Tidepools of Lethe

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 15, 20061,967 views13 comments

My favorite spot on the Oregon coast is captured here as the crescent moon rises above a westered sun. Here I always find it easy to become captivated by the moment, forgetting the past, and oblivious to the future.

This was taken on a 20 dollar tripod with remote release and a big golf umbrella to shield the whole setup from the breeze.

I blended two exposures in PS and dodged the highlights on the foreground rocks. Does the blend look ok? I had a hard time making decisions on this blend around the distant rocks in the water.

20D
24mm @ F16
2 and 20 second exposures
ISO400

Comments

13 comments

Comment posted by Jos De Braekeleer on June 15, 2006 at 5:19 AM

Great mood well captured and good technical work IMHO !

Registered on November 1, 2003, 455 Posts, 1648 Comments

Comment posted by Brian VanDenzen on June 15, 2006 at 7:57 AM

I think the blend turned out quite well. A beautiful photograph!

Registered on April 17, 2005, 60 Posts, 1245 Comments

Comment posted by Guy Tal on June 15, 2006 at 10:17 AM

A fantastic image. I love the combination of blue and orange hues and the sense of mystery. The moon is a great element as well.

Guy

Registered on November 1, 2003, 566 Posts, 15507 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on June 15, 2006 at 11:29 AM

Beautiful color and I love the sheen on the water. The blend looks great to me, and the moon is a real added bonus. Very nicely done.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Doug Dolde on June 15, 2006 at 12:42 PM

This is really magical although I think it works better with some foreground cropped out.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 305 Posts, 3900 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on June 15, 2006 at 3:07 PM

Very nice, Mike. I enjoy everything about this one. The moon is the perfect touch. Remarkably serene and calming image perfectly composed. I do agree with Doug's crop suggestion, but just not too much.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by John Lehmkuhl on June 15, 2006 at 4:02 PM

Beautiful !! I could loose 1/8th of the bottom but it's nice as is also. Only comment/nit is that I see noise/banding on the Left side FG rock. Noise Ninja could remove that if it is what I think it is.....

Registered on May 22, 2005, 165 Posts, 2008 Comments

Comment posted by Ed Lowe on June 15, 2006 at 4:49 PM

Very serene image and beautifully composed, Mike. The cresent moon is the icing on the cake. My only suggestion would be a very small crop from the bottom to loose just a bit of empty space.

Ed

Registered on February 7, 2004, 414 Posts, 7115 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Baumbach on June 15, 2006 at 9:33 PM

Your blend turned out very nice. I love the softness in the foreground water.

- Dan.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 473 Posts, 7980 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Stovall on June 15, 2006 at 10:04 PM

Wow. I am glad you all enjoyed this photo and appreciate the comments. There is a little extra on the bottom--I have printed this in 4x5 format as well (cropping mostly from the bottom) and it works OK that way too.

John--there is some banding noise in the foreground shadows. It's just below the threshold of perception on my aging monitor. That's the only thing that bothers me about my 20D and 5D--If the noise were random, it wouldn't be bad, but it tends to clump in vertical stripes that our human vision systems readily see.

Getting the exposure right on does help avoid this problem, though!

Registered on July 22, 2005, 2 Posts, 8 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Hudon on June 15, 2006 at 10:54 PM

Oh, yeah, what Doug and Marc said!

Registered on November 1, 2003, 315 Posts, 2246 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Dawson on June 16, 2006 at 1:07 AM

Very nice work

Registered on February 4, 2006, 364 Posts, 8872 Comments

Comment posted by Dominic Rossetti on June 23, 2006 at 8:32 PM

Excellent use of exposure blending.

Registered on October 17, 2005, 54 Posts, 300 Comments