He has also done well to avoid any unwanted lens flare! My only suggestion is that Justin could have employed a Reverse ND Grad on this shot, which would have allowed him to hold back the sunrise without darkening the sky at the top of frame, which I feel is a touch too heavy.

Justin has used a 0.6 Soft Grad to control the exposure and maintain the subtle nature of the scene despite shooting directly into the sun. The layer of mist has softened the landscape and added to the mysticism of the scene. It is beautifully proportioned, and the graceful limbs look even more extraordinary reflected in the pond. It’s the kind of scene we all stumble out of bed in the middle of the night for and I think Justin really got his rewards here!įramed by the darker trees on either side, the central tree makes for a fantastic subject. I was drawn to this image for its subtle sense of quiet and mystery. The 14mm focal length gives the eye plenty of detail to absorb. But adding a more of an action feel to this shot by tilting the photo so the leading lines come from the corners of the image with the mast and ropes and some vignette. The image has a really interesting composition, with the photographer choosing not to straighten the horizon (which would result in further tilting the boat). The composition and colours are excellent, coupled with the well-chosen shutter speed to achieve the motion blur on the wave, sense of speed, along with a small amount of bokeh from the sea-spray / sun on the filter (upper right-hand side).Ī fantastic example of pushing the boundaries with filters to illustrate not only motion but captivating content. Not to mention the sea-spray would smear an ND filter in an instant. In a sailing vessel like this, space is tight, so sitting somewhere and not being in the crew's way must have been a challenge.

This is a stand-out image that clearly took some bravery, exposing camera equipment to sea spray.

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