Thor's Well (added crop of just the Well)

Dave Johnston

Dave Johnston

Well-Known Member
Last month I had an opportunity to spend a few days on the Oregon coast. Though I had been there before I decided to go some places I hadn't seen previously. The first of those was Thor's Well near Cape Perpetua. The classic view of this are with a colorful sunset in the background. Well, the moderately high tide needed to fill the well didn't happen at sunset, and it was a socked-in rainy day anyway. I was just going to spend a couple hours and then move on, but I ended up spending most of the day exploring the intertidal rocks between Thor's well and Cape Perpetua. Not sure what will come out of all that, but anyway here is the first, of the Well itself. Any preference for color vs. B&W?

Thors Well Cape Perpetua Color

Thors Well Cape Perpetua Color


Thors Well Cape Perpetua BW

Thors Well Cape Perpetua BW


Edit: Several people were uninspired by the sky and hill in the background, and asked if I had a closer shot of just the Well. The hill is Cape Perpetua, and I had thought that the curve of it formed kind of a ying-yang with a complementary curve of the Well, but maybe that was too obscure! At any rate, I didn't take closer shot, but I can certainly crop for just the Well. I do rather like this. Thanks for the suggestions!

Thors Well Color Cr

Thors Well Color Cr


Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Dave
 
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JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Dave,

Glad to see these, Thor's Well is always a wonderful sight. You captured it well here. My choice is B&W. The colors are muted anyway and so kind of dilute the contrast I think. With B&W it creates a higher contrast scene that I think is visually more attractive.

I will look forward to seeing some of your other shots from that area, I have spent time exploring it also, and there are lots of cool nooks and crannies that create some cool water flow also.
 
Dave Johnston

Dave Johnston

Well-Known Member
Thanks, Jim and Barry. Because of the weather I had B&W in mind the whole time. However, I won't call Barry weird because once I developed the color version I was also struck by the little bit of blue-green, and that understated color seemed to have merit too. So I'm trying out both versions to see what reaction each gets. So far, even!

DAve
 
Jameel Hyder

Jameel Hyder

Moderator
Staff member
I second the color version with the hint of green in the water and the brown rocls. Composition wise, the view point to the right losing the hill in the distance would have been better. That is a personal choice though.
 
Jim Dockery

Jim Dockery

Well-Known Member
I go with the B&W. Did you zoom in to shoot just the well also? The sky and hill behind don't do anything for me, a tight crop / zoomed in shot of the well itself would be dramatic - most people would look at it thinking it's a fake waterfall of some kind!
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
I like the color of the water, but overall, the b&w works better for me. I agree with Jim Dockery in wondering if you have a tighter shot.
 
R

Rick Schump

Well-Known Member
Dave Johnston said:
Last month I had an opportunity to spend a few days on the Oregon coast. Though I had been there before I decided to go some places I hadn't seen previously. The first of those was Thor's Well near Cape Perpetua. The classic view of this are with a colorful sunset in the background. Well, the moderately high tide needed to fill the well didn't happen at sunset, and it was a socked-in rainy day anyway. I was just going to spend a couple hours and then move on, but I ended up spending most of the day exploring the intertidal rocks between Thor's well and Cape Perpetua. Not sure what will come out of all that, but anyway here is the first, of the Well itself. Any preference for color vs. B&W?

Thors Well Cape Perpetua Color

Thors Well Cape Perpetua Color


Thors Well Cape Perpetua BW

Thors Well Cape Perpetua BW


Comments and suggestions are always welcome!

Dave
Click to expand...
Color, one of the subtle benefits for shooting is the discovery of nature. You may or may not walk away with images, but exploration is one of our ways to explore and improve our photography. Never a waste.
 
JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
Hey Dave,

Perhaps because I have been there and shot it myself, the hill in the background didn't bother me and I thought it balanced well. But I do also like the crop, I think that does work really well too.
 
Dean

Dean

Well-Known Member
Dave,
All are nice however the shot lives in the well so for me the crop version in color is really sweet. The color in the water adds a subtle beauty.
Regards Dean
 
Dave Johnston

Dave Johnston

Well-Known Member
Thank you, everyone, for your kind words and for your suggestions and opinions. I personally lean toward photos that show a main subject in a context of some sort, thus my default reaction was to include a background behind the well. Many pictures from here use a sunset or colorful clouds to complement the Well, but that was out for this day and time. So I included Cape Perpetua and in the process discovered the offsetting curved patterns. I still like that scene. I did try different shooting positions relative to the Well, but I am convinced that this one best shows off the dominant and most interesting fall patterns of water entering the well, at least on this day.

But I'm glad you guys made me look at just the Well. While I still like context, the isolation on the well does show its power and uniqueness; it avoids distraction. So it s a different pciture than I take by default, but a good one.

Thanks!

Dave
 
Rafael

Rafael

Active Member
Awesome looking place. Definitely one of the places I want to visit when I'm in the area.

I like both the color and B+W. I'd have either one hung up on the wall depending on the color scheme of a room or hallway. Hmm, I'm actually liking the B+W full shot with the background, and the colored one that focuses on the well. The one that includes the sky and background gives a really good sense of the overall location being coastal, and the B+W gives it that good, balanced contrast between the black mountain and the white well. The one the focuses on the well is great, too, since it almost gives you the feeling of being sucked into the seeming abyss - and the slight sea-green coloration gives it that extra magic. haha. I like it.
 
Alisa

Alisa

Well-Known Member
I love these. After seeing it cropped, I agree with the cropping. I also agree with Jim on the B&W image. I love all the contrast in the B&W and it just works well.
 
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