Problems on a sheer drop cliff top

[irishdave]

This place is driving me crazy as I can't protray the height of the cliff and sea stacks.
From this view point I am about 200ft above water level and the drop off is straight down making it very hard to get in camera. I'm think I'm struggling to get this height across.
I have tried many times to get an image I like, this is getting close.

Does the grass in the foreground make it feel like a plunging depth?

Is there something else I should try to show the scale of the cliff and sea stack? Getting to the base of the stack would require a boat.

[bruceliv]

I took the liberty of placing your image in CS4 and utilizing the Lens Distortion filter. It doesn't make much difference. You would need someone below to show scale, or a PC lens and use the shift vertically while holding camera level. Neither is guaranteed to work. EXIF data would be helpful. What camera format and focal length lens did you use?

[irishdave]

Thanks for taking the time to post Bruce.
It was 17mm on full frame, 30 seconds, f/18, ISO100
It's a hard spot to get a tighter image from without loosing the foreground.
Here's a tighter attempt from the same evening. 33mm, f/16, 13 seconds, ISO 100. The color isn't as good in this version in my opinion.

[bruceliv]

The following links have something in common:
Seascape Imagery: News: Nohoval Cove
Nohoval Cove b&w | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I don't mean because they're monochrome.
But, they have waves which help give the scene scale.

Or, get a comrade to:
YouTube - Hayes at Nohoval

Of, course, to get any of the above results, you'd have to give up the long exposure.
I can't think of any other way.

[danbaileyphoto]

Actually, I think that the scale of the rocks comes across pretty well here. I get the sense of the size of them in relation to the rest of the scene. What does it for me is the shore in the background right. If you want to really accentuate their size, you could launch a small boat out there into the water to give it a defined sense of scale.

I love the colors, the exposure and the way the grass does appear to plunge down into the depths.

Beautiful image, btw!

[irishdave]

Thanks for those links Bruce. Can't believe people jumped off that!

Good idea to put a boat out there, thanks Dan.