During a recent trip to the beach I was messing playing with different shutter speeds on a 100-400 mm. Most didn’t work out at all but I had a few that I enjoyed. Some where I attempted to freeze parts of a wave while panning. The waves were small so it wasn’t as “epic” as some I have seen but hopefully I can tease a few good ones out. This one had a longer shutter speed as I panned which gave the appearance almost of a long exposure, its only 1/4 sec.
@james6 was kind enough to answer some of my questions and help me out with the technical bits before I got down there.
**You may see it posted in the discussions also, I had what may have been a hair on the lens which needed some fixing. This is the final…so far…version.
Specific Feedback Requested
Always open to suggestions, I was worried this one may be a bit over the top…too saturated/contrasty. Interested in what your thoughts are.
I think this is a fantastic abstract of nature and in my opinion is definitely not over the top in terms of saturation and contrast. In fact, I agree with João about making the highlights a bit brighter than they are now.
Thanks for checking it out. I added one where I used a luminosity selection to lighten up that area with a levels adjustment. I didn’t want to adjust the mid/darker areas because I like the colors and tones there. Would love to hear your thoughts on the adjustments!
Oooh, lovely! The colors are wonderful and your re-work is definitely an improvement. I especially like the brightening of the orange-ish area. I think you could dial back the highlights a tad on the white-stripe area in the blue water, as it feels too bright now. But just a bit.
@Bonnie_Lampley The white area is why I didn’t push it to begin with, it seemed to get hot pretty quick. I will knock it back 20-30% in that area and see what it’s like.
I love this image. I’m my opinion you went too far with the highlights. I would do something between the original and the rework. Given the choice between the two as they are now I would vote for the original. Just my opinion.
@Igor_Doncov Thank you! I am posting a revision that fits between the two that are currently there, I tried to adjust the white patch in the center to calm it a bit but left much of the boos tto the orange portion.
I will leave it for the day and revisit when I get home from work.
David, this image is excellent, the tones and colors are just wonderful. Very creative image on your part, when I first saw this I wasn’t sure if it was a long exposure, or an ICM, so thanks for the explanation , it sounds like this is sort of a hybrid of the two techniques. Whatever it is, it creates a dreamy, ethereal look. Version 2.1 nails the luminosity in my book. It was the oranges and the pinks that needed the most highlight boost IMO, and Version 2.1 does that well. Beyond the pastel colors I think what really makes this image work well are the alternating bands of light and dark tones, it is very striking visually. Well done…
Hi David. I love this shot (all of them). I like the more subdued feeling I get from the original best, but I tend to like darker photos more than most people do.
@Ed_McGuirk thank you sir! I always value your feedback. It is something I played around with some more so I have some other images where some parts have a more “frozen” effect while others are blurred. I’m not as good with it as some others I have seen but I enjoyed playing with it, and will do so again this summer!
@Kris_Smith Thank you! I appreciate it, your comments were helpful in improving the image.
@Marc_Brawer I tend to lean darker as well which is where I initially landed. For some reason, highlights in my images always feel really bright. I think it is because there are often a lot of darker tones so the juxtaposition of the two makes the highlights seem out of place. I think this one ended up working out pretty well in the 2.1 version. I like it because it still retains that overall dark feel from sunset the second version pushed the white patch too far though which I knew pretty much immediately after posting it. Thanks for checking it out!
David, this is a real beauty. Very creative and excellent execution. For me, a perfect balance would be somewhere between version 1 and 2.1. The colors of 2.1 are perfect, but the highlights are still too bright in 2.1. If you would take those water highlights closer to the original I think it would be spot on.
Hey @Bill_Chambers I hear ya! Obviously the original had a darker mood to it, I think the highlight boost worked on the lower portion of the image but I keep coming back to the white patch. Not sure if I like 2.1 or the original better. I think both have their merits and I’m probably going to let it sit for a bit to see how I feel with each version. Thanks for your feedback! So many positive comments on here, I’m quite shocked.
Hello @joaoquintela Thank you for stopping by I appreciate the feedback. softening the white part a bit more seems to be preferred by many, I’ll sit with it and see where I end up. Thanks again!
So many reactions and possible re-edits, always a sign that the image evokes emotions!
Lovely image to play with, I think I like the last one (@Bill_Chambers ) the best.
This is a lovely photo with nice lines and movement. I prefer the top version 2. I think it’s a nice compromise between the other two. I am really drawn to this image.
@Han_Schutten and @Chris_Baird thank you for your input. I’m going to try to thread the needle between what @Bill_Chambers posted and 2.1 most likely. I think boosting the whites a bit isn’t bad but 2.0 went too far.
To be honest, I’ve never had such a positive reaction to an image I made not quite sure how to take it! I’m pleased with how it turned out and hope to make more images going forward that people are happy to discuss with me!
Your image is very ethereal and painterly David. I absolutely agree with Han. “So many reactions and possible re-edits, always a sign that the image evokes emotions!”
not quite sure how to take it! I’m pleased with how it turned out and hope to make more images going forward that people are happy to discuss with me!