Horseshoe Sunrise

Gallery: LandscapePosted July 8, 2011103 views4 comments

First: Sorry for my lack of participation lately. Being busy is partly to blame, but its mostly that I haven't found a good balance between shoot and processing. Maybe because the long days allow shooting well into the evening.

Anyway, this was taken in Cape May, NJ at about 5:40 AM. I had scouted several beaches the day before, looking for compelling compositions, but found very little foreground to work with. I decided to try this beach because it had long flat waves, and I thought I might find some driftwood. Well, I didn't find any, but I eventually noticed this horseshoe crab in the surf and quickly switched to a vertical comp. It took several attempts to get the right wave (and me finally tripping the shutter at the desired moment). I used the built-in flash to bring out some detail in the crab. Anyway, it turned out better than expected. But I'd love hear what you think...

All C & C welcome!

Nikon D80
Mode: Aperature
ISO: 200
Lens: 18-55mm Kit lens @ 29mm
Exp: 1/60 sec at f/13 (-2/3 exp comp)
Tripod & remote release

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on July 8, 2011 at 10:39 PM

This is nice. Two focal points an nice diagonal with the water line. The light looks well managed, though could maybe go for a bit texture in the crab's shell.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 364 Posts, 22328 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on July 9, 2011 at 12:41 PM

Pretty cool, Jeff! Great subject/concept and you did well with it. Ideally the crab would have been oriented so it wasnt pointed off-frame and so the light was better on the shell, but obviously not much you could do about that (short of harassing the crab).
Works for me!

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on July 9, 2011 at 11:51 PM

The wave action is stellar and the light quite nice. A little more detail in the crab would have been nice but I think you did very well as is.

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on July 10, 2011 at 4:07 PM

Nice shot Jeff!

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments