This image was shot on a recent camping trip to the Oregon coast with a camera club. Living in the PNW, I’ve shot at Bandon beach several times. Often it’s either bluebird skies or cloudy grey skies, so I was happy to get some conditions in between these extremes. I cropped the image to include only three instead of four seastacks and decrease the effect of large cloud in the left side of the frame. Edited in ACR and PS. I used a luminosity mask on the sky to lighten up some of the darker areas especially the cloud on the left. I cleaned up some of the distracting elements in the sand and water reflection. I shot a fair number of frames that night but this is one I am unsure about. Is it too formulaic?
Specific Feedback Requested
Composition – agree or disagree with the cropping decision?
Editing decisions
Any useful feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Hello Patrick, Oregon is a dream location for me, I always love seeing images from here. I love the birds you were able to capture in this one and the low hanging mist/atmosphere from the waves is a really nice touch too. In my opinion, you’ve done a good job recovering the tones in the image, there is a good amount of detail you were able to pull out of the shadows which is great. Personally, I con’t mind the cloud on the left and the addition of the large rock brings some depth to the scene. For me, the saturation has been cranked a bit too far. The blues and oranges have become a bit electric and I quite appreciate the soft, subtle colors in the raw file you have shown. I really like the texture in the sand in the LLC as well, maybe accentuating that a bit could add another element.
I took a crack at it. Personally I would desaturate it a bit more, but as I started pulling back the saturation in the blues and yellows things started to fall apart a bit due to the jpg file I’m assuming, going back to the raw would give a lot more options.
@David_Wallace, thanks for the feedback. I took out the increased saturation layer on this version. I agree! I still like the crop I submitted better than the uncropped frame.
I love this location so much! I grew up in Myrtle Point, just 30 miles away! I really like the full uncropped image and think some of the most interesting color and light is happening way out in the left side of the frame. I’d probably stick to a less saturated version of the image as well, and focus on the textures of the clouds and sand. To me, that’s where the magic happens. I did a little rough version myself just to see if I could get that light to pop.
I agree that the original capture has more character in all that darkness than the reprocessed image(s). I think Dan’s more restrained processing is better suited for this raw file.
@David_Wallace@Dan_Hawk@Igor_Doncov , thanks for all the feedback. So I went back to the original image and started over. A little bit of vibrance but no increased saturation. I did not crop it but did do lens correction and straighten the horizon. I kept the contrast/dynamic range somewhere between the first image and Dan’s edit. I cleaned up some of the distracting elements in the foreground. Finally, I added a little bit of clarity in the area adjacent to Face Rock and the sunburst.
Wow, it must have been nice to have Bandon right in your backyard! Despite growing up in the Portland area in the 60s and 70s I never visited Bandon until 2002.
Beautiful sunset image from Bandon. Count me in on one who prefers the original uncropped format. I think the color gradation of the sunset sky looks great in the wider view.
Your edited version looks great. From a personal choice perspective, I think just the blue in the sky is just every so slightly saturated, but again within the personal choice realm. Dan’s rendition is beautiful too, although for me just a shade too dark.
Thanks for posting! Oh, what you can do in future posts is when you want to post an edited version, open up/edit your original post and add the image there with something in the title including “+repost” or “+RP” or something to indicated to viewers you’ve reworked your image. This way viewers can cycle thru the edits comparing them. Just fyi.
