Friday, July 10, 2009

Now Where Was I Again?

Sometimes you can have a dramatic shot and not be able to tell someone looking at it where you were. (Another strong case for geo-tagging.) This place looks familiar. I think I saw it in "Back to the Future 2". It was the clock tower Dr. Emmett Brown climbed to catch the lightning to power the Delorean back to the present day. Sure, that looks like it. Clock, tower, dome, serious building, must be the place. Actually, it ain't Hill Valley of movie fame. I don't think you could get that color sky in the fictional town even with a Polarizer.
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Have you ever noticed when you look at the sky it seems paler down near the horizon and deeper blue the higher you point? Well, this image has the camera pointed almost vertical. I swear there isn't a bogus sky plunked down behind the tower. The sky was that blue in January, in Antigua. The Sun must have been 90 degrees toward the left and that polarizer was working overtime. The EV (Exposure Value) was down 1.3 stops. That's a bunch, but can you imagine what the clock face would have looked like without cranking down the EV? I can, I was there clicking the shutter, saying "nope, still got the blinkies", and ratcheting down the dial another third of a stop. The value of the whites is a big number, but it does fall short to 255, 255, 255 by a good fifteen points. The cornice under the clock on the right hand return is the blackest area in the shot, but it doesn't go bouncing around at 0, 0, 0. It's about 7 points above absolute black. I defy you to see anything there (specially in the low rez, monitor ready image used here in the blog) but it's there in the original.

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I already have a fairly successful print of the church. With a little work, this one might join the other's ranks. If you ever do get to Antigua on a cruise ship, didn't book an excursion and are looking for something to do, take a walk up to St John Basilica. It's a pretty neat place and usually good for a couple of interesting images. Would you believe there's a wooden church inside the facade you see here? Check it out, it's pretty interesting.

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