Morning Thunder [+edit]

This photo is stunning...I can feel the power of the ocean that attacks the land.
The shape of the rocks is balanced by the shape of the waves in a sort of ancestral fight.
I almost hear the roar of the fight between elements.
My compliments to you.

Beautiful work John. Great drama and mood.

pat

Sweet! I'll have to second Riccardo's thoughts on this drama laden beauty, John. You timed that thundering wave perfectly.

Ed

Awesome John. I love the somewhat high key treatment you gave this. Gotta get down there!

John, not to much I can add. Simply beautiful and love the mood.
John

Wow, what drama! I also love the fact that there is no excessive contrast. Beautiful.

Definitely some great drama here, John. Neat how the fog gives this a touch of dreaminess in contrast to the violence of the surf.

A study in contrasting elements with power both contained and unleashed. Also a well timed capture showing the mimicry of forms. Very well done, John. I really like this!! Chet

Now that you've had a chance to gander at this one, I'd love your thoughts comparing a lower-key version. I went with the lower contrast because that's the way the scene was (I'll post the jpg version from the camera below); it was quite foggy. On the other hand, there's a lot of drama in that wave, and this higher-contrast version may have more impact? I'd love to hear how the two compare to your eye. Thanks for any and all feedback; I'm still a bit of a newbie at this BW stuff.

Here's the original jpg. It's very bright because I was exposing to the right.

John, you're right about the repost having much more drama, makes that wave look like a bomb went off. I'm thinking that I'd prefer something in between, with the high contrast breaker and moving water but not so dark in the rocks. Both versions have strong visual impact, in very different ways.

John,

I like both of these a lot but would have to go with the darker version because of the dark mood it conveys to me. Really nice black and whites.

pat

Great images, both of them. The first version feels a lot more "realistic" or "natural" to me while the more dramatic second one might has its own appeal. There's some bright white in the wave there that distracts me. So put me down for the high-key one.

Wow! This looks fantastic!! Just a real pleasure to look at and it has a great feel. I like the high-key look best.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

John: My wife and I visited there last fall but the conditions were blue sky bright and placid seas. This is spectacular and a scene I hope to see in person. Till then this will work for me. Superb shot. >=))>

The drama in the repost does it for me John. That explosion of water looks great and the comp is beautifully put together. Really like this a lot.

John,

I can't comment on on the high key or low key too much because of my monitor, but both are fantastic in the sense of power that is felt from this fine capture. Wow was the first thought that popped into my head with viewing this image. Just awesome

Very powerful image, John, nice work on the conversion.

Stunning. This is one of the strongest images I have seen of this subject.