Afternoon Delight (Laiya)

[jopetsy]

My recent trip to Laiya, Batangas at Laluz Resort with my wife's family. We arrived right after typhoon Chedeng left the country. I didn't expect a sunrise nor a sunset but I tried to make the most of what I can. The waves were very rough and I had to cover and raise my camera several times to protect it. I was using my spare Canon 7D for all my shots.

Here are the first part of my series


ABDUCTION


ILLUSION OF MY MIND


SURRENDER

Comments are highly appreciated.

[rbarry]

Hi Jo, and welcome to the forum,

I'm becoming quite weary of over used techniques that are done because it is fashionable to do so, rather than because they enhance an image. The three most over used techniques for me are long day light exposures, HDR, and monotone.

I guess the exposure time for these are around 1 second, but there is no exif data included in the images so I don't know for sure. The temptation is to put on a 6, 8 or10 stop ND filter and let the shutter speed sort itself out, as is the case with so many of these type of images. The result is thousands of repeated "milky" sea images that tend to all look the same.

However, these images are stunning. I guess you knew the effect you wanted to achieve, rather than just going ahead and capturing yet another 30 second open shutter scene one sees so often on photo sites. The effect you have captured here make these images look like how an accomplished artist would have painted the scene. Just a few words on each image:

Abduction
I love the foreground rock covered in foam from the depleted broken wave. Equally, the breaking wave top right looks great as it cascades over the rocks.

Illusion of my mind
The sky makes the shot.

Surrender
Like the first image, the foreground foam of the broken waves over the rocks give a great sense of movement, enhanced by the sense of depth that the approaching unbroken wave gives. This is my favourite.


Well done, you've made use of a technique you fully understand with great results. Please don't tell me they were just luck! Not sure I fully understand the titles though!

Keep up the good work,

Rick.

[alfbranch]

I am with Rick on his assesment of these shots I like them too.

[Stars]

Love the colour of the water as well.

Better than the sandy murky water round here

7D - Spare camera Wish I had a spare camera like that....

Rog

[jopetsy]

Thanks Rick, Alf & Rog for those comments.

@Rick Thanks so much for a detailed comment on each photo, I really appreciate it. I wanted to shoot the rough seas without killing how strong the waves were, all my shots were made in a shutter less that a second to show the streaks of the waves' movement. It's a technique I always do on my seascapes after all I idolize Jim Patterson (please check his flickr), a lovely guy with a ton of talent for landscape photography. The titles were embedded on my first few words that come out of my mind based on what I see in an image. Thanks again.

@Rog I just tried using my 7D once again as it got dipped in the sea a year back. I always use my 5D2 for landscapes but just brought my spare since I really didn't have a plan of shooting. Thanks again.

[jopetsy]

Adding some more from the set.


AFTERGLOW


PLEASURE


INNER PEACE

[ianpinion]

I love the colour and the real sense of movement they convey, by not keeping the shutter open for too long, in each of these shots. Together they make an excellent series. Really tell a story of how the sea's energy reacts with the landscape.

[karenoliver]

Wow, great shots, makes me want to head off to the ocean! :-)

Karen

[rbarry]

Still like Surrender the best, and pleasure is my next favourite from the second set.

Not too keen on inner peace: the black and white processing has flattened the image and lost a sense of "presence".

Just my opinion, others may love the black and white image the best.

[MattUK]

I think the first shot uses the long exposure to dramatize the water rushing from the central rocks. It's a lovely shot as a result. The rest, however, appear to just be using long exposure for the sake of it?

The names of the photos are straight out of the "cool words handbook"!