Tsitsikamma twilight - a photo on Flickriver

            I love this picture, but it does raise some interesting issues. First, a small.technical point: there are those who would hold that it would be a technically better image if the top of the rock did not break the horizon. In terms of shapes,they are probably right, and it would allow an unbroken line of pink reflection to be visible on the horizon, which would be a real plus. The reality is that it was taken through the open skylight of the chalet we were staying in and any more elevation would have involved climbing out onto the pitched roof. Should I have tried? Well ignoring legality and safety (as we often do), probably the light would have faded on the cloud before I could have got set up anyway.  Does this spoil the image? Not for me - but is that because it is a memory as well as an 'artwork' for me? Are we wrong to blind ourselves to technical imperfections because we 'did our best under the circumstances'?  I don't know, but I do think that we should always strive to get the very best image we can, and that always mean looking hyper-critically through the viewfinder and sometimes that means finding a way around things that could be better - like finding something to stand on or lowering the tripod half a centimetre...

The other point is this: I love the contrast between the hard blue rock and the soft pink cloud - and this is the way the film 'saw' it, as I knew it would. The only filter I used was an ND grad. to hold back the sky, and this is the way the image came off the scanner, no colour adjustments made. But if I'd used a digital camera, the white balance would have quite likely come up with a different result. Would I have been wrong to change it to resemble this, when the white balance would have possibly produced a result closer to what the eye sees? Are we more forgiving of the hue and contrast shifts of (especially transparency) film because that's the way it comes out of the camera than we are of digital, where some regard it as cheating to change the colour palette to a more pleasing one? I personally feel that the if the result reflects the way the photographer sees the scene, not the way the sensor of film necessarily does, he can't go too far wrong - but once he or she starts doing things in order to increase the impact on others then the waters start to murky. 

If you've got this far through my thoughts without getting hopelessly lost in the labyrinth, I'd be grateful for any thoughts of yours on the matter.

Taken in: South Africa / Eastern Cape (show map)

Taken on: November 20, 2012

Tags:

Graham Hobbs

Pentax

medium format

120

film

transparency

Fujichrome

Velvia

filter

LEE

0.6

neutral density

grad

graduated

soft

South

Africa

Eastern Cape

tsitsikamma

national

park

nature

reserve

sea

Indian ocean

seascape

rock

shore

coastline

sunset

twilight

nightfall

cloud

winter « less

Sets appears in: • rainbows, clouds and lightning • sunrise and sunset more » • dusk to dawn (sun below the horizon) • my favourites • Pentax 67/67ii (film) • south africa « less

Groups appears in: • ~ PENTAX Cameras ~ • South Africa more » • Seascapes and Seashores • Medium Format (120/220 film only) • sky & clouds • Dusk & Dawn - Sun below the horizon! • clouds • Fuji Velvia • Africa • Sunrise, Sunset • Landscape photography • Pentax • Pictures of South Africa • South African Landscapes • 120 • Pentax 67 (6x7, 67, 67II) • PENTAX - All Genuine Lenses • Eastern Cape • Landscapes!!! • Pentax 6x7 system users group • Clouds, Storms, Sunsets & Sunrises • Landscapes of the World • 6x7 -COLOR- • *Nature Pics* • Film & Slides Scanning • Pentax Film Cameras • PLANET EARTH OUR HOME • Natural Landscape & Wildlife Photos • Pentax picture taker • LEE Filters • ★★★ Pentax Life ★★★ • Pentax Primes • JUDOJUDO E LA FOTOGRAFIA • Pentax Medium Format 645 / 67 (Cropping Allowed) • Good photo,good details--Film preferred • Love South Africa • Pentax Awards (post 1, award 1......currently banning bad users) • On Landscape • * Sunsets & Sunrises * NOT B&W Photos • Sun | Sky | Cloud • Share a mood! • CIELOS Y NUBES, SKIES AND CLOUDS « less

Stats: 5,983 views / 6 comments