Risen from the Deep

[seamus finn]

I seldom post anything in colour, but here goes anyway. This is the Church of Sant Romà de Sau, Catalonia, Spain. The village was flooded in 1962 after a dam was erected at the River Ter. The church re-appeared for a while after a severe drought in the Barcelona region forty years later. This is the view from the mountain.

[popnfresh]

As a composition, this picture is more about the foreground than the church itself, and therein lies the problem, as I see it. The foreground just isn't all that interesting. I would have preferred a less distant vantage point so that the church was more prominent. I think it needs less foreground and more church.

[RSL]

Seamus, I don't agree at all with Pop on this one. The sharp contrast between almost complementary colors is striking. The foreground is interesting because it's full of groups of people casting long shadows and showing a landscape that describes interesting diagonals and triangles because of its surface features. Stunning shot. Bravo!

[John R Smith]

Seamus

I like it a lot (even though it is in colour . . . ) And this business of drowned villages which reappear when the water level drops is really compelling.

John

[stamper]

The composition is spot on, imo. However the image seems to be over processed. On my monitor there seems to be something not quite right about the sky. A pattern covers the sky. I assume you have done the B&W version? You have the makings of a fine image here but the one you posted could somehow possibly be improved. 

[John R Smith]

Stamper

It's not a sky - it's the water of the reservoir. Don't give poor old Seamus a fit of the worries . . .

John

[stamper]

I do apologise. It looked to me like an overdone sky. However how do you get water to look like this with an all over even pattern? 

[Christoph C. Feldhaim]

The water tricked me too thinking of an overcooked sky ...
I wonder how a b/w version with a contrast enhanced foreground would work ...

[seamus finn]

It's not a sky - it's the water of the reservoir. Don't give poor old Seamus a fit of the worries . . .

.


Phew! Well spotted, John. The patterns on the lake surface are ripples, obviously.

[stamper]

.


Phew! Well spotted, John. The patterns on the lake surface are ripples, obviously.

As I stated it is a repeating pattern that looks somewhat false. Seamus did you do something to "create" the pattern or was it as it was? I am not accusing you of over enhancing but it does jar a little with the rest of the image, which I really like and is  - imo - the strength ot the image.

[seamus finn]

Apart from the usual adjustments I didn't lay a glove on it to create any kind of pattern. I have checked the original raw files and it's there in most of them. Here's a quick sample for illustrative purposes. Note the lessening of pattern on the bottom left where the lake is sheltered.

[John R Smith]

Water moves in mysterious ways, its wonders to perform  

As an ex-boat owner of many years, I can tell you that you would be amazed at the variety of wave patterns which you can encounter. It's pretty nearly never the same twice. This wave pattern is most likely the result of a gentle but remarkably steady breeze, with no gusts or lulls. It is blowing from right to left, across the picture.

John