10 seconds either way....

[Chris J]

...... and I wouldn't have got this one.
Was on the Gower, South Wales, over the weekend, coming around Limeslade Bay when my beautiful wife pointed out a group of school-kids clutching clipboards and wearing rucksacks descending to the edge of the cliffs below Mumbles Coastguard Station, presumably to study something as part of a filed course.
Was one of those days when the sky was grey over us but bright over Devon (often happens - and the other way round) so the kids were silhouetted against the reflections from the sea. 10 seconds either way and our relative positions would have changed and I would have missed this shot.



Devon in the distance over on the right and some kind of recording mast (to do with measuring tides or winds for future green energy initiatives?) in the distance up the Bristol Channel.

50D + 24-105 L at 105mm, 1/800, f9, ISO 200.

Cheers, Chris.

[Dave]

Re: 10 seconds either way....

Very nicely taken Chris. It's one of those shots that, without any explanation, the viewer has to gaze at it for a while to make up their own mind what all the people are up to. Captivating.

[carregwen]

Re: 10 seconds either way....

Chris

Very good silhouette. A very unusual view. How did you set the camera for this? It looks a tad bright on the sea, and the dark silhouette area at the bottom could have more black, but that's easily fixed. It could also stand a bit cropping off the bottom. Very good.

[Canon-Fodder!]

Re: 10 seconds either way....

It has to be said; that us Brits do form an orderly queue!

I agree - a great capture.

As Rob says, I think a crop off the bottom - c. 15-20% and a quick levels adjustment to darken the whole image and it'll have a much greater impact!

[Chris J]

Re: 10 seconds either way....

Thanks, all. Have cropped a little and DPP'd the cliff into darkness -



Rob - as far as camera set-up goes it was as I grabbed it out of the bag. Set on P, ISO 200, giving exposure data as listed under the shot. I know that your are familiar with the area - I was coming down the steps by the side of Fortes ice-cream parlour in Limeslade Bay having walked along the top of the ridge from Langland, and had no time to do anything other than grab and shoot. On the edit above I have left the sea as it was, i.e. quite bright. Again, you'll know that the Channel often splits the weather, and this was a day when the Wales side was under grey, glowering cloud whilst the Devon side was much brighter, hence the lightness of the reflections off the sea.
Cheers, Chris.

[carregwen]

Re: 10 seconds either way....

Edit looks much better, although I'd still crop some more off - I always think silhouettes should have a lot of black in, but not grouped together. It's a good structure that makes the all-black areas so effective. When I do silhouettes I meter for the brightest part of the sky, then switch to TV mode and dial in the speed. That way you don't get any blow-outs and if it's bright enough your dark silhouette areas take care of themselves. Although I can see that you probably didn't have time to do that here. Very unusual shot.