January 17, 2014

'Requiem' Clontarf, Dublin

Requiem TMP_7582

We all have those places we continue to return to in the hope of getting a better shot than the last time we visited. This jetty at Clontarf is one of mine, I always tend to stop when passing in case the tide is 'in' or the light is tempting ... sometimes just to eat a sandwich. This week I happened to be in the area but was not impressed with the initial scene. After a while, this guy bikes onto the jetty and contemplates the view. So seeing some compositional elements stack-up, I took out the camera to investigate. It wasn't until I started framing-up that I noticed the floral bouquet fixed to the rail in the foreground ... the narrative began to form. There was no text to accompany the tribute so I can only guess at the tragedy being remembered. Instinctively, we think tragedy, but it might well be celebratory? The cyclist held his pose long enough for me to whip out an ND grad filter to hold back the direct sunlight in the sky. 'Click', 'click' ... two frame bracket hand-held ... that was it. I wasn't optimistic and subsequently forgot about the shot until this evening when doing my usual trawl through the week's images. The colour version is pretty much straight from camera with some tweaks in ACR. The composition reminded me of a 'Joe Kennedy' taken at the '40-Foot' across the bay so in acknowledging that, I made a BW conversion (click image to view on Flickr). I put both up here because I think the processing impacts on the mood. I'm not sure which I prefer ... I'll have to live with them a while. In the meantime, I'll look forward to my next visit and maybe hope for better light.