The Watcher

Gallery: LandscapePosted August 17, 2011351 views22 comments

A large storm rolled through Duluth, MN this afternoon. After it stopped raining, I saw the sky was breaking in the west and there were small wispy gray clouds floating in front of an indigo sky to the east. I decided to drive out to see if anything would happen. I arrived at Brighton Beach an hour before sunset on lake Superior's north shore. As I pulled up, the sky started breaking up to the east and the sky lit up. This was the some of the best light I have seen in person since picking up a camera. A rainbow was forming on the horizon as a rock enjoyed the show.

Canon 5D Mark II - 0.8 seconds - f/16.0 - 27mm - iso50 - 3 Stop Hard Grad ND

Comments

22 comments

Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 17, 2011 at 1:51 PM

Wow, very dynamic and it has a nice painterly effect to it. I like this a lot for its artistic qualities. I do wish the rainbow were a bit larger, but that was entirely beyond your control of course.

Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on August 17, 2011 at 2:49 PM

Beautiful shot Shawn. Full of life and energy. Nice composition and choice of shutter speed too.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by David Cobb on August 17, 2011 at 3:14 PM

Love the texture and smokiness of this image Shawn, the waves and sky seem to melt into each other.

Registered on December 14, 2007, 312 Posts, 3243 Comments

Comment posted by Dorin Bofan on August 17, 2011 at 3:19 PM

Amazing conditions, Shawn! The band of distant clouds right above the horizon seems like a tsunami ready to sweep everything of. The rainbow and the darker horizontal clouds really complete this. Stunning!

Registered on April 30, 2007, 122 Posts, 3086 Comments

Comment posted by Jeffrey Sipress on August 17, 2011 at 3:52 PM

Great image all around, Shawn. I'm sure the experience was even better.

Registered on February 17, 2004, 236 Posts, 1197 Comments

Comment posted by Rudy Ruberti on August 17, 2011 at 5:08 PM

The sky and water work well together and the blues are really nice, too. Well done.

Registered on October 28, 2008, 179 Posts, 1875 Comments

Comment posted by Eva McDermott on August 17, 2011 at 6:58 PM

Very painterly indeed Shawn. Love the turmoil.

Registered on January 4, 2009, 1015 Posts, 13229 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on August 17, 2011 at 6:59 PM

This image almost has a surreal feeling to it. Every thing really works together. The shape of the rock points you into the image and points you to the rainbow. Great image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Shawn Thompson on August 17, 2011 at 6:59 PM

Thanks everyone!
It was quite the scene to take in, I was in awe.

Registered on July 20, 2011, 22 Posts, 102 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on August 17, 2011 at 9:48 PM

This is very nice Shawn. Some awesome conditions and well captured!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on August 17, 2011 at 9:59 PM

Awesome image! I love your choice of the low shudder speed for the water! I like how the sky is blue and then all the sudden it turns to yellow. Having the rainbow in there is a big bonus!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Tony Kuyper on August 17, 2011 at 10:12 PM

That is some really amazing light, Shawn, and the textures here are totally engaging. The clouds almost seem like an optical illusion.

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

Comment posted by David Edwards on August 18, 2011 at 4:18 AM

Very nice, Shawn. Love the ocean and rock... lovely muted color and water textures. The sky seems a bit odd looking to me (in a good way), like it's been flattened out, but it all comes together very well and I can appreciate it must have been a wonderful spectacle to experience. I do like the painted feel to the image.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 142 Posts, 2623 Comments

Comment posted by Alister Benn on August 18, 2011 at 5:00 AM

Truly spectacular light, a real joy to view... The lake horizon does not appear to be level and there may be some barrel distortion...

Registered on June 9, 2011, 23 Posts, 258 Comments

Comment posted by Shawn Thompson on August 18, 2011 at 8:15 AM

Thanks Guys.

@Alister - You are seeing the South shore of Wisconsin's land mass on the horizon. I will look into the distortion again. I thought I had it straightened out.

Registered on July 20, 2011, 22 Posts, 102 Comments

Comment posted by Joseph Campisi on August 18, 2011 at 1:12 PM

Amazing glowing light Shawn! Must have been something to witness!

Registered on November 24, 2008, 304 Posts, 3211 Comments

Comment posted by Phillip Noll on August 18, 2011 at 9:05 PM

The first thing I thought of when I saw this was the Edmund Fitzgerald! Wonderful image! Love the wave action and clouds and the rainbow is icing on the cake!

Registered on November 17, 2003, 207 Posts, 1083 Comments

Comment posted by Aaron Feinberg on August 19, 2011 at 12:04 AM

UNREAL light/clouds.....way to kill it :)

aF

Registered on October 26, 2009, 399 Posts, 2789 Comments

Comment posted by Shawn Thompson on August 19, 2011 at 8:25 AM

Thanks everyone! I can't wait to print this.

Registered on July 20, 2011, 22 Posts, 102 Comments

Comment posted by Abdulmajeed Aljuha on August 19, 2011 at 7:23 PM

wow, just wow

Registered on December 4, 2010, 77 Posts, 149 Comments

Comment posted by Art Escobado on August 19, 2011 at 8:35 PM

This is a very interesting image...the textures, rising rock, and rainbow keep the eye on the image.

Registered on January 7, 2007, 0 Posts, 775 Comments

Comment posted by Shawn Thompson on August 22, 2011 at 8:44 AM

Thanks for the feedback

Registered on July 20, 2011, 22 Posts, 102 Comments