Peggy's Cove

[Ronnoco]

It was a foggy day in Nova Scotia, south of Halifax. This is an active fishing village and quite picturesque. Hard to take photos without tourists in the way.

Photoshop was used only to reduce the visual effect of some of the thick fog. Unfortunately fog tends to soften focus which is only semi-correctable.

Ronnoco

By the way. Please feel free to edit photos to illustrate any point, you wish to demonstrate.

[Dylan8i]

i really really like the simplisticy and iconic nature of the seagull/lighthouse one. the little bit of red really draws my attention to the lighthouse, but if come back to the foreground seagull and so forth.

[poker]

It must have been an excellent trip for photography. Looking forward to seeing more. Thanks for sharing.

[Greg McCary]

I love the second one. Beautiful work......
The first seems a little to busy for some reason. Maybe to many buildings. But I love the boats. If it had less blue building and a little more rock wall. IMO.

[Seb]

It was a foggy day in Nova Scotia, south of Halifax. This is an active fishing village and quite picturesque. Hard to take photos without tourists in the way.

Photoshop was used only to reduce the visual effect of some of the thick fog. Unfortunately fog tends to soften focus which is only semi-correctable.

Ronnoco

By the way. Please feel free to edit photos to illustrate any point, you wish to demonstrate.

Ronnoco,

My first thought is that I am not sure that trying to reduce the fog was a good move as fog can greatly enhance mood but then, it always depend on the lighting and how the fog actually looks. Not having seen the originals, I won't go further on that point.

I find interest in all those tree but my favorite one clearly is the seagull, good dof and good contrast. The two others seems too straighforward so to speak but I might be biased as I have seen simillar scenes an entire week on a workshop earlier this summer. I like how you excluded any sky in the third one, that's an interesting decision.

Seb

[Ronnoco]

Thanks Dylan, Greg, manacsa and Seb!

The second one is the most interesting of the three and it was the hardest to shoot without tourists around the lighthouse. At least the seagull was fairly co-operative.

To be precise, Seb, fog seldom contributes to mood unless you can see something in sharp detail despite the fog. Maritime fog tends to obscure detail, fade colours, hide the horizon, and made everything a flat grey colour. It tends to be much thicker than where I live, and probably where you live as well. Morning mist being burnt off by the sun can however make a great photo, which is probably what you were thinking of.

I have more and different shots which I will share when I get a chance.

Ronnoco

[payn817]

That gull image is very nice, your DOF was a great choice.
It's nice to see some of your work.

[schrackman]

Ronnoco,

When I read the title and your description I am not convinced that your images quite captured the "picturesque" feel that you were describing.

The first photo it seems to be way too busy for me for a proper subject to stick out...you've got the red boat and then the white one behind it, the two boathouses behind the boats, and then the rocks behind the boathouses, followed by a washed out sky behind the rocks. I suppose if you shot from a different angle this photo might work for me, but not as is. Also, I think the photo might have benefitted a lot more had you shot earlier in the morning when the water was calm, serene, and not choppy (unless of course the weather didn't permit that). Even with a foggy morning you could have made this work. In fact, I would have loved to have seen that red boat, or a portion of it, stand alone with a crystal clear reflection in the water. That boat is just screaming for a nicely composed and exposed shot.

The second photo feels like it's playing tricks with my eyes, namely because of the angle from which you shot it. The lighthouse looks almost like a toy lighthouse sitting right next to the seagull, and the bird itself is a bit out of focus. I LOVE the lichen, though, but then again I am a sucker for stuff growing on or out of rocks and wood.

As for the third shot, again the angle at which you shot it doesn't give any "feeling" to this photo. It just looks like a straight snapshot of someone playing bagpipes on the rocks. Not only that, but again the subject (the face in particular) is a bit out of focus. A different angle would have certainly conveyed a different feel for this photo altogether I am sure.

Now I realize you were working with somewhat adverse conditions (bleak, overcast weather), but the challenge for us photographers is to use to our advantage whatever conditions we encounter rather than excuse ourselves for why we didn't get "the shot" (and yes, we all do it, including myself). These photos just don't convey to me that you tried very hard to put your skills to work, and I am willing to bet that you are very capable of doing much better.

[Ronnoco]

Ronnoco,

The first photo it seems to be way too busy for me for a proper subject to stick out...you've got the red boat and then the white one behind it, the two boathouses behind the boats, and then the rocks behind the boathouses, followed by a washed out sky behind the rocks. I suppose if you shot from a different angle this photo might work for me, but not as is. Also, I think the photo might have benefitted a lot more had you shot earlier in the morning when the water was calm, serene, and not choppy (unless of course the weather didn't permit that). Even with a foggy morning you could have made this work. In fact, I would have loved to have seen that red boat, or a portion of it, stand alone with a crystal clear reflection in the water. That boat is just screaming for a nicely composed and exposed shot..

The "washed out sky" was thick grey fog which was covering everything and even more obscuring colour and detail, earlier in the morning. My view was that the boats, boathouses, rocks and cove were all linked together in the shot even though the red boat deliberately stands out and draws your eye. The red boat without the other elements would seem to me to be rather blah! However, your view is worthy of note. Thank you.

The second photo feels like it's playing tricks with my eyes, namely because of the angle from which you shot it. The lighthouse looks almost like a toy lighthouse sitting right next to the seagull, and the bird itself is a bit out of focus. I LOVE the lichen, though, but then again I am a sucker for stuff growing on or out of rocks and wood...

The bird is indeed a bit soft. I am not sure however, how much that was due to thick fog and how much was due to focus. Perhaps a film camera would have been better for that shot. How would you handle depth of field shooting in thick fog?

As for the third shot, again the angle at which you shot it doesn't give any "feeling" to this photo. It just looks like a straight snapshot of someone playing bagpipes on the rocks. Not only that, but again the subject (the face in particular) is a bit out of focus. A different angle would have certainly conveyed a different feel for this photo altogether I am sure. ...

The angle including the long grass, the rocks, and the ocean links the Nova Scotia environment to the Scotish heritage, represented by the bag piper. It would give "feeling" to a Maritimer, I think. However I would have preferred a "better" bagpiper and more time to set up the shot. No excuses, simply recognizing limitations.

Now I realize you were working with somewhat adverse conditions (bleak, overcast weather), but the challenge for us photographers is to use to our advantage whatever conditions we encounter rather than excuse ourselves for why we didn't get "the shot" (and yes, we all do it, including myself). These photos just don't convey to me that you tried very hard to put your skills to work, and I am willing to bet that you are very capable of doing much better.

Well, hey, I will try and do better next time, or at the very least figure out how to beat the weather conditions while at the same time, avoiding the tourists.

Any suggestions?

Ronnoco

[schrackman]

Yikes! I didn't see your reply to this, so I apologize for the late response.

The bird is indeed a bit soft. I am not sure however, how much that was due to thick fog and how much was due to focus. Perhaps a film camera would have been better for that shot. How would you handle depth of field shooting in thick fog?

Kinda like this (Digital Rebel, Sigma 28-80mm):



Having lived not too far from Malibu for some years, I got in a lot of practice shooting at the beach on foggy or very overcast days. In this portrait (which I had printed as an 8x10 for the girl's mother), I let the subject fill most of the frame while still retaining some recognizeable elements from the ocean behind for the background...the mossy rocks at low tide, a little bit of wave action, and just enough overcast sky to comply with the rule of thirds, the latter of which now tends to add to the photo rather than detract from it by being too obtrusive.

I think in your second image you just needed to choose a subject, either the seagull or lighthouse, and then work in all the other surrounding elements of the ocean as your background. That would have given your subject a real sense of environment.

The angle including the long grass, the rocks, and the ocean links the Nova Scotia environment to the Scotish heritage, represented by the bag piper. It would give "feeling" to a Maritimer, I think. However I would have preferred a "better" bagpiper and more time to set up the shot. No excuses, simply recognizing limitations.

But the "angle" doesn't work here. It is too straightforward and I do not get "Nova Scotia" environment from the photo. For all I know the water in the background could be the Pacific Ocean, or just any old lake for that matter. If I were shooting this, I would probably have moved to the left in order to include the shoreline in the background as well as any other features that are recognizeable to this area.

Well, hey, I will try and do better next time, or at the very least figure out how to beat the weather conditions while at the same time, avoiding the tourists.

Any suggestions?

Yes, make the fog your friend, not your foe. One can get some very nicely muted colors when shooting in the fog as well as some stunning visuals if done right. Your job as a photographer is to make all the elements work for you, not against you.

BTW, here's a link to a few photos of Peggy's cove I found fairly nicely done: http://www.westford.com/fingerhut/NovaScotia.htm

There is even a photo here of the idea I was running across to you before about the first photo, i.e. getting a partial shot of the boats with their reflection in the water. Perhaps you can glean a few ideas from here for next time you visit Peggy's Cove.

As for the tourists, your on your own bud.