I went to one of the local So. Cal beaches to shoot piers at sunset on an angry winter evening hoping to get some good light. There were heavy clouds everywhere, particularly along the horizon which generally means I am getting shut out for dramatic “colorful” light and it was raining. About 20 minutes before sunset an opening appeared just along the horizon for about 5 minutes. It lasted long enough to allow me to move my camera beyond the pier and just shoot the shoreline with some color in the sky. There are dark, swirly sand and debris deposits that a previous wave had washed up, leading the eye right to the opening in the sky. I love the dark, brooding clouds, the two smaller openings in the sky and the rain squall out at sea. Hope you like it too.
Specific Feedback Requested
Please offer up and comments and critiques you can think of. And thanks for taking a look.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon Z7, 24-70 f/4 lens, 24mm @f/16, ISO 50, 3 seconds
A very pleasing image David, I like the distinct transitions between each of the land, sea and sky. The sky is great, very menacing with a hint of the night to come!
The sand ripples work to lead you in to the photo and the 3 second exposure has softened the water nicely.
Really nice one, David. Great threatening sky and I really like the light on the sand and wash. Good bold colors too. Looks like maybe you did a slight vignette, which works quite well. No nits here.
I have never seen SoCal beaches look this good. The lighting is handled wonderfully as all the composition moves towards the source of light. I agree that the vignetting or dodging has given this a great atmosphere. I am really curious what the original looked like. Love it.
Wonderful capture, David. Despite the foreboding clouds, the scene feels quite peaceful, at least for me. Love how the leading lines from the horizon and water edge lead right to the sunset. Just beautiful.
I love the ominous sky, and your bold processing of this scene, the high contrast treatment works ell for me. I also love the luminosity of the wet sand in the URC. For me that is the icing on the cake that completes the image.
Outstanding, David. The colour palette and tone lend this image a profoundly ominous mood. I think it’s the beach that puts this picture over the top - the way it merges with the surf and how the three layers - the sand, the backwash and the surf direct the readers eye along to the light and horizon. Beautifully processed.
Thanks Igor! I’ve added the un-edited original so you can see how dark and relatively bland and dead the original is. Interestingly enough, the lens actually created the vignette. I think it’s mostly due to the ND filter I had on at the time which tends to vignette when shooting wide open. I actually reduced the natural vignette in the processed version.
Thanks @Ryan_H , @Harley_Goldman , @Igor_Doncov , @linda_mellor , @Ed_McGuirk , @David_Bostock , @Tom_Nevesely , @Kerry_Gordon , @Diane_Miller for your thoughts and comments. Igor had asked to see the original so I posted a copy of the rather bland, un-edited original. Interested if you would have taken this in a different direction or not. You can see I removed a pier and a tanker ship on the right far horizon. I also underexposed so I wouldn’t blow out the highlights.
Interesting – I love the highlights in the unedited capture. I wonder if it’s possible to bring up the darks and not lose the highlights.
Had a play with first the CRAW filter – highlights down, shadows and exposure up, some clarity. Then added a TK Darks 2 mask and brought up the darker tones with a curve as shown. Could have gone further.
Oh wow @Diane_Miller . You have better balance between the darks and the lights than I do and that dark leading line in the sand is way more pounced. Super job Diane. Thanks for sharing this. It gives me some ideas for a rework on this image. I also see that I removed some of the magenta hue from raw and my post has more Cyan blue. Not sure why I did that. I like your sky better. I posted your rework.
I like what Diane did with the sunny part of the sky but I prefer the brighter surf of the original. It may be more natural to make it darker but the bright version gives that part of the image greater presence. I’m going to start working with my newly purchased ND filters.
@Igor_Doncov Which new filters did you get? I just purchased the new magnetic Kase filters and find them super easy to use with no color cast and no vignetting. My old Lee filters were much harder to use and also vignette when shooting wide open with my 14-30 and my 24-70 lenses.
The lines in this are exquisite. I love those diagonals leading to that horizon, and the is great layering too. I agree about the lighter sand and surf.
