*Hey everyone! I’d honestly love any kind of feedback *
How do the colours look? How does the transition top middle look between the pink into the orange? How does the composition look & does it work?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
2 shots, one for the foreground, one for the sky blended together and brought into Photoshop for dodge/burning, camera raw and adjustments using tk actions
Shot has some good elements and some not so (my opinion obviously). I think in terms of exposure, shutter speed etc it works pretty well. You’ve got that prett bang on. The flow round the rocks is ace. I also like the mood of it. However i think the colours are a bit much and there are a couple of compositional points that could be considered.
Here’s my feedback. Hope it helps
The image has an overall red/pink/magenta glow to it in my opinion, especially in the highlights and also to some extent in the shadows. I would maybe look at toning the highlights more towards yellow/orange as they would fit in better with the sun that is still setting.
Maybe have a go at split toning the shadows/highlights.
For some reason the sky in particular seems a little unnatural to me. I think, but could be wrong that there is not enough gradation between the bright sunset and the rest of the sky. It seems a bit flat. I think once you address the balance of the colours in this shot it will help but I may also try and run a grad filter to accentuate the transition from light to dark. It doesn’t have to be much
I feel that the composition is very left heavy. The cliff, the main rock (the triangular one) and the rock in the left foregrund all pull your eye to the left and away from the flowing water. The rock on the right also feels a bit cut off. If it eminated out a corner you could get away with it a bit more, but it seems a bit lost on its own.
I wasn’t there of coure, but think if you had taken a step or two left, the triangular rock wold have fallen more centrally. You could also get more of the rock pn the right and let it all draw you from the bottom of the scene into the frame and towards the setting sun.
I think this good and to me at least the colours and light balance appear spot on. I agree that the left side structure is heavy compared to the right and certainly the water splash at the bottom helps to make this a little more intriguing but with an ocean view it seems that this would probably be, if not the only compositional necessity then perhaps the best option available.
This is wonderful Dale. I hear the comments about the composition above, but it’s not a big deal for me because the flow has a nice diagonal and the sky interest is very good on the right. As for color, I could see emphasizing the blue/yellow a bit more at the top and bottom to increase color contrast:
I think you’ve done an excellent job with this one. I find coastal compositions to be the most difficult, often awkward because of the angles and imbalances - like combining giant cliffs with flat water… Overall, I think you’ve composed this about as good as one could from where you were. I like how you’ve balanced the rock and crashing waves at the bottom, with the larger sunset view.
Colors look pretty darn good to me. We can squabble over yellows, oranges, blues and pinks, but I’d say you’re pretty spot on.
also, good job combining the two exposures. The only suggestion I have includes increasing luminosity and less so the contrast, of the lower section. Granted, it’s supposed to be darker - the sun is down and clearly the horizon is going to be much brighter. So think of my version as an alternate one and not a corrective one - if that makes sense. I used a simple Levels layer, brought in both black and white points (contrast) and raised the level a bit (masked out the sky/ocean).
Then I did a slight crop. Tall verticals, especially a coastal shot like, seem more comfortable with not such a tall format. Just my .02, YMMV. Not sure if the crop strengthens or not.
Wow! That’s some color! I think that @Eugene_Theron is probably on to something about color here, but I am early in my experience and understanding of color theory. It would be interesting to go back to the original file and “see” what colors may have been present in the shadows with aesthetically pleasing/appropriate white balancing. Color is a very personal variable to recognize and communicate intentionally. I must say, I’m still on the steep part of that learning curve. I guess to my eye, the saturation of the yellows is quite strong, and the pinks are nice, but more diffuse/dominant than I would typically expect for such a fabulous night.
As for the composition, I actually think it works reasonably well. There is a dominant diagonal from upper left down towards lower right and there’s some modest symmetry to the pattern of the water in the foreground and the dominant high cloud…see image below.
Now, as to texture, the softness of the water works well. And the lack of oversharpening in the foreground and mid ground cliffs/rocks are pleasing to my eye also. The cliff edge where it meets the sky has some haloing and is very sharp compared to the neighboring rocks. So, softening that transition may be helpful.
No matter what, you were treated to quite a light show! Suspect you got to taste some ocean water too! Bonus!
Wow, a lot of suggestions have been made. I think @Lon_Overacker’s rework is about as good as you can make this image.
In my opinion, and I’m in the minority on this, the shutter speed is too slow. The water is so soft that it now looks like clouds. When flying over a cloud layer that is how clouds look below the aircraft. Like I said, I’m in the minority on this opinion.
I agree with @Igor_Doncov that @Lon_Overacker rework adds value y to this image. His subtle changes in the foreground help to balance the image. My only other suggestion would be to go back to the raw file and try to recover more highlight detail near the horizon, it looks clipped to me.
