tgarrigus

Bahamian Swimmer

A swimmer entering the surf

A swimmer entering the surf
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Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT

settings

Aperture f/6.7 ISO 100 Shutter 1/750

upload_date

Sep, 2013

Views

171

Likes

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken while vacationing on Grand Bahama Island, on the south side of the island near Xanadu Beach.

Time

In the late afternoon (around 5 PM), in mid-October I was was walking the beaches (armed with my camera of course). It was about 2 hours until sunset, so the Sun was about 30 degrees above the horizon.

Lighting

On Grand Bahama island, there are many beaches that are not utilized at all. You could literally have one all to yourself. This shot was taken looking westward, towards the Sun I was really taken by the intense reflections off of the waves.

Equipment

This was shot with a Canon Rebel XT, with Canon EF 75-300 lens. No filters and hand held. Fl: 300mm, ISO 100, 1/750 sec., f/6.7, with Aperture priority. All just basic DSLR. Because of the brightness, even though at 300mm the lens is not very fast (f6.7), I could still use a low ISO and a fast speed to minimize hand shake. Also, since I was at f6.7, there wasn't any of the shortening / flattening of the depth of field that a higher f-stop would have rendered. So you do get a real sense of how much open water there was around this one person.

Inspiration

The tide was coming in when this loan, man was wading into the water. I wanted to capture the brilliance of the sunlight, on the swell of waves, and the man in the water gave perspective and a focal point to the picture. The high key, reflections and near silhouette of the man make this appear to be a monochrome picture, but it actually is in color. Being a Snow Belt person, being able to enjoy the intense sun, in October, on a beach was inspiration enough to make sure, that I captured the moments.

Editing

Comparing this rendition to the original Raw photo, there really isn't any post processing that was done. Although, I could have done a bit of cropping in the foreground, any other touch ups just didn't do anything to enhance the picture.

In my camera bag

In my M Rock bag is a Canon Rebel XT body, Canon EF 75-300 F4-5.6 lens, Canon EF 50 F1.8 lens, Canon EF 18-55 F3.5-5.6 lens, and recently added Tamron 18-270 F3.5-6.3 DiII lens. Also, for Macro/close ups, a Canon EF12 Extension tube. For filters, I have circular polarizers and IR filters for each size lens. For the Tamron, I also have a GB OPTICS variable ND (neutral density) filter. I also have my, Sunpack Platinum Plus, mini tripod, for those occasions where carrying a full size tripod does work out. Because I like nature photography and am sometimes hiking on unbeatened paths, I keep my camera on a Cotton Carrier strap holster, which allows me to have both hands free, and not have the camera swinging around on a normal neck strap. Other than that, a spare camera battery, extra memory cards, microfiber lens wipes, Cutter's insect repellant, and pepper spray (keep unwanted animals at bay).

Feedback

Although technically this is a back lighted photo. With all of the reflections off the waves even the forefront is very bright. I wasn't necessarily going out to take 'this' picture, but was more interested in enjoying the day, a stroll on the beach, and just keeping an eye out for interesting colors, lighting, patterns, etc. I would say, be observant of your surroundings, as there are a lot of photo worthy moments in the otherwise ordinary settings.

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tgarrigus

tgarrigus

Bahamian Swimmer

A swimmer entering the surf

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow tgarrigus

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