The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Malin Head, Donegal, Ireland
Ireland has some truly epic coastal cliff scenery and Donegal is wild and spectacular especially on a big sea day which we were fortunate to get on our second visit to Malin Head the first day being a complete wash out. Huge heavy waves thundered into the basin at Malin slamming into the rock stacks sending plumes of spray skyward thence continuing its forward momentum to break on the rocky beach surrounded by thrift covered cliff tops adding a splash of magenta amongst the grassy tussocks. Late afternoon light was decent but oh my that golden splash of evening light as the sun descended was memorable and mouthwatering.
Fuji GFX50S, Fuji GF 32-64 zoom, polariser, 0.6ND Hard edge grad, f/29, 8 seconds, ISO 250
Technical Details
Fuji GFX50S, Fuji GF 32-64 zoom, polariser, 0.6ND Hard edge grad, f/29, 8 seconds, ISO 250
this is a brilliant scene and I absolutely love those seascapes! Must have been great to be there.
I took a shot and edited the image (quite heavily). This is because I feel like there are mainly two things missing to put the cherry on top:
a directional light/a strong light source as in the original image the light is rather flat and non-directional. If ever there’s a leading line I will follow, it’s the water coming from the bottom left. Therefore, I tried to put some more light there, coming from the top right corner.
an interesting foreground element (this I cannot change) that makes for a big-to-small-transition, like the flowers. There are flowers, but they do not lead my eye into the frame, they lead me out of the frame. The one flower at the bottom was truncated, so I deleted it.
I also put some haze in the background to give it more atmosphere and put the rocks in the rear more into the distance. Also, the rocks have more warm light on the sides.
I know, my edit is quite strong and you may not like it. But maybe it inspires you …
What a beautiful location! I think you’ve done well to capture its beauty. One suggestion I would make is to consider adding some drama to the sky by boosting the contrast and darkening it. You may need some work to balance it with the foreground after the fact but that depends on how far you take the darkening/contrast. There is good depth in the scene. I do get where @Markus_Albert is coming from regarding the flowers being a bit of a distraction. I wonder if darkening the foreground (including the flowers) would help make them more a part of the scene as opposed to competing with the main action in the distance. Maybe something else to play with if you’d like.
I like your image. To me it looks very natural and very much the way I may see it if i walked up to the scene. I might darken the sky a tad bit to create a bit more drama in the clouds, but maybe not so much in the way Markus has demonstrated. The slower shutter speed adds a great deal of drama and movement in the water and it looks fantastic. Overall it is a great image worthy of being very proud of.
Wow, this is gorgeous! I could see darkening the sky a bit more (I’m assuming your hard edge grad was to control the sky exposure), but that’s a nit pick.
I don’t get the same impression as Markus did, relative to the foreground-to-background concept. I see this more as landscape geometry, with the two triangles (land+flowers and ocean+rocks) “conversing” with each other. As you said, the light is relatively flat, so trying to impose stronger directional light on the scene feels odd. My personal preference is for flat light, anyway, so maybe that’s just my taste. Overall, I’m really enjoying this for the mood - makes me want to be there listening to the wind and the waves.
Ian, I am coming late to this picture, but it has captured me with it’s beauty. I also respond to the landscaage geometry mentioned by @Bonnie_Lampley I see two competing halves in this picture, the flowers on the bank and the coast line and the rocks. Both are dramatic. @David_Wallace, @Jmill59 , @Bonnie_Lampley all mention darkeing the sky. I agree. Flat lighting can be subtly manipulated by doging and burning and leading the eye into the picture. I took a shot at editting it in PS.
I dardened the sky, and the bank of flowers. Then I dodged a few of the flowers at the very bottom left. Next I doged the rocks in that area and selectively doged highlights on the waves. Then I doged areas of the cliff and rocks in the water to pick up a bit of light. I burned some of the flowers and grass on the right lower corner. I would consider taking out some of the flowers as did @Markus_Albert . I tried cropping in a bit of the bank, but I am not sure that helped balaance the picture. By the way I did straighten the horizon. It was off by just a very small amount. That was definiately nit-picking. Anohter comment on composition that I have learned the hard way. You will get a better sense of depth if the horizon line of the ocean is enough below or above that distant rock to separate it from the horizon. That becomes a matter of adjusting your point of view. Enough nit-picking. This is a beautiful picture, Ian.
