Slowly fading away

[silverbullet]

The cemetary of old ships on the island of Noirmoutier/France.
Every six hours the tide is coming and going and the mud covers everything during years and decades.
At the end only the oak keel sticks in the ground as a reminder.

 

[Wiener]

Fading away of tradition, of wood working skills, of times pre-mass production...
In Scotland we have many of the 'keel only' hulks that you describe, the last bones almost completely smothered in the rising mud.
It is a poignant image which suits the muted colours really well...

 

[odklizec]

Excellent composition and muted colors. I like this kind of photography! It could be great printed in large scale on matte paper?

 

[silverbullet]

Thx @both.
The tiny island Noirmoutier has become a center for wooden boats since ten years. Young and motivated boatbuilder are teached by older craftsmen to restore or build from ground up wooden boats in all kind of sizes. Small sailing dinghies or larger tuna-sailer they all get new life there and more and more people switch from GRP to wood.
But such a place in a flat bay exists in so many coastal areas. For fishermen it's less expensive to 'park' their ships and forget them.
At this place an old America's Cupper from the thirties had his last bed there, the sleek lines irritated me and local people told me the story of an uncompetitive yacht for this very special competition.
Here is a link to the annual event in summer only for wooden boats held by 'La Chaloupe' an organization to promote all kind of wooden boats;

http://www.lachaloupe.org/

or:

http://photobruno.fond-ecran-image.com/ ... 9/08/14/7/

Edit: yesterday a new box Hahnemühle arrived in A3 for my Epson 2400......

 

[silverbullet]

Dreaming ships

 

[thelps]

Bernd
that first image is excellent and I agree with Pavel, it would look great enlarged, it would do the image justice.
I am curious was the image as you saw or is the painted back an effect you have done PP?

 

[silverbullet]

Tim,

thanks for your comment! This place has a lot of color - when the sun is shining....a simple truth - for other places too.....
But here the main color is grey-brown due to the mud, the light of november sky overcasted. This boat has a cracked green paint visible at the stern but the more you look to the front the more the color fades. It's not so strong as shown here because we 'sample' missing colors in our head.
The pic as it is has a slight effect of diminishing colors from the right to the left. I'm no PS wizard but here I used in Lightroom2 the function of fading/increasing the chosen area of the pic. The goal was to give more satureted areas in the sky but playing with the knobs this result happened and was fine for me.
The second pic has a very different, a more 'optimistic' message due to higher color saturation. This pic was chosen from me for the competition 'Men/Women at Work' - see the oysterfisher in the middle with his John Deere tractor and trailer.....
Normally I prefer just shooting 'straight' but the GRD kicks me to expand my B&W thinking.....

Bernd

 

[33dollars]

I think the first picuture is tranquil & beautiful, the boat facing away from me makes me think of the past.
Beautiful composition.
Does the view change much when the tide is in & water lapping at the boats?

 

[Orol]

Good stuff Bernd. The first image works better for me however. The subdued colours emphasize nicely the feeling of boat cemetery.

Peter

 

[silverbullet]

Thanks!
Everytime when I visit this place during my stay in France, the old song "A Salted Dog" from Procul Harum comes into my mind:

(Brooker / Reid)
'All hands on deck, we've run afloat!' I heard the captain cry
'Explore the ship, replace the cook: let no one leave alive!'
Across the straits, around the Horn: how far can sailors fly?
A twisted path, our tortured course, and no one left alive
We sailed for parts unknown to man, where ships come home to die
No lofty peak, nor fortress bold, could match our captain's eye
Upon the seventh seasick day we made our port of call
A sand so white, and sea so blue, no mortal place at all
We fired the gun, and burnt the mast, and rowed from ship to shore
The captain cried, we sailors wept: our tears were tears of joy
Now many moons and many Junes have passed since we made land
A salty dog, this seaman's log: your witness my own hand

Bernd

 

[silverbullet]

Good stuff Bernd. The first image works better for me however. The subdued colours emphasize nicely the feeling of boat cemetery.

Peter

Thanks Peter,

in a different light the impression changes a bit

 

[33dollars]

Ahhh man, that is absolutely beautiful. If this was a painting? It would fetch several hundred thousand euros.
Silverbullet you are an artist.

 

[silverbullet]

Phil,

no, no..... I'm just a grumpy old man and my only friend sits in an Adobe, hugh! :roll:........
But honestly, coming from a Leica MP and BessaR4 the menue system of the GRD is nearly the maximum I can stand..... :shock:

The camera is absolutly flexible - when you find the right menue.....but sometimes it takes more time to become familiar in terms of sudden change on the streets for shooting.
BTW due to your nice comment on the pic I'll give you a very special price for this 'painting' download for just 99,00€ (in color) :mrgreen:

Cheers
Bernd

 

[lensman]

Bernd,

I'm with Phil on this one, super photograph, If only I could afford the asking price....

David