Harbour reflections

This one's from a few weeks ago at Whitby, cropped in from a much wider (more 'postcardy') photo of the harbour. I was trying to decide what was the best composition and ended up cutting out everything except these colourful reflections.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/8, 1/200s, 35mm, hand held.

Colourful lobster pots and ropes at Whitby harbour.

I couldn't resist photographing these on my trip to Whitby in January this year - a lovely mix of patterns and colours!

Camera/lens settings: ISO 200, f/4, 1/100s, 22mm, hand held.

Boats at Craster harbour, Northumberland (2).

Here's another view across the harbour at Craster - this time looking out to sea beyond the brightly coloured little boats and harbour walls.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/60s, 18mm, hand held.

Lifebelt and ropes hanging on the harbour wall at Seahouses.

I took this one in August 2013. I really like the simple mixture of lines, colours and textures in every bit of the picture - the sky, wall, belt and ropes.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/80s, grad filter for sky, 28mm, hand held.

Ropes and a fishing boat at Seahouses harbour

Another one from Northumberland (August 2013) today. These ropes were piled on the harbour walls, next to the lobster pots. I crouched down to position the colourful fishing boat in the background, but chose an aperture that gave a shallow-ish depth of field to make sure the perspective remained.

When processing the photo I wondered whether I should have focused on the boat rather than the ropes. I suppose it depends which was my main subject - at the time I was more interested in the ropes than the boat. With hindsight, it would have been interesting to take 2 version of the photo and see which worked best. I think this version would win though - I think the ropes take up too high a percentage of the picture to be out of focus.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/10, 1/60s, 38mm, hand held.

Boats at Craster harbour, Northumberland

This one's from our Northumberland holiday in August 2013. We parked at Craster and walked up the coast to Dunstanburgh Castle, passing the small harbour on the way. I really liked the shapes and bright colours of these boats and the house in the background.

Camera/lens settings: ISO 100, f/11, 1/60s, 24mm, hand held.

Boats in the harbour at low tide, Holy Island

This is the view from Holy Island (Lindisfarne) across the harbour to the mainland. I took it on our holiday to Northumberland in August 2013 as we were walking around the island.

I cropped the original to a more panoramic shape to emphasise the line of the mainland, harbour wall and boats. I also played with exposure and contrast in the sky to get the best out of the clouds. I originally converted it to black and white...it did look good that way, but when I switched back to colour for a final decision, I noticed how it was largely made up of blues and earthy tones. Those colours appear in the boats, the land, the sand and the clouds and, I think, are worth keeping in.

Lobster pots and boats at the harbour

This photo is from our last holiday to Seahouses, Northumberland, in August 2013. I was drawn to the colours and patterns of the lobster pots and ropes and framed the picture to include a couple of boats on the water. Although herring fishing is still done from the harbour, these particular boats have been converted to carry tourists out to the Farne Islands and Holy Island.

Post production I reduced highlights right down to take the glare off the water, reduced overall exposure very slightly and cropped the image to remove some cars parked behind the harbour wall.