would not indicate time of day. The color is relatively mute and at first glance I was absorbed in the scene of the man and dog crossing the stream so much that I actually missed it.

What does this all mean? I am not sure what your goal was for that little smidgen of color but I sure am curious.

I wonder what this would have looked like had you stood in the stream while he was jumping over it?

Alf, I really like the light on the water and the way it guides us through the whole scene. The man and the dog add a really nice element to the landscape, and I like the way he seems to be tiptoeing across the water. His silhouette reflected in the water also adds a nice touch. 

GRANT

Yes, you get the idea, thats just how the figure struck me too. As you have guessed this wasn't aimed at being too serious, there was an element of "tongue in cheek" humour in the title, and I don't think for one minute that the figure was really a thief. As photographers I would agree that we do indeed take ourselves far too seriously at times. Don't get me wrong I'm very passionate about about photography, but sometimes its good to laugh at my own pictures, and titles for that matter. Again as you say they don't all have to be aesthetically perfect to be interesting or indeed humerous and yeah, pleasing yourself is sometimes the best option.  Great to hear your views Grant, its refreshing to know theres still a lot of people that don't get bogged down with technicalities too much, and can open thier minds to something slightly different.

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

CHRISTAL

You are very generous describing my imagination as "extraordinary" some people would go with plain old "warped" : - )  It was a bit of guesswork and a bit of luck getting the shot at the point of him leaping across the water, he hesitated a few times before he jumped. The reflection would have been great, but the wind was blowing and consequently the rippled water didn't form the reflection as would have been ideal.  Its a good suggestion to dodge the silhouetted figure, though I confess its not a technique I'm very good at. I did use the "fill light" slider in lightroom to lighten the darker aspects slightly, so I guess I could do that a bit more selectively, his accomplice is very grainy though, so I think I'd be inclined to leave the hairy animal alone : - ) I'm glad you enjoyed this one Christal.

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

JOE

The silhouette isn't too bad but the reflection was marred by the howling wind rippling the water, I could have enhanced the reflection I suppose, but it didn't seem crucial. But yes you are right in the original size file it is more easilly distinguishable. Selective colour isn't a technique I usually employ, but this was all a bit of an experiment and a more lighthearted look at a landscape. I suppose the aims of using such a technique was two fold. One to indicate a time of day (as you have indicated) which would also explain the darkness to the casual viewer, and two to provoke interest and perhaps draw the viewer to look a bit more deeply into the scene. I did try standing in the stream previously to this shot, however the perspective looked pretty much llike a straight line leading to the lighthouse and didn't fill me with any great desire to phorograph it. Perhaps had I known the person was going to cross, I would have considered the scenen differently, but it was quite a spontaneous occurance and consequential shot.

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

TONY

The little stream does indeed act like a leading line and that was my intention prior to the man turning up out of nowhere to cross the stream, seconds before the shot the whole place was deserted. I think his "tiptoeing" action was designed to avoid wet feet, needless to say it didn't work as the stream was deeper than he thought : - ) Many thanks for your interest and thoughtful feedback Tony

Best Regards

Alf

Well Alf it worked. This photograph ends up having multiple subjects...the sky, the lighthouse and the motion all in one that work well together.

The photograph as a whole works well together (as usual for your work) and gives us another nice look at this lighthouse in a different form. 

if the man had been over the water there would have been a clearly defined silhouette.  it's very faint as it is.  j

Alf,

  Wonderful image with great composition.  Your creative mind at work again.  Take care, Patsy

Very artistic one.  Peaceful mood and with the deep thoughts.  Nice composition.  Best Regards,

JOE

Many Thanks for your invaluable insights, very much appreciated. I suppose it could have worked better if I was better prepared for the events that occurred, or if my fingers and brain worked faster in a dark environment and I could have jacked up the ISO or altered the exposure compensation, in order that the overall image was lighter, but I suppose if I knew it was going to happen the spontaneous element would be lost and the scene could look too contrived. I used to curse people that intruded onto my landscapes, but there are times that they do indeed make things a bit more interesting.

Cheers Joe!

Alf

JAMIE

Ahh yes I do see your reasoning, all about timing!

Regards

Alf

PATSY

Thank you so much, yes "creative" is a pleasant and positive way of putting it  : - )

Best Regards

Alf

WANGHAN

Interesting to get your interpretation Wanghan, for me,  there does exist the perception of peace, but one that is potentially being undermined by the "thief"   : - )

Sincere Thanks & Best Regards

Alf

Again another wonderfully time dimage, the subtle colouring in the sunset section is perfectly alligned for the lines of the watercourse. The man and dog and the lighthouse give us stopping points to explore as we wander through the image. The texturein the clouds are great and give us drama. Well done Alf.

Many thanks for taking the time to view the image and leave your thoughtful comments, much appreciated! I took a great many shots of this lighthouse scene in colour, but I thought the relative blandness of the B & W would draw more interest to the man and his dog, I think it worked to some degree.

Best Regards

Alf

Lovely image Alf,

It stands out for the strong composition with the diagonal lead in from the right and it looks as though you de-saturated everything but the colour left behind by the retreating sun which also works well. The figure does add more interest.

I must admit I wouldn't have noticed without the reference to the figure as the thief out of those ads, but when you mentioned it I remembered those posters. They always made me wonder why a thief would be concentrating on doing an Irish jig rather than just legging it.

Well done & best wishes, Dave.

Many Thanks  for your visit and invaluable feedback. This is probably the least dynamic image of the evening in terms of colour (which you pin pointed spot on, was desaturated except for the patch of colour from the setting sun) and also in terms of foreground detail.  There is another one I posted from the same session named "Later" which is the complete opposite. It seemed to me that all the glorious colour etc would detract from the interesting "thief" The "Irish Jig" comment raised a few chuckles here!

Cheers Dave!

Alf

Alf,  Great title for this perfectly composed image with both human and canine elements.  I like the way you left the color in the sky, but capitalized on the B&W conversion.  I fear you will keep this up.  It's a good thing your aficionados don't need to destroy trees with the replete comments.  Best to you.  Larry

I love words, and yeah you are right, the exuberant and unrestrained use of them are pleasantly environmentally friendly online. And thats another one for my collection "Aficionados" Glad you liked this one Larry, some things happen in front of the lens that just can't escape my itchy trigger finger : - )

Many Thanks & Best Regards

Alf