Black Pier

by Francesco Carucci March 16, 2021

It’s been more of a year since my last image was released. A year mostly spent in lockdown, during which I have been prioritizing the health of my family and the public health over photography.

It’s been a tough choice, but I’m convinced it’s the right one. And I’m very lucky I could have this choice.

For the first time in a year, I went on a trip: I rented a secluded cabin in Incline Village on Lake Tahoe and planned to shoot winter scenes in this beautiful settings, always being very careful to maintain social distance.

My intention for this trip was to go back to practicing strong compositions and create minimalistic images, which is the style I love producing the most.

Sandy Harbor on the northern shore of Lake Tahoe is an ideal location at this time of the year. While it’s packed with people enjoying the sunshine during spring and summer, it’s deserted in winter and offers some wonderful photographic opportunities.

The solitude just adds to the feeling the has accompanied me for the last year.

A feeling that was conducive to creating Black Pier.

I set up my camera at the end of one of the three of the harbor. There was not much room to maneuver, but enough to go with what I had in mind: a centered composition, with the pier leading the eyes to the beautifully colored water and the stormy clouds in the background.

The strong composition draws you to the lake like a magnet. Black Pier is an image about depth.

Depth in the compositions. Depth in the feelings evoked by the powerful storm brooding on the opposite shore of the lake. Depth in the unapologetic colors of a cloudy sunset.

You know the sun is just behind those thick clouds and will be visible again sooner or later.

I didn’t know yet I only had time to take few exposures before the snow started falling on me and forced me to pack my equipment and leave.

For this exposure, the camera was dialed at 8 seconds, just enough to beautifully smooth the lake water before the wind and snow set in to disrupt it.

The result is a 61 megapixels explosion of purples in the sky and warm tones in the foreground that complement each other.

The sun is just behind the clouds.