A tall ship under sail

It's frustrating for me when I'm shooting a great subject and everything doesn't fall into place as I envision it. We photographers deal with this all the time, and I know I'm not alone with problems like this. In this case, for example, I photographed the Parade of Ships in Norfolk, Virginia, from a fishing boat. Unfortunately, the organizers of the event didn't consider photographers because it took place between 9am and noon. The lighting was harsh, contrasty, and unattractive. It took me about an hour in Photoshop to rectify that. I used a background in which the sun was low, and using the blend modes (found in the layers palette) I was able to change midday light into beautiful sunset lighting. Blend modes, when you are able to use them, make it unnecessary to cut out a precise selection of the subject. In this shot, dealing with all the rigging would have been virtually impossible.