St Marks NWR

[Don Lacy]

I have always wanted to go to St Marks NWR in the Florida Panhandle to shoot the wonderful Lighthouse they have there so this past weekend i made the trip and had the pleasure of also shooting this broken down pier.

1DMKIII, 17-40 at 37mm, f/22 at 5 seconds, Aperture Priority, Evaluative Metered at +2, Raw, ISO 100, nik Color Efex Pro filters in post (downloaded a trial and so far very promising)

[Don Railton]

Hi Don

I love this, but I am struggling to tell you why...I think its the subtle B&W gradients and the balance between light and dark...I even like the water, normally I don't like the excessively smoothed water you get with long exposures (looks like fog to me), but in B&W, it is beautiful. Well done.

DON

[Sandy McMillan]

I love this too. I think that you had just the right shutter speed to leave a little detail in the water, yet you can still see water movement. Lovely B&W.

[Robert Amoruso]

Don,

I like this composition, looking straight down the pilings to the opening on the end. Other good comps may have existed moving left or right and having the pier diagonally entering the water. I like the soft-but-still-some-detail-on-the-water look. Just the right shutter speed. Personally I would also go for the really long shutter speed to move the water to no detail but I realize that is a preference if you like that look.

I would suggest trying Shadow/Highlight adjustment to open up the shadows on the lower portion of the pilings.

It has been a while since I have been there, is this structure in the refuge. Where might it be as I am going to be up that way in April and might like to stop by.

BTW: B&W was the perfect choice here. Nice work in the conversion. A please seeing this image.

[Don Lacy]

It has been a while since I have been there, is this structure in the refuge. Where might it be as I am going to be up that way in April and might like to stop by.

The pier is on the beach just left of the parking lot for the Lighthouse you cant miss it and i do have a variety of angles and A few shot with smoother water.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Good job here Don. Tonal range looks very good, perhaps just open up those dark bases as per Robert's suggestion.
I too enjoy the view straight down the pier...

[Robert Amoruso]

Thanks Don for the location.

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Don, late to the party, but agree with above comments and suggestions. Nice work!