LOCATION:
Tarpon Springs, FL, is a multifaceted small town along the Gulf of Mexico: it’s a commercial fishing port, a large-scale marine repair location, and a tourist destination.
The photo depicts the tourist side of town ??“ “The Sponge Docks” which is a collection of shops, restaurants, displays, and a lineup of boats related to the sponge harvesting activities that date back more than 100 years. Also of interest is the yearly traditional Orthodox Greek Epiphany Cross Dive which illustrates the community’s unique cultural heritage. The dive takes place this year on January 6.
PHOTO:
This image is composed of 5 bracketed exposure photos taken with a DJI Air 2s.
Shot 03May2024 at 8:14PM, 77’ AGL, with varied shutter speeds of 1/30 - 1/180 sec; ISO 100; f/2.8 one of the originals is shown.
Images stacked using Affinity Photo 2, and processing include cropping and masking of: white balance, brightness/contrast, and shadows/highlights.
6 comments posted
Drema Swader
Processing is good. I think the cropping to just the line of boats is good. One thing that bothers me a little is that the strong orange color on the left side of the image makes it feel unbalanced. I like the boat with the orange roof, and I like how you saturated the color. May I suggest adding some orange color to the right side of the image to warm it up? Here is an edit I quickly did to show you what I mean. It gives it an evening look and it helps to balance it out. Posted: 01/11/2025 00:07:52
Richard Stauber
Thank you Drema, this is very helpful and something I wouldn't have seen on my own. Posted: 01/12/2025 19:48:16
Drema Swader
Glad it helped. Balance is something I try to pay close attention to in a photograph, whether it is color balance, luminosity balance, or compositional balance (and of course, there are times when you want a photograph unbalanced for artistic purposes) Posted: 01/12/2025 21:33:08
Mike Fernandez
Hey, that it is my backyard.... Great shot.
Posted: 01/11/2025 19:13:42
Hi Richard, I think that this is a great image, I like the seaside vibe. Your cropping and exposure are well handled. Drema's suggestion is good, it gives the image a warmer late evening feel. Tarpon Springs looks like a nice place, sounds like it is not all tourist oriented. Posted: 01/16/2025 17:22:18
