This was my second trip to Kohler-Andrae State Park in Wisconsin. I’m still getting used to the setting and the weather hasn’t provided us with fantastic skies yet. The sun rises at about 5:30AM this time of year so other than the friend I was with I had the beach to myself. This is an area where there are dunes with grasses and various trees just behind where I took this shot. Nothing is really grown in yet so it doesn’t provide a lot of interest, so I wandered the beach in search of a subject.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I found the shape of this driftwood compelling. There wasn’t much on the beach and the sky on it’s own was not very interesting. I felt like a lower angle with the wood filling my frame would make a more interesting shot. The challenge I always have with a shot like this is how to edit. The color is all very muted and somewhat neutral. I don’t want to over do it and make it appear unnatural. So it’s always a question of do I keep coming back and hope for better conditions or is there something more I could do in Lightroom.
Technical Details
This was: ISO 200, 51mm, f/13, and 1/6sec shutter speed. I cropped a little out of the right side of the frame.
Hello Dan and welcome to the NPN photo community.
This is a very fine image for this weeks WC Theme. The overall scene weather, drift wood and or tree and wave action reminded me of areas I traveled to in Alaska years ago…
You did a fine job of fitting the entire uprooted tree in and as a change you might add some space at the top there with a bit more sky. Just a minor change for another look there…
Paul thank you for the warm welcome. I appreciate the input on adding more space at the top of the frame. This is a location I’m certain to go back to so with any luck I’ll get another chance at this shot.
Dan, as this is such a nice take on this site and to save a trip you could add a small amount of canvas at the top in PS and then just clone or content aware some sky in that space. This sky is perfect for a maneuver such as that. Regardless, this is a very fine image as it is presented here…
Dan, welcome to NPN and the weekly challenge. This is a fine look at this large piece of driftwood in a very inviting setting. The wave action looks good and the sky has nice color along the bottom. I am chuckling because it clearly was a quiet beach when the big tree washed up, but it’s nicely peaceful now.
First off welcome to NPN, Dan. The muted colors work very nicely for this scene as they compliment the overcast sky. The stump is certainly the main star here and you did a wonderful job of showcasing that as it has a lot of character. My only suggestion would be to add a little canvas on the top edge as the stump is a little tight. Nice job on this image.
