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Piha


Piha
Photo Information
Copyright: Tim Gordon (timtim) Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1053 W: 106 N: 564] (9598)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2009-04-29
Categories: Nature
Camera: Canon 400D Kiss Digital X, 18-55mm EFS Canon
Exposure: f/3.5, 1/200 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2009-04-29 14:02
Viewed: 232
Points: 22
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
PIHA
Through virgin bush the hard-won road
Threads snake-wise o'er the barrier range,
And climbing still, the fern-fringed way
Beckons round each doubling bend.
We glimpse afar, through parting crags,
A breathless loveliness revealed
Where storming sea meets frowning cliff
In tumbling walls of driving spray:
The way emerges far above
Famed Piha's proud and sweeping strand,
A panorama, wide, sublime—
All little thought is swept away
Into the misty distance where the spray hangs long,
A grey-blue veil Silently cloaking the barren shore.

Lion Rock, with changeless calm,
Scans the horizon's opaque line;
He crouches, vigilant, alone,
The monarch of an ageless realm:
And still he guards the kneeling
Nun Who prays with steadfast faith, nor heeds
The foaming seas that sway her veil.
With what pathetic irony,
Symbolic of her chosen fate,
She prays with face averted from
The Wedding Rock—frail human love
Renounced for love of One divine:
The impartial seas sweep over all,
Nor know the endless beauty they
Alone have power to consummate.

The ocean rollers every glee
In racing through the narrowing Gap,
To batter there impotently
The granite rocks that bar their way.
Within the lee of unmoved cliffs,
Beyond the boiling cauldron's wrath,
A writhing mass of yellowed spume
Coils and swirls with twisted life.
While scarce removed, a deepening pool
Lies strangely still, as passion spent—
A scene of contrasts, uncanny as
The Blow-hole's siren, whistling shrill;
The blasting of a mighty forge
That belches smoking, liquid breath:
With eyes that marvel and enshrine
We peer through Nature's telescope,
The Tunnel chiselled through the cliff,
Where racing wave and undertow
Wrestle in unyielding might …
All these and more are Piha's fame,
The wonders that are not of man;
A thundering, relentless force—
And awful majesty that stuns
And overawes man's puniness
With immeasurable, untramelled power:
And yet the very ocean swell
Is ordered by His hand alone,
His arm controls the vivid play
Of breaking surf and mist-hung shore;
His voice is in the strident tongue
Of crashing wave through sea-sculpt rock.

“Look on this beauty—Earth and Sea
Reflect the Love that knows no bounds:
Guard thou thy land, its marvels keep
In trust for those who follow on,
That they may say, in youth's young day,
‘Great were the men who passed this way’.”

—Gwenyth Evans.

GreenBaron, Janice, Soundsangels has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To Sharpshooter: sunsettimtim 1 04-30 20:31
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Tim,
Perfectly captured! Great light and colours fine reflections. Again a wonder picture of tyou of this awesome place!
Hans

  • Great 
  • Tezza Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 177 W: 95 N: 269] (2743)
  • [2009-04-29 16:05]

A beautiful shot, perfectly exposed. I particularly like the strong beam of sunlight coming from behind the cloud. The brightly lit top edge of the cloud adds a nice touch of definition in the soft light.

Well, a good chance you don't see I'm crying. This pic is awesome. The only thing I would add to your picture, if only I could, is ...me, walking on the beach and savouring. Perfect shot.

Wonderful scene, great colours and great reflections. Well composed. Good job
warm regards
David

Love the colors and light in this image. Strong lines also make the composition strong. TFS

Hi Tim,
Remarkable shot of the Piha sunset (or was this at sunrise?). I really must go there at this time of the day, looks spectacular. Very soft colours and the flawless reflections on the beach really help make the shot IMO. Wonderfully composed too.

TFS,
Scott.

Nice work. Beautiful capture of reflections and light on the sand. Thought of buying a graduated filter? It would be perfect for this - reduce the brightness of the sky.
Rew

  • Great 
  • korbee Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 1399 W: 0 N: 1695] (13693)
  • [2009-04-30 1:27]

Incredible how the water i streaming into the land Tim,unique light.

jan

  • Great 
  • Janice Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 3274 W: 268 N: 7772] (33174)
  • [2009-04-30 3:37]

Hi Tim, this is wonderfully captured - another awesome West Coast beach image from you
Janice

Hi Tim,

Beautiful sunset on a wonderful beach, love your foreground, all I would state was the obvious, dig out your tripod and get down to f11-f13 and you would be razor sharp from nose to infinity.

Douglas

Great colors and picture.......
Simplicity and complexity of life.....
All is here....
Superb Tim....
One more time...
Claude

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