As Far East as You Can Go

I returned today from Newfoundland after 4 days trying to see two gull species, Black-headed and Yellow-legged.

I must have scoped 10,000+ gulls over 4 days hoping to see one of the 2 Yellow-legged Gulls, only found in St. John's, without any luck.

The Black-headed was far easier, they had a favorite hangout and were very easy. Photos to follow.

Gulls don't start showing up before 9:00 am so early one morning my guide Jared Clarke ( http://birdtherock.com ), took me out to Cape Spear. It is the easternmost point in Canada and North America.

I took a 7 photo HDR of the lighthouse and point. I added in the last 3 boards on the right side of the fence and processed it using Photomatix.

Thanks for looking.

You've got a terrific color scheme going here, and the opposing diagonals are very effective. At first, I wondered about cropping out a good bit of the sky and the right side to make the lighthouse and buildings more prominent. However, lighthouses are often lonely places, and the added space you have around it shows that. If there was nothing that would've detracted from the shot on the left side, though, I wonder if showing more of the water would've been a good thing.

I'm curious about why you added the additional fence rails.

Photographs of lighthouses are always special to me. I spent my working life at sea and on approaching land it was nearly always a lighthouse that welcomed me back. I like the colours in this image and the moody sky and the fact that there is a light in the lantern. I always think that a fence acts as a barrier to entering the picture unless there is a gate which can be opened, in this case there isn't so I would probably have left it out. I think it may have made a better composition if you had turned the camera a little more to the left to place the Lighthouse more on the right third, this would have given you the opportunity to show more of the sea but I wasn't there so don't know if this would have been possible Still a nice image though. Well done

You have a good foreground element in the fence, a strong diagonal line in the horizon and the light house is well placed. You have also captured the feel of a cold grey day. The gold and brown color palette also works. Are you able to bring out a bit more detail in the buildings? Is the horizon level in the small patch of ocean on the left?

Thanks for Comments

Dennis: I am not really sure why I do things, its always personal taste, but earlier in my life I worked with one of the Karsh brothers here in Ottawa and he always stressed foreground, middle and top on all his landscape images. When I looked at this image it didn't seem complete without a full fence. Best excuse I can come up with on short notice......:tinysmile_shy_t:

David: I didn't have a wide enough angle lens to capture the ocean and the lighthouse would have been a speck. I would certainly go back to Newfoundland some day to photograph scenery and bring my 12mm-24mm lens. I will try your suggestions, I took 7 images for this HDR so I have plenty to work with.

Gary: After processing the image I noticed that the lighthouse was off kilter, and straightened it and forgot to level the sea, I'll fix that.....thanks.

Hi, Paul, all the technical aspects seem to have been covered nicely. One of my fond memories while taking Freeman Patterson/Andre Gallant's workshop in St. Martins was listening to the fog horn at night and this reminded me of it. (I'm OK with the fence:S3:)

I visited this exact same lighthouse this summer and never thought to go below the lighthouse to get this lovely wide angle perspective. The soft golden glow on the rocks is all the more dramatic for the gloomy feel from the heavy cloud layer. I'm fine with the fence and that it leads my eye to the path that curves up to the top. Congrats on the Black-headed gull! My record of chasing species is so bad that I have given up!

I love this one,.... great mood, and the colour of the lichen is terrific. I'm OK with the fence too. I like it as presented (except for the straightening of the ocean, which is an easy fix)

This photo gives me a good feel for that part of the world. Nice line in the slope of the hill, the fences, the path leading up to the lighthouse. I like how the grey is in the rocks, fence and sky. I like the fence, as it seems to frame the image and provide a sense of perspective. I would like to see the lighthouse be more prominent by being brighter or lighter or sharper or something.