Friday, August 28, 2009

Out from the misty sea

Out from the misty sea

A shot like this one would have driven me nuts back in the days when I shot film. Fussing over the exposure, taking shots at a full range of shutter speeds hoping to capture the effect I was after, waiting for the film to be developed, then either celebrating or agonizing over the results.

Digital photography made this a breeze. Place a stack of neutral density filters over the lens to slow down the exposure and turn crashing waves to a dreamy mist. Set camera to aperture priority and dial down to f/32 for maximum depth of field. Meter on the rocks in the distance, click. Check and evaluate. Adjust. Click. Repeat as needed.

This is the beach at Wind Point, a few miles north of Racine, Wisconsin. Two-foot waves were breaking just offshore. An exposure time of ten to thirty seconds turned the breakers into misty clouds on the rocks in the middle of the photo. A hunk of driftwood was brought into the picture to complete the composition. I mean, I just happened upon this unique alignment of driftwood and rocks and thought I'd photograph it. Yeah, that's it ... that's the ticket.

Wink, wink.

Happy Friday.

Photograph © 2009 James Jordan.

3 comments:

Wanda said...

James, have you ever taken a bad picture???

This is so wonderful. It truly has a "feel" to it.

You could do Sky Watch Friday 365 days a year with your amazing photography!!

I guess you get the idea I like your work ((smile)).

LOL:Wanda

James said...

Wanda, I take plenty of bad pictures. That's what the delete button is for. :-)

All the rest get posted online.

Thanks for your kind words.

Jem said...

Stunning shot James.. Love it!