The Time Traveler
Photograph this shipwreck and all the beautiful landscapes in Greece, visit www.shuttertrips.com and book a Shutter Trip or a premium Workshop with us now!...
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Photograph this shipwreck and all the beautiful landscapes in Greece, visit www.shuttertrips.com and book a Shutter Trip or a premium Workshop with us now!
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Aug, 2015Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
Zenith Award
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in Our World At Night Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Rule Of Thirds Extravaganza Photo Contest
Runner Up in Boats And Ships Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Boats And Ships Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in Worldscapes Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Image Of The Month Photo Contest Vol 1
Peer Award
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Superior Skill
All Star
Magnificent Capture
Genius
Virtuoso
Emotions
Impressed
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Top 10 rank
Categories
leonardospinelli
October 11, 2015
Gran composición!! Quizás demasiado viola para mis gustos pero igual gran photo!!
nandicmb
November 07, 2015
Congratulations on your Contest Finalist win in Image of the Month Photo Contest Vol. 1!
billpeppas
November 25, 2016
Some went unnoticed during post-processing when I did this photo ( this isn't the final version ) and some are normally there since the mast had holes ( from decaying )
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo consists of two different exposures ( photos ) taken at two very different locations. The shipwreck of "St. Demetrios" was shot at the beach just outside "Githio" in Peloponnese, Greece. The starry sky with the Milky Way galaxy was shot just outside Athens, Greece, in "Sounio" at a dark site near the "Temple of Poseidon" for those who have been to Greece, you'll surely recall that ancient temple on a cliff above the Aegean sea. These two were combined using an exposure blending technique called "Luminosity Masks" to create this image, with the starry sky exposure replacing the dull cloudless summer sky from the shipwreck's original photo.Time
I went to the beach early in the afternoon to find the best angles and focal lengths to capture the shipwreck and make sure I secure a good position without people going in and out of my frame when the "golden moment" occurred. I sat there shooting different exposures ( short, long, over-exposed for the luminosity masking process, etc ), went swimming a little bit to fight the heat ( it was mid-summer in Greece and the temps were constantly sitting between 38-41C ( 100F to 106F for my American friends ). This specific shot was taken a little bit after 9:30pm, just a few minutes after the sunset, during the so called "blue hour". The starry sky with the milky way galaxy was shot late after midnight, approximate at 3am, after the moon had set and the skies got dark. It took me quite a while, since what you see is a mixture of several exposures stacked with DeepSkyStacker to capture most of the details of the milky way galaxy without excessive noise and star trailing ( blurred stars that appear as streaks across the sky due to the movement of the earth ).Lighting
Well, quite the opposite, there was no lighting involved at all. The shipwreck was shot during blue hour, and was lit with the ambient light with the help of a very long exposure, and the starry sky was also lit by... itself.Equipment
For nighttime shots and astrophotography I always resort to my trusty and very capable of decent image quality with High ISOs, Nikon D600 DSLR. The shipwreck was shot with the Nikon Nikkor AF-S 18-35 f/3.5-4.5G ED lens and the starry sky was shot with the fantastic, one of a kind ( now matched by the newly released Tamron 15-30mm ) Nikon Nikkor AF-S 14-24 f/2.8G ED. The tripod I carry with me most of the time and used for both shots of course is the Manfrotto 055XPROB aluminum version that is very sturdy ( and heavy of course! ) along with the Manfrotto Professional 3-way tripod head and my camera bag with most of my equipment hooked on it as counterweight to further stabilize it. To take the long exposure shots without any movement/vibration blur I used a cabled shutter release ( Nikon MC-DC2 ) and to prevent any light leaking in the camera body from the eyepiece, I used the Nikon DK-5 eyepiece cap from Nikon to cover the viewfinder port and prevent light from going in.Inspiration
After shooting my first shipwreck in Elefsina ( just outside the capital state of Greece called "Attica" [ Attiki ] ), I was inspired and "inclined" to shoot more shipwrecks, they simply were too "ghostly" and "moody" and inspired me to do all kinds of compositions and creative exposures with them ( long exposures with and without heavy cloud movement, calm water reflection shots, black & white compositions with the milky way galaxy or fog, abstract shots, etc ). When I located and saw photos of this shipwreck, I told myself "you've got to go there and shoot it!". And that's what I did!Editing
The post-processing for this shot took quite a while to be honest. I had to process two different exposures, that of the shipwreck, and the starry sky with the milky way galaxy. The milky way galaxy exposure required more "automatic" work, first I had to pre-process the frames and convert them to TIFF files, then load them and process them ( stack ) with DeepSkyStacker, and then again, load the final result and post-process it in Adobe Photoshop CC to "stretch" the resulting image and put emphasis on the milky way while keeping the stars luminosity in control. For the shipwreck, I did the usual adjustments in Adobe Camera RAW, lifted the highlights, dropped the shadows, added some contrast, played with the saturation and luminosity values of the colors, and then I loaded the image to play with the in-app tools like the Dodge & Burn tools, the clone stamp tool and the spot healing brush to clone out any unwanted stuff and also clean up a few dust sensor spots. I then created a mask using the "Luminosity Masks" technique to remove the original sky from the photo and replace it with the one I shot at Sounio with the magnificent Milky Way galaxy as the main "subject".In my camera bag
I'm a nutcrack ( so to speak ), I always carry most of my equipment with me every time I go out to shoot landscapes ( always long distance trips, in the area that I live there's nothing interesting to shoot except maybe the Parthenon ). I carry most of my lenses with me, even a very long telephoto, the Nikkor 70-200 or the 70-300 if I feel like there will be a chance of catching some wildlife in between the regular landscape shooting. Most of the time I use the wide angle and ultra-wide angle lenses for landscape photography, but you never know when a longer lens might be useful or even required ( just like in my recent trip at Andros island to shoot the famous Tourlitis lighthouse, anything under 135mm wouldn't work unless you wanted the lighthouse to appear like a small pole in the frame ). Apart from the usual landscape photography equipment ( lenses, Neutral Density & Circular Polarizer filters, extra batteries, remote shutter release, viewfinder cap, lens cleaning cloth & lenspen, raincoat for me and for the camera ) I also carry a set of high power speedlights, a powerful flashlight, a red light lamp ( for the astrophotography sessions ), a few hand warmers ( to use as an anti-moisture device for the lens ) and an emergency aid kit just in case.Feedback
Shipwrecks are very interesting ( in most cases ) subjects to shoot. They are very cooperative subjects ( since they always stand still hahaha ), they have plenty of tonal contrast thanks to the decaying process and the rust that builds up on them due to the seawater, and they're usually situated in nice, natural, coastal landscapes far away from the civilization. To be successful in landscape/seascape photography, you have to be very careful when planning your trip and shoot. Not all shipwrecks and locations bode well photographically. You can see a regular photo of a shipwreck and immediately think "wow! this is fantastic, I could take a very nice photo there" and when you find yourself in that location and see it face to face, you get frustrated and disappointed in case the environment, the shipwreck itself and the conditions do not match your expectations. I had that happen to me quite a few times with shipwrecks and waterfalls. I however found out a good way to keep things in control and minimize the risk of a failed photography trip. First I scout for an interesting shipwreck and location using various tools such as Google Earth and Panoramio ( I also check shothotspot.com sometimes, but it isn't necessary IMHO as the two previously mentioned tools will do the trick just fine! ). Then I do a little research on what's been done there before, I therefore visit photography sites such as this magnificent place called Viewbug and search for photos from my "target location/subject". I then decide if it's worth the trip. If it is, then I start the rest of the trip planning. Research how I can get there ( usually, at least in Greece there's no road or there's a terrible barely usable dirt road ). Once I establish that and save the route on my GPS application on my smartphone, I then go ahead and book the nearest hotel via Booking or TripAdvisor. Once I get to the location, I spend the first day of the trip ( never! never take a long distance trip for a single day or two, to make sure that you capture what you want at its best looks possible, always try to go there for at least 4 days ) searching for the right angles or a unique angle to shoot my subject. Then it's shooting time, I spend the rest of the days to capture the photo I desire, hopefully with 1 of the trip days giving me a nice sky to accompany my subject, otherwise I'll have to resort to image compositing, or re-visit the place. Always carry every single bit of equipment that you might need. Never skimp on the tripod, the sturdier ( sadly that comes along with HEAVIER ) your tripod is, the better. I've lost shots in the past due to heavy winds or unstable tripod in general, and I've learned my lesson. Always carry some snacks with you, landscape photography requires a lot of time and patience and as the well-known saying goes "a hungry bear (photographer) won't dance". Be patient, be resilient. Practice, read, practice, read, research and try different post-processing methods and tools, refine your post-processing, capturing and composition skills and you will succeed. Never give up. Good light to all of you fellow landscape & seascape photographers out there!
