Fishing boat

[SwissJon]

Ok.. It's been a while since I posted.. I've been stuck in Spain and busy chatting in the general chit chat.. Back to work though.

I took this photo the other night, and I really like the colours and the shapes, but I'm unsure of the composition.. I was very limited to the angle and the zoom I could use because of the environment not in the photo. This boat was on oil drums on the dock riht next to a restaurant. (Adding atmosphere no doubt) There were lots of bright lights around, and other wide angle crops had problems with exposure. Any other angle would mean I didn't get the moon in the photo.

So my question is really, given this, do you think the crop is ok, if not, can you see a better crop in the photo. What do you think of the exposure?

Any other comments, as always, are welcomed..

Exif:

Creation date: 16/05/2011 22:24
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 16-85mm F3.5-5.6G ED
Focal length: 56*mm*(equiv. 84*mm)
Aperture: F10
Exposure time: 30"
ISO speed rating: 200/24°
Program: Manual
Metering Mode: Spot
Focus Mode: Manual
Image Stabilizer: Off
Noise Reduction: FPNR
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode

[dlambert]

Typically, you'd expect to see a composition centered on the boat itself, and in addition to the problems you mentioned, it would probably be boring.

I like this -- the reels (?) are unusual, interesting, and colorful (in this lighting, anyway). I'd like to have seen the rest of the hoop over the right-most reel, but that's a pretty minor point. I wouldn't crop any more off the cabin of the boat -- I think you'd start running into a lot of "what is that" reactions without it. As it is, it's quite clear that this is a boat while still allowing the reels to function as the subject of the shot.

Was it fairly overcast to let you get that sort of effect for the moon on a 30" exposure? The combination of sharp foreground and smeared background is really interesting.

[Krusty79]

Ha, I saw this in your Photostream yesterday and now it's here! I like the colors also. I think the composition is the reverse of a typical landscape shot with a small foreground interest object and a larger subject in the distance. I think that's why the composition seems a bit odd. I could see changing the composition if you wanted to place less emphasis on the reels and more on the boat.

[SwissJon]

Thanks guys

I do have the full hoop in the original, but felt it took away from the overall composition as I quite like the clarity of the foreground and it added too much featureless sky. The reels are what the fishing nets are drawn in over as they drive the boat toward them, the nets are something like 100m (300ft) long and far too heavy when ful to pull toward the boat..

The lighting was really difficult which landed me with only one place I could shoot from, even then the side of the cabin was blown out.. Not sure how I managed 30secs, I was just aiming for a correctly exposed shot.. Even had to go to 200 iso.

Thanks Krusty.. I thought about the broader shot but the flood lights caused lens flare, I may have one left in my camera that might work, but I doubt it.. I thought this made a change from my usual style

[milosh]

This is definitely an interesting photo. I like the contrast of sharp foreground and blurred sky. Colours are great as well. I also think composition is a bit heavy on the reels. What I would like to see (regarding the crop) is whole frame moved slightly to the left to include the cabin's left edge (just the edge/corner), as it's a bit cut off now. That would also reduce the empty space to the right of the reels.

Hey, you know what, one could easily figure out this boat is on a dry dock, as there would be no chance it would be so sharp with a 30 sec. exposure.