"This photograph was taken in Puerto Natales in Patagonia, Chile. This sleepy South American town, with its rural charm, serves as the gateway for excursions into the breathtaking landscapes of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine, Natural Monument Cueva del Milodón and Parque Nacional Los Glaciares."

—Neal Howard George
San Francisco, California

Photography Notes

• Camera: Canon PowerShot S300
• Film: 128MB SanDisk CompactFlash Card
• Lens: N/A
• Shutter speed: N/A
• Aperture: N/A
• Time of day: 7:30 a.m. - 8 a.m.

"My goal was to capture the perfect balance of this desolate, abandoned pier. The available light was restricted, so I chose to get close enough to the subject to display the eroded and timeless texture of the wood. The absence of light gives the pier a ghostly appearance. This effect is heightened by the perfect reflections visible in the serene morning waters. The pier seems to be floating as opposed to driven into the ocean floor."

Critique
"This photo has good balance, symmetry in composition, nice color and mood, and clean lines that draw the eye into the image. The composition might be more interesting or dramatic if the horizon line and the posts were not perfectly aligned. Leaving some space between the posts and the water line by shooting from higher up—or even standing on one of the posts—would create a more dynamic perspective while preserving the same vanishing point.

"Of course, you can't control the weather, but this same shot on a calm, sunny day with bright white clouds and really cool reflections on the water would be even more dramatic."

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