“Port Aransas Pier # 5″
Canon Mark II 1DS f2.8 16-35mm zoom @19mm ISO 50 F16@ 6 seconds
Singh-Ray Color Combo Polarizer (to make reflections close to the camera much more dramatic and to help with the high contrast of shooting straight into to sun… and to get the side benefit of a slower shutter)
Theme Week 41: Port Aransas Pier – A Study of Light and Color
Wow Craig, I am really enjoying this series of images. It is great how you began this journey after being fogged in for the day.
When seeing this image, I first thinking about standing in this exact spot and enjoying the moment. My eye travels under the pier and it seems like a comfortable journey to follow, but then I see the ripples in the water to the left and they lead me out into the open space toward to warm colors of the sun. Taking the path under the pier seems alright, and the supports provide safety, but they are boundaries at the same time. I really want go left into the unlimited, open space and enjoy that even more.
Thanks for sharing Craig, these images are a real treat on many levels.
Tom
Two for the price of one!
The juxtaposition of man-made against natural, hard and soft, dark and light, is highlighted here in a completely different way.
It is *very* fun to watch you explore this subject in a series. Though I have my favorites, each image is a delight to view. Thank you for sharing this process.
Craig, Now I remember why it takes a photographer so long to travel :0) This version really has a lot more “landscape” feel to it than the others and I love the perfect waves lapping onto the beach. Terrific comp, light and colors! I think that little bit of light at the far end of the pier keeps the eye from stopping there and is critical to the comp. Nice work!!
Murry
Hi Tom, April, and Murry,
Its great to see all of you here and thank you for the kind words.
I could only stay under that damn Pier for so long…. I too enjoy moving up and out to the sky here!!!…Craig
P.S. Reminds me of my favorite line from one of my all time favorite bits of prose… “I would like to step out of my heart and go walking beneath the enormous sky”….from “Lament” by Ranier Maria Rilke
Craig,
Another fascinating take on some great subject matter. Now I am beginning to see how you shot hundreds of frames! You mentioned that the Color Combo Polarizer helps with both the reflections and the high contrast. I understand how it helps with making the reflections more dramatic. But I am not sure how it helps with the high contrast that is caused by shooting straight into the sun. Can you elaborate on that please?
Thanks,
John
What a great series Craig. I know that seeing these scenes in person must add so much more to them than seeing them on the monitor, but this last one looks so much like your style. It reminds me of stories of people having an out of body experience. There is the long tunnel with a light at the end of it and then, all of a sudden, a vast space with light of the sun drawing you further and further away from your body and soul. The only place left to go is to return to your mind and body and the peacefulness that can be found there, under the pier. Who would want to leave such a place that provides such a feeling?
Almost takes me under Craig. It provides a great emotion for me.
Wes
More of a landscape in nature, yes, I agree. But, you know, I’m tired of “standing” under the pier! Especially in this image which shows me intriguing details in the sun, sky and water, compared to the total blackness and lack of detail of the pier. So I do wish to move out from under and explore nature’s offerings.
I’ve enjoyed this series and can hardly wait to hear your comments and explanations on the podcast. Thanks so much for sharing your work with us
Love,
Flo
Hi Wes and Flo,
Seeing y’all here back to back makes me know what a fortunate person I am…. thank you for all of your support…Wes I love your description… I have been surprised myself at what an impact this series is still having on me for a lot of the reasons you reference in your post……Craig
Hi John,
A little talked about benefit of the polarizer is that it expands your film or sensors dynamic range by about two thirds of a stop. It does this by holding back specularity in the brightest highlights which allows for a little better shadow detail in the same file. You can test this yourself. Shoot one image fully polarized and one without and compare the histograms… you will see what I am talking about. To me polarizers are by far the most important filters in natural light landscape work. Somewhere around 90 percent of my landscape work is polarized in one fashion or another…. the VARI ND is two stacked polarizers so even it is a polarizer:)……Craig
I see the same somewhat surreal wave motion/ still reflection in several of these shots, now that I’ve gone back and looked for it.
Does the beach shelve quite deeply, so there is water/waves further out then a very shallow area of water with no movement ?
Hi Gordon,
Several people have asked about this… its just a matter of timing the exposure where the tide has receded to reveal the reflection while waves are breaking further away from the camera….Craig
Craig,
The pier series is fabulous, I love the color combinations of each image and how the different focal lengths change the weight the pier has in each image. The “T” dock that shows up in #1 & 4 moves me out into the image and back again. For me the color combinations are what connects me to the that higher power. Thanks for sending this to me, I’m about to start my shoreline project in Eleuthera and color has just moved up in the check list.
I also love my polarizer, you had mentioned that the wide angle lens sees beyond the polarization. I was wondering if any studies on how to fix that problem has started. Perhaps a graduated, curved or an adjustable frequency filter might reduce the effect. Maybe you could sick Singh-Ray on the problem.
Thanks for sharing,
Mike H
Once again, this series brings to mind…
A Jack Kerouac Collage
Surely your docks Craig, are visual memories of these musings?
—
This Bright Ocean of Infinitude sails many fish afar, that come and go like the sparkle on your lake, mind, but dive into the rectangular white blaze of this thought now… Believe, that ye have lived forever–overrule the fortresses and penances of dark isolate suffering life on earth, there’s more to life than earth, there’s Light Everywhere, look– A bubble pop, a foam snit in the immensities of the sea at midnight in the dark.
Useless, useless, the heavy rain Driving into the sea… pretending to be smiling and scowling to itself; like a ripple on the smooth ocean of knowing. The fate of humanity is to vanish, return pouring into its hands which are not hands. The navel shall receive, invert, and take back what’d issued forth; the ring of flesh shall close; the personalities of long dead heroes are blank dirt.
The true understanding of this would bring tears to your eyes. The other shore is right here, forgive and forget, protect and reassure. Your tormenters will be purified. Raise thy diamond hand. Have faith and wait. The course of your days is a river rumbling over your rocky back. You’re sitting at the bottom of the world with a head of iron.
—
Or not…