The Peter Iredale was a four-masted sailing barque that ran aground just south of the Columbia River on October 25, 1906. Since then, the ruins of this once great sailing ship have been one of the many popular sights on the northern Oregon coast. We made a day trip to the coast recently with my daughter visiting from Arizona. Last winter’s storms displaced much of the sand covering the wreck, and much more is visible than in recent years. We were treated to a memorable sunset while we were there.
You may only download this file to demonstrate how you would process the image. The file is Copyright of the photographer, and you must delete the raw file when you are done. Please post a jpg of what you created, explain what you did, and why you did it.
What a thrill to have this opportunity Patrick. I like the image but must confess I would have been all over this subject with a wide angle lens to increase the drama of the silhouetted wreck and maybe catch more reflected light in the shallow puddles around the subject. Call it awesome subject excitement syndrome, and it has cost me in the past when I get home and find I should have shot wider. Just a style difference I guess – but I do find that the balance of your subject and the bright band in the sky makes my eye jump back and forth. The distant sky behind the wreck is so great that I could even see this as a 16X9 with that top band gone.
@james7 Thank you for your feedback, James. One problem with this location is that it is very easy to get to and is also very well known. When the weather is good, as it was on this afternoon, you can count on lots of other people wandering around the wreck. As it was, there were other shooters standing next to me, and I had to clone out some kids that were playing in the sand just to the right of the wreck. So I was really constrained in my shooting angles, and I just concentrated on framing the wreck with the spectacular sunset. If only I could limit access like a movie or TV set!
Thanks Patrick — I can certainly relate to the downside of easy access. In California, great beach scenes can even be ruined when you’re the only guy left on the beach, because the foreground is covered with footprints.
Really enjoyed looking at the stunning landscapes on your web site.
Thanks for the compliment, James! We have that same problem on Oregon beaches too. In this image I had to deal with footprints and car tracks (yes, car tracks, as you can access this beach by car) in the foreground of this image.
I love the Peter Iredale for a photographic exercise. You did indeed have a remarkable sunset.
My version certainly isn’t any better than yours, but here it is.
I brought it into my raw processor, Capture One. From a purely comp perspective, I liked the family in the frame, so I went with a panorama that kept them. It seems to me that the family helps the image.
From there I did a lot of highlight/shadow/curves adjustment to deal with the wide dynamic range and blown highlights. I also kept the white balance mostly where the camera recorded it.
Because this was sunset, I decided to keep the foreground and subject pretty dark, just a minor bump to show some detail. I generally stay clear of the saturation slider, but sometimes a curves adjustment can add a bit of saturation. I think this worked for me…
Finally, I did some left/right/top/bottom gradient adjustments to even out the light across the scene.
Anyway, it might not be your cup of tea, but here it is:
Hi @David_Bostock , thanks for your interpretation of my image! Yes, the dynamic range was very wide on this raw file, and I like what you did with taming that. I tried the warmer WB but went for the complementary warm and cool colors instead. Finally, for me the image was about the wreck, so I eliminated the people as I thought they were a distracting element.
Hi @Tom_Nevesely , thanks for your interpretation of my image! It’s fascinating to see how the results can differ from one photographer to the next. It looks like you settled on a WB somewhere between my version and David’s. Also, you cloned out the people as well.
In this image I had to deal with footprints and car tracks (yes, car tracks, as you can access this beach by car) in the foreground of this image.
