When things get in the way of your composition

Sometimes you just have to get out and create some pictures, even if it’s a cold winter morning, and you’re not sure why you are doing it. I headed to Råå harbour, in the south of Helsingborg, on a quiet morning. The sun had not yet risen, and as it turned out, was never going to. But don’t let the gray mood spoil your lust for photography!

Side by side the little boats lie in the silent water, next to red and blue little fishing huts, and the only people keeping me company are dog walkers. And the seagulls of course. You can’t get away from the gulls when you are by the ocean. Luckily they didn’t pester me, although one decided to volunteer as a model!

At one time the village here was incorporated into the city of Helsingborg. It’s harbour is very much in use for actual fishing all year around, unlike many along the Swedish south-west coast, that are mostly used in the summer. And, as you can see from the images, many people also live in this area, which means it’s quite busy, and so it can be hard to compose a clean and clutter free image.

I really like the image on top of this post, as the huts are so colourful and there is even some colour in sky. I didn’t really notice this on location, it mostly looked gray and dull. And the 30 second expoure helped give the water that still, almost iced look (Canon EOS R – 24-105 – 47mm – 30 sec – f/16 ).

Fishing boats, huts & homes in the harbour. *Canon EOS R – 24-105mm – 47mm – 20 sec – f/11*

In this image I was standing on one of the long jettys to also capture some of the harbour homes in the background. Unfortunatly, the jetty posts were positioned in a way so that they ended up in every frame. No matter what position I took, there they were. They really bug me, and kind of ruin this shot for me. And the sky looked so nice as well!

*Canon EOS R – 24-105mm – 47 mm – 30 sec – f/16*

This image was taken on the other side of the harbour. Yes, even in this one some jetty posts got in the way, but I just edited them out in post-processing! Artistic license and all that. But sometimes (or a lot of the time) things like this happen when you are out creating photographs. All you can do is go with the flow!

As this was a 30 second exposure, the fishing boats were slightly blurry, but I still like the image.