Five in a Row ... Nigels Jurassic Coast

I'm giving the week a kick-start now due to commitments tomorrow morning. Thanks again to Stan for the nomination to take up the challenge this week

Many of you will know all my recent photography has been shot down in sunny Dorset, the Isle of Purbeck to be more precise, and a lot of it has been long zoom views of long distances from the hilltops. For my 5 Five in a Row I'm going for a contrasting angle on things, down off the hills and literally at sea level.

When you stay in this stunning part of Britain it is impossible to avoid a vista that at some point contains a feature of the beautiful and unique marine environment known as the Jurassic Coast. From the mouth of Poole Harbour, along the sandy stretches of Shell Bay, the fossilised beaches of Studland and the rocky chalk headlands near Swanage, even this small section of the coast rewards with amazing variety, rich aquatic colour and dramatic shapes.

I have chosen some contrasting images, both in type of viewpoint and what they depict, to try and convey some of the enormous variety and rewarding photographic potential available in this small but amazingly diverse part of the southern coast.

Thanks all for the chance to show you a little of the Jurassic Coast! .....



No 1) Old Harry Rocks, near Swanage Bay, from the Sea

K7 & Pentax 75-150mm f4, shot at f6.7, ISO 400.

This image was taken from a moving double-decked sightseeing boat on a trip from Poole Harbour to Swanage.

Great shot of the rocks, in spite of the contrasting light you've managed to capture plenty of detail.

However.....that sky looks a little 'HDR' to me as if it's been over processed....of course it could be my laptop monitor

Lovely colour in the sea, and the light is giving some nice modelling on the cliff face. Are we supposed to give constructive criticism here? If I was to be really picky I'd say it would have been nice if you'd waited for one or other of the boats to fall on the right hand third, to 'anchor' the composition. (S'cuse the pun!)

Great plan Will, but if you see from my opening spiel, I wasn't the captain of my ship, matey

Thanks Michael, I cranked the ISO up a little to keep a reasonable speed, but the shake reduction was doing a great job on the boat there, and I managed a fair few sharp ones as we passed this famous point.

No HDR here, but maybe you've been following David Storm and I do battle over sky contrast theories ... Well, I guess I'm putting mine into practise here keeping the range between shadows and highs fairly narrow. I like the result, but I accept there could be scope for lifting the sky more, and even perhaps some extra dark moodiness!

I rather like the sky in this...it looks quite natural and contrasts well with the white cliffs and the colour of the sea. The tiny boats give scale to the massive cliffs.
David

PPG: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/artists/davidtrout

'Flying start' is probably the wrong phrase, given your nautical perch, but I think it's a terrific shot. I love the colour rendition and don't recall my K-7 ever recording crisp detail on a scale to match those cliff-face textures. I also had to take a second look before I noticed the boats, such is the extent to which the backdrop dominates.

Very nice work.

a good start Nigel but i find the sea colour too strong for my taste also it is dropping to the left

Nigel

Very good start with great details on the cliffs and lovely colours.

Personally, I'd go for slightly more contrast in the sky - but that's very much a personal preference.

I'd also give a very slight rotation clockwise to level the sea up a little.

Phil

Particularly when you'r rocking about on a boat

I think it looks right. I suspect the "not level effect" is due to the cliffs not being viewed at right angles. Leveling the sea would put the cliffs at a funny angle

just pulled the rh corner down and can see little or no difference in the cliffs

Thank you Simon, very glad you like it. Yes, I too am impressed with the detail I can extract from the K7, I find it still an amazingly versatile camera. A lot of these things of course have to do with approaches to sharpening and other detailing proceses, and these have to be considered and choices made in order to get the most out of any particular sensor. In most of my landscapes I use the Topaz Detail PS plugin to apply clarity and micro-contrast to textured surfaces, and I use a layer in order to restrict the effect and remove it from smooth areas, such as skies.

Thanks too to David, Phil, Barrie & Joe for you input and ideas ... I've taken them on board, including Michael's thoughts on the sky, and applied them to a new version - this new version has a sky with increased brightness and contrast, and a raised black point (ie darker shadows) ... plus I've given it a 0.4deg nudge clockwise. There is some noise now on the blue parts of the sky, but with more time I can get rid of this.

OK, here is the 2nd version with the adjustments as mentioned above ...





What's the verdict then ....

Moving right on now to my second photograph of the series ....

2) Knoll Beach, Studland, northeast facing

This is one of a series of beaches that make up the National Trust area of Studland. Knoll is the nearest to the headland with the Old Harry Rocks, a sheltered bay surrounded by lush ancient forest. Like the rocks it gets the early sun directly.

K7 & Samyang 14mm f2.8, at f13 ISO 100

Again, great textures, colours and composition - a pleasingly vibrant cocktail. My first reaction on seeing this, though, was to check on-line to see how much a Samyang 14mm costs...

As for the reworked cliffs, I thought the original photo looked slightly more natural but neither version would look out of place on a lounge wall.