I remember I was once seeking an old port. I wanted to add a rusty touch to a seascape in dim light. However, my reach to places around is limited, especially at night since I do not own a car--one reason why I haven't fully explored all the beaches around Melbourne. That day, I happened to be at St Kilda. After sunset, I came by this, and decided to settle (for now) my quest with it.
In fact, it is neither a port nor a rusty. It's simply a rail on which smaller boats are put to water. Whether it is still in use, I know not. But it kind of looked old. I first took aim for a shot right at the upper end of the rail, pointing to the other end. The converging rail-lines lead the eyes, but not quite showing the length of the rail. So I moved left (after going right), and there the old rail at full length!
For exposure, the rail is quite dark compared to the bright lights from the Jetty & the distant line of boats. So I used a gradual gray ND8, darkening the upper frame. (It has its use at night too, it turned out.) The filter caused some purple flares near the top edge (in the left half), but ones I could live with. The f/3.5 I used, coupled with the widest 18mm, is a torture to the lens, i.e. to ask it to give its worst performance. All these, because I didn't want to increase the ISO. Yet, I'm quite content with the result.
Location: St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia
Camera: Nikon D300
Lens: Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 VR
ISO: 200
Exposure: 30s
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18mm
Filter: Gradual ND8
Flash: No
Tripod: Yes
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