Sunrise at Ittigran Island, Chukota Peninsula, Russia, 2003 photo

Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Six: Vantage Point makes the difference > Sunrise at Ittigran Island, Chukota Peninsula, Russia, 2003

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04-AUG-2002

Sunrise at Ittigran Island, Chukota Peninsula, Russia, 2003

These early risers enjoying a sunrise in Russia's Far East are abstracted twice because of my vantage point. I choose to shoot into the sun, which will make anything in front of me become a silhouette. I turn this couple into symbolic travelers, rather than specific individuals. I also shot them from behind, concealing their indentity once again. My rear vantage point puts you into the same situation as these subjects. You can share their experience as they watch the sun comes up on one of the world's most remote islands.

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Phil Douglis		20-Oct-2005 21:03
Thanks, Denny. Yes, I lost a bit off the top, but that was what happened when I cropped the image in order to re-align it. I liked more space above him as well. That's why I shot the image as I did. But we had to sacrifice a touch of space in order to realign the photo. Sometimes we can't have our cake and eat it too.

Denny Crane		20-Oct-2005 19:51
Thanks for trying this. Actually you went a little further than I would. You didn't "compromise" the correction, by which I meant an -in-between correction, making the water/mountain line more horizontal than it was, but not completely straight. Your new version doesn't make me seasick at all. Not having the previous image to compare this new one with, I wonder if you lost a little space (sky) above the man and woman? If so, I like it better before with the bit more space. I agree with your interpretation and intent of the photo as you've expressed them. The "man versus nature" interpretation that I didn't accept was made by Dirk, not you.

Phil Douglis		20-Oct-2005 19:09
Thanks, Denny for this suggestion. I put this image into Photoshop, and for the first time played with the Lens Correction tool. I was able to align the horizon on a horizontal axis where the water meets the mountains, using a grid overlay. I have replaced the previous image with the corrected version. However other parts of the image are still tilted, so we will have to agree to bear with whatever sea-sickness might come with it. The image still expresses its ideas, agree with them or not, because of my vantage point, and that is why it is posted here.

Denny Crane		20-Oct-2005 11:47
I didn't take special notice of wide-angle distortion, and I didn't comment on it. The horizon is plainly tilted. The railing is tilted. The support that is horizontal somehow appears to be tilted, but it's actually horizontal in the picture. Some kind of optical illusion maybe. Just a little tilting back to normal horizon (not completely, but a compromise), would improve this picture a lot, I'm really sure about it. Why don't you try it? Looking at it closer, doing this would tilt the posts to the right. Wide-angle distortion at work here. So the boat is tilting to the right a bit and maybe the couple will be standing straighter than they are. I don't buy into the "man versus nature" interpretations presented here. This is a basically a warmly lit silhouette of a couple dressed for the cold facing the sea and horizon. I like the geometric elements in the picture. And it does give you the feeling of being there. Sea-sickness and all.

Phil Douglis		19-Oct-2005 22:06
Sorry you are sea-sick. I aligned this image along the most prominent horizontal element -- the wide support on the deck at the bottom of the railing. If I would have aligned the horizon by lifting the image up on the left, the deck of the ship would be tilting severely. You are the only person so far who has noticed the effect of wideangle lens distortion here, which often "bends the horizon" a bit. It did not bother me, nor did it limit the warm message this image has apparently conveyed to the eight viewers who have preceded your comment here.

Denny Crane		19-Oct-2005 18:27
I'm overwhelmed by the feeling of imbalance -- I'm falling off the picture to the left. I might guess that the boat is (what's that nautical term? -- listing?) to the left, but actually the horizon is more tilted to the left, so the boat must be listing to the right. If you straightened the horizon, then the composition and feeling would be more balanced, and I could enjoy the morning light and cold. The severe tilt spoils the picture.

Phil Douglis		28-Sep-2005 17:27
Yes, Ramma, this image is all about warmth, yet it was taken in a very cold place, Siberia. And that makes this picture even more expressive.

ramma		28-Sep-2005 09:57
this image has so much warmth to it, and also a lovely Glow. Beautiful play of light and shadow on the wooden deck

Phil Douglis		06-Jan-2005 22:00
That is a very substantive question you ask, Dandan. At what point does a potential distraction become part of the structure of an image, helping it express its idea? The answer rests not so much in the identity of the potential distraction, but rather in its usage. I can't tell you to avoid "posts" because they distract. if those posts on the right were coming out of the people's heads, they would most certainly distract us from this glorious scene. But over there on the right, they become a pair of posts, standing side by side just those people are. As I said in one of my comments below, they now become part of the structure of the image itself, carrying the eye across the picture by rhythmically repeating the stance of the people. Do you see the point. I just had this very same conversation this morning with Jen Zhou about my morning of view Shanghai athttp://www.pbase.com/pnd1/image/31309875 Jen questioned the purpose of a wall at the base of the picture and a big pipe on the right hand side of it. She felt distracted by them. After I explained that the wall masked activity on the street that would run counter to my early morning mood, and that the pipe helped add depth perspective to the scene by repeating the thrusts of other poles in the picture, the image changed in front of Jen's eyes.

Guest		06-Jan-2005 10:40
Phil, I try imaging myself on the ship and how would I take the picture… Before reading your comments, I probably would find a spot to avoid those posts since they are not very appealing to me at first… but as I read through you comments about how the posts repeating the stance of the couple and how they are carry views eyes across the image, I have to ask, how do you decide what know of objects can improve the image, and what kind would be consider as distraction? Am I asking a too big question that you could write a book about it? :)

Guest		03-Dec-2004 09:16
love shots like this...mood and light make this great.

Guest		19-Jun-2004 11:33
The location is wonderful, but to me it really conveys a tender moment of sharing for the couple. I see a mature couple, bound by years of tenderness, sharing not just a trip or vacation, but a journey.

Phil Douglis		03-Mar-2004 22:26
Thanks, Menno -- as you know, there are moments that occur while traveling that are absolutely perfect for a picture. You just have to be able to see the possibilities. The first thing I noticed were the shadows cast on the deck. I always am looking not only at my subject itself, but at the shadows they cast, and if water is near, perhaps even reflections as well. Then I noticed the two posts to the right -- they seemed to repeat the vertical stance of the two people. These posts, as well as the ship's railing, rhythmically carry the eye across the image. I shot several pictures, each from varying heights and at different exposures, taking care to position the horizontal railing so that it flows just under the horizon line itself, not over it, or superimposed on the distant mountains. I also had to partially block the strong reflection of the sun on the water with the legs of the man. I agree -- the morning light itself was beautiful. But all of those other things help make this picture work as well.

Menno Alberts		03-Mar-2004 20:22
Hi Phil! Great image!! Beautiful light!!!

JV		10-Dec-2003 20:46
superbe, cela me réconcilie avec vous, vibration, lumiére très beau controle des contarstes et des teintes foncées, la lumièer est superbe et puis le nombres de plans ! dans la profondeur.Elle rejoint dans les qualités votre très belle ph de la rue de Hochimin vietnamm.Merci une photo très touchante.

Phil Douglis		30-Nov-2003 23:56
Thank you, Dirk, as always, for your perceptive insights. You are correct -- I did want this image to express the warmth and wonder of the natural world as man sees it. By putting my viewers in the shoes of these travelers, I had hoped that all who saw this image might feel it as well.

Guest		30-Nov-2003 15:42
Very striking image illustrating the man versus nature world and the joy and warmth that we can find in assuming the nature. Lovely !

Phil Douglis		28-Sep-2003 21:52
BZ, You are reading too much into this shot (no pun intended). Get on back to your cameras. P.

Bailey Zimmerman		28-Sep-2003 18:15
What a terrific image for the cover of a travel novel.....ummm, let's work on a title? "Long Shadows of Morning" oh, oh....."Long Shadows of Mourning"

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