Plain-Sailing_ (click for larger view)

The first evening of our holiday in Beadnell Bay, Northumberland and

the view over the harbour was lovely. As the evening progressed the

fan like shapes in the sky became more pronounced and I had to

take a few shots. Your thoughts and comments are always

welcome. Thank You.

Exquisite composition and rendering. You certainly were in your element there.

Alf, The composition is perfect, the elements making up the scene and that glorious sky fit so well. The predominant blue color is very easy on the eyes and the light from the time of day you took this just enough. Just wonderful work my friend.

Best Always, Holger

Very nicely done piece, subtle blues with the sky coming towards us, pristine image 

Amazing picture Alf!, I love the colors, the composition and the lighting. But what I really like here is the movement of clouds in the sky.
Nice one!

Kind Regards,

Rosario.

Very eye catching, Alf.  Nicely composed!

Alf,

 Wow...powerful POV that just draws you in with beautiful colors & lighting.  Take care, Patsy

I just love this solo artist, ALSA, with the accompanying chorus behind.  The receding clouds are positioned perfectly, the lighting is peaceful and the colorful buoys just reach out and grab your eye.  Fantastic image.... Mike  

Could this be more perfectly composed, light balanced? Congrats, Alf.  One of your many 7's.

Fabulous capture, amazing sky - you were patient I imagine Alf!!! Exquisite timing!

Great composition with such a great color tones. I love the sky here

Regards 

Cosmin

Bravo maestro!

Cheers

PDE

Lovely blue tone, scene and composure, super image.

Beautiful scenery. Think everything has been said, but I like it,too.

Nice light, well seen and post processed.

Wonderful composition and subject with a superb sky.  Great photograph!

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words I was most certainly in my element, I just wish it could have lasted longer.

Best Regards

Alf

HOLGER

I was watching the sky for about 1 hour and the patterns were slowly becoming more pronounced. I was able to find a couple of places from which I could get some decent shots. The other place was at the back of the small harbour.

Sincere Thanks for your positive feedback!

Best Regards

Alf

TONY

Thank you so much for your thoughts and kind words, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

ROSARIO

I was very fortunate, the sky that evening was so interesting.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

Best Regards

Alf

JANINE

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback!

Alf

PATSY

Thank you so much.  That sky was one of natures gifts that I took complete advantage of :)

Best Regards

Alf

MIKE

Did you notice ALSA turned her back to all the other boats, think she was having a bit of a tantrum : - )

Many Thanks for your most encouraging words!

Alf

WAYNE

I'm sure it could be done better Wayne, but I think I got lucky with the clouds so maybe I'll never have the chance to have another go : - )

Sincere Thanks!

Alf

GAIL

"Patience is a virtue" or so the saying goes, but it isn't one that I possess.  So whilst I was waiting I tried different angles and positions,  and just kept an eye on that sky : - )

Many Thanks Gail!

Alf

COSMIN

Many Thanks for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

PIERRE

I'm always afraid that if I achieve perfection I'll have nothing else to aim for.  But  my sincere thanks for your positive feedback!

Cheers!

Alf

CHRIS

Thank you so much for your kind words!

Alf

SIDSEL

I am very pleased you like it too Sidsel Thank You!

Alf

GEORGE

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words! I used a combination of Lightroom, Photoshop and Nik efex, for the processing which sounds very complicated but it really wasn't.

Best  Regards

Alf

BACHIR

Thank you so much for your interest and positive feedback, much appreciated!

Best Regards

Alf

Alf

Nice one Alf, great composition. I'm taken by the way all the boats on the water are looking out to sea leaving the lone Coble looking to shore.

I bet you had a lot of fun with the two red globes in this composition and color.  The forefront of the sandy water looks like soft glass, a pleasant sensation for the eyes.  I love the fan sky too -- so unusual and the lazy assortment of boats and quiet land in the background.  The boat in the front is so well placed, tempting the viewer to pad in the sand to the boat, pass the "gossiping" circles and said out in the water and drift away.

Hi Alf.  Great that there is such apparent movement in the sky.  I really like the sharpness of the boats and masts on the left.  However, the movement on some of the other masts, especially the second tallest from the right is a bit of a distraction and somewhat spoils this area for me.  I'm wondering why you chose 1/2 @ f/8 ISO 160 versus something faster that could have eliminated the issue.  Or perhaps the mast movement doesn't bother you.  Regards, Jeff

Many Thanks for your thoughts!  It was an aspect of the composition that struck me too, though I have to admit not immediately.

Best Regards

Alf

DONNA

I am so pleased you mentioned the "soft glass" appearance of the water, as it was my intention for the image to look tranquil, and to some extent answers the questions of Jeff below.  Yes, I can imagine too, just laying back and drifting with the soft shhhhh of the sea and the occasional cry of a gull the only sounds to break the silence.

Sincere Thanks Donna!

Alf

JEFF

Very good question, and the answer is relatively simple. I wanted a soft-ish looking sea whilst retaining as much sharpness as possible in the boats, and the compromise was the settings I used. As you rightly say any movement could have been eliminated easily, but I didn't want a sharp choppy looking sea. So the small movement of the mast is the price I paid for getting the look I wanted.

Many Thanks

Alf

Superb composition and the sky is the star for me with its fan-like appearance and the touch of orange to provide that visual contrast against the blue tone.  I am Ok with the motion of the masts since that telegraphs to me how dark it was even though modern cameras and post processing can get around that. I am not sure if you dialed in the blueness that I see or whether it was naturally like that.  If truth be told , my instinct kicked in to adjust the color balance but it was pure instinct.  In the end, I began to admire it and realized that the blue color augmented that calm feeling I get from observing it.  All the best and keep up the excellent work,

Love the drama of this scene with the the pronounced sky with suggests movement. Nicely framed too Alf! Another great shot!

Amazing and unique sky !. It seems that it is ''plain sailing'' for you too..:-).

Another excellent capture my friend. Very well done !.

Best regards. Dimitris.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful analysis, very much appreciated!

The blueness was present probably because of the time of the evening, but it became more pronounced as I processed the image using Nik HDR Efex.  In order to make it appear more natural than the finished process I used the eraser tool to bring it back closer to the original but still retaining some of the HDR effects.  Also there was a sea mist forming, you can just see it in the distance to the left of the image

Cheers Tony!

Alf

ROBERT

The sky was definitely on my side on this particular evening and the patterns became more accentuated as it got later!

Sincere Thanks Robert!

Alf

DIMITRIS

A lovely evening, a beautiful location and a camera in my hands, what else could I want! ......well another 50 weeks holiday would be nice  : - )

Sincere Thanks My Friend!

Alf