Nickerson After Hurricane Irene

[Arthur Morris]

• Arthur Morris
• Image Copyright Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
• Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows

If you have photographed at Nickerson Beach it is likely that this and the similar images in today's blog post (Surreal Hurricane Irene Experience) may leave you somewhat astonished....

This photo was just created hours after Hurricane Irene flattened the Nickerson tern and skimmer colony with the handheld Canon 15mm fish eye lens and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/7.1. Lower left AF sensor with rear-focus AI Servo AF. When I made this image the wind was howling, practically blowing me off my feet.

I made it while standing in the western-most colony looking to the west. The pretty much ravaged Piping Plover predator exclosure is in the center of what used to be the colony. Only four of the dozens of poles that held the strings that protected the site remained after Irene blasted through early on Sunday, August 28, 2011. Two poles can be seen in the upper right part of the frame with two more (not really visible in the JPEG) dead center in the distance below the middle of the rainbow. About a foot of sand covered most of the beach grasses that formerly offered protection to the chicks. It seems a ghastly sight but in all likelihood the beach vegetation will begin to grow back early next spring as similar scouring of the beach occurs most years during winter nor'easters. The birds will return in April and May to begin yet another successful breeding season.

Don't be shy; all comments are welcome. Please pardon the somewhat sloppy horizon line where I ran a Linear Burn on the sky; any workflow suggestions for eliminating such problems would be greatly appreciated.

See also "Sorry: No Birds in this Image" here in Avian.

 

[Don Railton]

Hi Arty

I can hear the howling wind and feel the stinging sand when I look at this photo, so well done on that. There is a light green fringe at the junction of the vegetation and the sky on the LHS. Not sure if that is real or not, probably not..? Apart from that its a great portrait of a desolate windswept beach similar to those found around my home town in New Zealand. Not sure I would be happy to talk my MK 4 into that sort of climate though...

regards

DON

 

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Arty, I can hear the howling wind and feel the stinging sand when I look at this photo, so well done on that. There is a light green fringe at the junction of the vegetation and the sky on the LHS. Not sure if that is real or not, probably not..? Apart from that its a great portrait of a desolate windswept beach similar to those found around my home town in New Zealand. Not sure I would be happy to talk my MK 4 into that sort of climate though... regards DON

Thanks Don, With regards to the green fringe, you missed this in the original post "Please pardon the somewhat sloppy horizon line where I ran a Linear Burn on the sky; any workflow suggestions for eliminating such problems would be greatly appreciated. "

 

[Don Railton]

Hi Artie,

Not so much as missed it but more like 'forgot about it' when I was distracted during the review process. Sorry about that... I could tell you what I do to select the horizon line in PS but after trying on your image I am not convinced that you would end up with a better result. Apparently my PS skills need polishing also.

regards

DON

 

[Arthur Morris]

I can do it right with about six hours of tedious work.... Perhaps I can learn to use Refine Mask but I am not even sure that that would do what I need....

 

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Artie,
That is definitely and astonishing view! Such is nature I guess. I like where you placed the elements and the enclosure is placed very well comp wise in the frame. I like the fisheye view as for me it adds to the overall look. As far as the fringing ......did you blur the mask? You can get halos if too much but tweaking hte slider should help eliminate it. You could have also expanded the mask on the sky a few pixels into the grass and that may have also prevented it. Just some ideas on that. The rainbow was a nice finishing touch to the overall image.

 

[Dave Mills]

Hi Art, I luckily held power throughout the storm but the cable has been out for 3 days. Nice use of the fisheye giving the viewer an ultra wide view. The placement of the foreground netting is well handled and adds a sense of story to the image. I also like the fact you were able to capture the streaking sands moving along the darker patch. Just enough sky over the faint rainbow and adds another element of interest. The image flows well! I can't add much more than Roman's suggestions regarding the fringing...

 

[Rachel Hollander]

Hi Artie - I grew up going to Nickerson when it was Nassau Beach so fond memories but would not liked to have been out there in the aftermath and winds of Irene. Most I know on L.I. are still without power. I like the use of the fisheye here and the rainbow adds to the image. The photos in the blog really tell the story of the power of Irene.

TFS,
Rachel

 

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Arthur, a nice aftermath shot. It looks very desolate. I enjoyed all the images you posted on your blog when you went out just after the storm. All we experienced here was winds a little stronger than usual.

 

[Robert Amoruso]

Artie,

I looks like chromatic aberration accentuated by the post-processing. ACR has controls to help eliminate it as does PS in the Filter menu.

 

[Arthur Morris]

Not . It came from a poor selection plus a strong Linear Burn.