(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn) Canon (appropriately) 5DSR, f/6.3, 1/800 sec., ISO 500, 24 mm
Wow. If you photo is to help sell that real estate on the beach …job weel done. Might cropn and burn a bit, but maybe thats not your intent.
David,
Those clouds are absolutely gorgeous and they compliment the rough surf on the beach very nicely. If this were mine I would crop some from the right and bottom to emphasize all the good stuff going on here. I would also clone out those couple of burnt logs and the dust spot in the sky. I hope you do not mind, but here is a repost with what I was thinking. The mist on the BG surf adds a lot to the image.
Thanks for the ideas. I see what each of you are after. But I see something different. For me, as I assume Ed sees, the skies are a dynamic part of the picture. But I think both Ed and Dick, in my opinion, miss the black gravel on the bottom as mirror of the signature of the Canon Beach, the mount in the background, that holds the weight of the picture. I also feel the cropping is too much on the left as the storm is just developing there. Cutting out that part loses the chronology that’s developing in the picture. But, I’m surely wrong as not many people seem to agree with my assessents
Hi David,
In the end the only thing that matters is that you as the photographer are happy with your image. I obviously was not there when you captured this scene so my revision is just my thoughts on your image and how I perceived it. It would be boring if everyone liked the same exact thing. Photography is an art form and there is no right or wrong as people see things differently; so if you like your vision the best then I would go with it.
You have some very dynamic weather in a beautiful location. From a classic landscape image perspective the light is nice and I love the mist near the seastacks. The inclusion of the houses and the people introduce story telling elements that convey a sense of place.
We all look at images differently, but I do not see an obvious mirror of the seastack in the foreground gravel. For me it is too different in shape, size and luminosity to make that connection quickly. You see that connection, but I wonder how many viewers will? I do agree with you about not cropping the left away, I think it is a very important part of the image. Perhaps a vertical composition that focused on the gravel and the seastack would make that connection more obvious, but that is a very different image. I think most viewers are going to see the people and houses first, and the mirror is going to be harder to see because of all the other elements in the horizontal comp.
My initial reaction to seeing this image before reading any of the comments, was that less would be more here. IMO the people and buildings are stronger story telling elements than the foreground. Since the mirror is not an obvious connection to me, I would prefer to see a panoramic crop. This would strengthen the role of the people and houses in the composition, while retaining the strong light on the left. I would also clone away the dust bunny Ed mentioned, the person in teal near the house, and de-saturate the orange rock on the right (eye magnets). Here is a rework reflecting my comments. In the end, I come close to what @Dick_Knudson did.
Use of vertical to strengthen the mirror
My eye went first to the manmade stuff in the lower right-- obviously something to channel the water. Otherwise, I saw a nice shot of Cannon Beach. I do not mind seeing the houses and in fact, I like the way it reminds me of a people-friendly beach that I visited 10 years ago. The stormy sky and the mist are great-- very true to the weather of Oregon’s coast. I like the father and son images on the beach, but if I were composing the photo in my camera, I would have moved around to try to keep the storm drain out of the composition.
I see what people are saying, and to some extent, I agree. What I wanted were the storm, the iconic haystack in the background and the < shape that sets off the scene. I wanted the houses, but like others, I didn’t want the junk at the drain. By moving in to avoid the drain cut too much into the < shape, but if I stood far enough back, the drain became less attention getting and I thought putting more emphasis on the black stones in the foreground and the haystack in the background would also tend to de-emphasis the drain as it’s line is parallel to the line at the edge of the grassy area. I completely agree that the 2 people on the right are a distraction and cloning them out is a great suggestion! Portland and Cannon Berach-signed-34|690x414 .
Ed’s vertical picture really does bring out the mirroring really well, but at the sacrifice of the storm. Dick’s suggestion of burning (maybe contrast?) is correct. It’s more vivid that way. Just to give you an idea about the storm, it came in later when I was on the opposite end. Pictured here.
