“Bowling Ball Beach”, Northern California, blue hour a few days ago. Curious about what others think of the composition and blending of the sky and sea?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
This is an exposure blend of the sky and sea. 8-sec exposure at f/8, ISO 800, 24-70 @61mm. It was taken 45 minutes post-sunset. (The light on the horizon is a fishing boat.) There was a storm earlier in the day and I was hoping for a bit more drama in the sky but alas, this is what Mother Nature was serving this evening.
I like texture of the water and the foreground rocks that you have captured here. I like the blue feeling as well although subjectively I would consider adding more saturation to the warm colours and maybe slightly reduce the saturation of the blues.
I must admit that the image was slightly confusing before reading your text. At first look I assumed the light in the horizon was a moon rise which would be counter to the light on the front of the rocks which suggests that the scene is front lit.
Beautiful light. The light from the boat does look like the sun. I would agree with Nathan about boosted the warm tones in the sky but I am liking the blues in the water. I might do some cloning of the rocks along the edges to give some edge space, as I find the cutoff rocks on the edge draw my eye a bit. A good look at Bowling Ball Beach.
Here is a reworked version based on the feedback so far. I had a hard time boosting the warm tones in the sky I think since they are so subtle and there is a fair amount of atmospheric haze preventing it from getting muddied? This version is the original RAW image and not a composite. I used a gradient to try and boost the sky separate from the rest of the image and backed off on the white balance, vibrance and saturation adjustments. I also cloned out some of the rocks but while I like what this does to the balance of the composition, not sure I am fond of that much cloning? Something to think about.
Keith, You did a great job with the image. I agree with @Adhika_Lie about cloning the LLC and darkening the LRC. I like the blue water as is. Just for fun, I cropped the sky to see if it would improve the image. I think your version maybe better, but I’m included the crop anyway.
Bowling Ball Beach is a very cool place. I like your original with the rocks going to the edges; to me, it’s not like there is just one rock at the edge that draws my attention. Having them go all the way to the edges lets us know there’s more to the scene than we can see in the frame.
The sky looks very realistic for that area, after a “clear sky” sunset. I rather like the pink tone. Perhaps just a boost in the saturation of the pinks and/or a slight adjustment in hue would make it pop just a bit. Anyway, it’s a lovely photo. The moonlight on the concretions (that’s what the bowling balls are) is a bit surreal with that feathery water.
Great photo. I love the composition and the red and blue tones. I find the boat reflection distracting and if it were my photo I would clone it out. Not a deal breaker though, it is a lovely photo. Well done.
@Tony_Siciliano, I appreciate your feedback! @Bonnie_Lampley, thank you as well and for the reminder of just what the heck those rocks are called. It is an extremely interesting geologic feature that is very unique on the West Coast, not sure where else in the world “concretions” can be found like this? I look forward to spending more time here. This was my second time in about 15 years, next time for sure will be sooner!
Nice image Keith. The idea and execution of your exposure blend worked very well. I love the way the water looks, it’s the perfect color. When I first glanced at the image without reading your description, I thought the color temperature of what I assumed was a sun-star looked odd, it looks too cool to be from the sun. Then I read that it is from a boat light and I understood why.
The rocks almost look like a mass of sea creatures such as horseshoe crabs.
This is a lovely scene, Keith. The stones remind me of the cobbles you can find on Cobble Beach in Acadia NP, ME. I think the warm and cool tones compliment each other rather nicely and the blend of the sky and water looks great. The light from the boat does not bother me as it does look like the sun getting ready to dip below the horizon. I do like @Larry_Greenbaum’s repost as it does get rid of the bland part of the sky. Looks like a great way to end the day.
Beautiful image! I’ve always wanted to go there and I hope too since it’s in my reaching living in Northern CA!
Like others, a bit perplexed initially until reading the details. I’m still perplexed how a fishing boat out at sea could generate enough light to create this, but it is what you must say it is right? It’s not a problem at all - other than for us analytical critiquers who want to break this down…
But this looks close enough to be the sun/moon and I’m going with it. Having said that, what makes it odd - given that I think it’s the sun or moon, is the very cool tone of that bright light (ok, it’s probably halogen, LED source…? makes sense) but I WANT it to be warm like a sunset - that is my reaction.
so I made an attempt along those lines. I selected the bright lights and used a couple of layers, Selective color, color balance and also simple layers to try and alter the color, brightness, etc. Quick and dirty so the resulting color here isn’t what I would have settled with, but just trying to show what may be possible.
also cloned the LLC and burned down the LR as well.
Oh, lastly, I can’t speak for Harley and is comment on cloning on the edge, but my interpretation was not to the extent of your clone (yeah, would agree that’s too much,) but there was just one clipped piece of rock on the right that grabbed my eye. Maybe that’s what Harley was thinking too. So I just did a CA clone on that little piece.
I think this a cool image and I hope you work this and make a great print!
Thank you Lon for the thoughtful response. Yes, I was perplexed for a minute when I downloaded my images from a day of shooting on the Mendocino coast and saw this one toward the end of the LR filmstrip. I was thinking how did a sunset image end up at the end when I was shooting well past sunset? I had to check the time stamp and realized, oh ya, that was a boat, 45 min after sunset!
I appreciate everyones feedback! It is really interesting, educational, and invaluable! I will enjoy working on this image to see where I can take it thanks to everyones feedback.
I may be going against the grain here, but I like the wider composition with the circular collection of circular stones with the empty space to either side in the re-worked version. I do agree with the top crop removing as much of the empty sky as you did, and with wanting a bit more warming tones up top. Getting that warmth without things getting muddy can be a challenge as you said however.
Thanks @jonfischer for the feedback! I’m kinda torn between the reworked version and @Lon_Overacker version but am leaning a bit more with the original “concretions” without the cloning, except for the lower left corner. Definitely a problem with digital capture…to many choices!
@Keith_Flood - as someone who just spent the last 2 hours re-editing his last edit instead of working on the deep stack of untouched stuff, I totally agree with the ‘too many choices’.
