PHOTO CLINIC
PHOTO CRITIQUE
João says “This shot is of the palafitte (stilt) quay at
Carrasqueira, a fishing village on the Sado Estuary
in southern Portugal. The fishermen here still use
traditional methods, and the network of jetties has
been expanded over the years to enable them to
get to and from their boats at low tide. The quay
draws photographers from as far afield as the United
States and Japan, and I must have taken more than
100 photos of it myself. On this day there wasn’t so
much as a breeze. I mounted my 5D on a tripod and
used my Lee ProGlass 0.9 ND filter to obtain a slow
shutter speed, and an ND grad to hold back the sky.”We say “This is a stunning shot of a striking subject,
João. You obviously know the location well, and
you’ve timed and composed the shot perfectly, so
the lines of the jetty lead the eye to the sunset; the
colours are beautiful, and the rugged detail of the
pier contrasts nicely with the smooth water and sky.
It must have been an incredibly still day, because
despite the slow shutter speed the clouds aren’t
‘streaky’, and you can make out the writing on the
boat. Our only concern is that the jetty itself is quite
dark, and doesn’t stand out well enough against the
dark water and sky, so we have done some selective
tweaking. We’ve used Levels to lighten the jetty,
and boosted the local contrast to really bring out
the texture and detail in the timbers, masking both
effects unsing three gradients, so that the sky and
the water are unaffected.”Canon EOS 5D Mk II
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
Aperture f/11
Shutter speed 30 secsApocalypse Now
BY JOÃO FREIRE
01
The curves of the jetty lead the eye towards the
setting sun, which is nicely placed at the top-left
intersection of the third lines02
The dramatic sky is beautifully reflected in the
glass-like water, and the lines of the clouds subtly
mirror the lines of the jetty03
The jetty is quite dark; lightening it and boosting
its detail creates contrast, and makes the
composition even more effective010302