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Jan. 2012 GOTM

Gallery: Gallery of the MonthPosted December 27, 20112,844 views20 comments

Love Over Gold

Hopeman, Moray, Scotland

For a few days in summer under the right conditions namely mid to high tide the sun slides into the sea and reflects off a vertically cleaved slab of rock in the shape of a pirate ship. get the angle right and you will find the wetted surface of the rock courtesy of the returning tide becomes mirror like and when the angle of incidence matches the angle of reflection the slab of rock turns to burnished gold.

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Pentax 67 II ,90-180 zoom, Fujichrome Velvia.
0.6ND grad, f/22 at 4 seconds.

Comments

20 comments

Comment posted by Floris van Breugel on December 27, 2011 at 6:05 PM

That is so cool! Wonderful image Ian, and thanks for the description too.

Registered on December 19, 2008, 306 Posts, 4840 Comments

Comment posted by Youssef Ismail on December 27, 2011 at 6:16 PM

This is very neat. I can only imagine the number of visits to learn the specifics to making this image. Well done.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 474 Posts, 5555 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on December 27, 2011 at 6:34 PM

An amazing, fun image Ian with gorgeous light and color. Wonderful exposure for the waves which also adds to the illusion of a pirate ship on the high seas. Pure genius!

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by scott lanz on December 27, 2011 at 9:31 PM

Fantastic! The background sky, clouds, and sea are very complementary too.

Registered on November 14, 2003, 840 Posts, 12902 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on December 27, 2011 at 10:04 PM

Awesome quality of light. Great work and way to know your location!

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Miller on December 27, 2011 at 10:23 PM

love the light and the background wave action is a nice touch

Registered on May 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 322 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on December 27, 2011 at 11:17 PM

Perfect capture. Interesting description.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on December 28, 2011 at 2:43 AM

WHAT !
Enjoyed the side light on the rock
also the waves in the background looks awesome

brilliant

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Seaver on December 28, 2011 at 9:26 AM

You must have been in dire straits making this image.

I love the golden pirate ship and the pastel oranges in the sky (seen best in the large version) really set it off. Your intimate knowledge of the area really pays off here.

Registered on January 23, 2011, 1103 Posts, 17270 Comments

Comment posted by Phil Pogledich on December 28, 2011 at 1:52 PM

Very interesting and appealing shot. I like the reflected light and you controlled the dynamic range quite materfully.

Registered on August 24, 2009, 123 Posts, 3099 Comments

Comment posted by Rick Lundh on December 28, 2011 at 2:17 PM

that rock really reflects the light nicely here, Ian! I am not sure the bottom rocks help this scene out..have you thought about cropping them out and making this a pano?

Registered on April 28, 2004, 774 Posts, 4351 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on December 28, 2011 at 2:24 PM

Ian,

Shipwrecked indeed! Timing is everything and the light striking the rocks is just perfect. Subtle, but I think important is how the surf in the bg is soft which doesn't draw attention away from the light, yet provides wonderful context. I might agree with Rick about a crop of the bottom, but regardless, you've captured a wonderful moment.

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Wayne Willison on December 28, 2011 at 2:57 PM

Awesome. This is a feat of perfect timing.
It really does look like a ship of gold. Wonderful capture, Ian.

Registered on April 10, 2009, 292 Posts, 3967 Comments

Comment posted by Scott Smorra on December 28, 2011 at 4:29 PM

This is really cool Ian. I like the pirate ship. I looked at this for quite a while before I figured out what is going on here.

Registered on November 2, 2009, 161 Posts, 2143 Comments

Comment posted by Kyle L. Krause on December 28, 2011 at 11:54 PM

What a wonderfull dramatic shot Ian, love the lighting on this one. Keep up the great work!

Registered on June 15, 2010, 29 Posts, 605 Comments

Comment posted by Vance Gese on December 29, 2011 at 1:16 AM

Exquisite Ian. The light and color are out of this world superb. Love the motion in the surf. An incredible image.

Registered on November 13, 2008, 298 Posts, 6629 Comments

Comment posted by Harley Goldman on December 29, 2011 at 10:55 AM

Wonderful light and a trippy, other-worldly look to the image. It definitely looks like the golden pirate ship. Excellent.

Registered on November 19, 2003, 586 Posts, 11271 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on December 30, 2011 at 2:45 PM

Sweet!! terrific comp and light here. A couple very minor nits: the grad is evident in that the sky/clouds seems less luminous than the rock. Also, personal preference, but i think it would even be stronger with the bottom rock cropped out, more pano. Great shot.

Oh--i see Rick already suggested the crop--well, dont listen to me, listen to Rick, he's a smart dude

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by David Edwards on December 30, 2011 at 6:16 PM

A sensational image, Ian. Looks like gold leaf hammered onto the rock... stunning light and very interesting how you researched and captured it. The soft purples of the crashing wave in the bg make a very nice complement.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on December 31, 2011 at 1:00 AM

That's some light on the rocks there!

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments