Lessons Learned: Monochrome magic

Sometimes getting a dramatic image is simply a matter of letting it happen. In this instance, shooting directly into a muted sun presented me with the shadow side of everything in the picture (a silhouette), and the space between objects is filled with glowing backlit fog. Add the reflection mirror image of the light source in a peaceful New England waterfront setting and suddenly things get very interesting! The result is an almost monochrome picture where color is more a hint than a statement.

I may have played with the white balance a bit to warm this image...it also may have looked good with a cool, bluish tint. (See "masts" for an example of the blue thing, although I did that in the digital darkroom rather than in the camera.)

Combined with the scents (salty tang in the fresh morning air) and sounds (gulls squawking over breakfast), this image taken early on my first morning in Maine fulfilled an entire set of expectations on a cool October day.

I determined the exposure settings using my standard spot meter technique. Simply put, I place the spot-meter marker over different sections of the picture, watching as the overall exposure changes, then lock it in with a gentle touch on the shutter button when it looks just right.