Gray Day + Repost



Repost - I attempted crops similar to the suggestions below. I think I really like the “near square” crop. Thanks for the suggestions.

This was taken at Vestrahorn in Iceland. It really wasn’t this gray the entire time we were there, but for a while the mountain almost disappeared. I was playing with wave patterns, but the waves were so slow that I didn’t get much. I found out that really doesn’t work too well. However, I kind of liked these rounds. They almost look like fish scales. They are also about the only thing happening in the scene. :slight_smile:

Specific Feedback Requested

I do think now that I wish I had more mountain in the scene, but I was avoiding people on the beach to my left - that is, I cropped them out. They were moving too much for my exposure time. I have them in another image, because one of them is wearing an orange coat. :smiley: Thoughts?

This originally was hazier with a brighter sky (basically no detail). Have I added too much detail with dehaze, contrast, and bringing down highlights in the sky?

Technical Details

Sony A7C, ISO 100, 3.2s, f/14, 20mm
Processed in Capture One. I used some clarity for midtone contrast. I also used some dehaze to get a tiny bit of color/texture back in the mountain. I used a little contrast and structure in the water to bring out the patterns, and I brought highlights down in the sky for just a little texture there as well. It was really a very low contrast image.

2 Likes

Karla, the semi-circles in the water are outstanding. They are amazingly clean shaped. This view works well with the subtle details in the sky and the fading mountains. I could also see going to a pano with the top just above the distand water as a way to emphasize the patterns in the water.

Karla,

The atmospheric conditions along the coast during certain times of the year - are perfect for low contrast situations.

Those half-circle swirls are indeed quite amazing. I think by including the mountain and surf the swirls are an important accent/foreground element. Cropping as Mark suggests certainly makes them more prominent. But I think the overall balance you’ve achieved is quite good with the image you’ve presented.

Great entry for the challenge!

Lon

I’d say as a result of this challenge that thinking in terms of low contrast photoraphy - is something to keep in our tool box…

Those curved lines really are great, and offer a nice way of balancing the composition (which is rather challenging). As an alternative to Mark’s crop suggestion, I could see an option of cropping off the sides. It would end up almost squarish, but would place heavier emphasis on the patterns by losing some of the emptier space while retaining the strongest (right 2/3) part of the mountain.

@Mark_Seaver , @Lon_Overacker , @Max_Waugh - First of all, thank you for the comments. I had not thought of the various crop options and I am intrigued by them. I’ll give them a try, hopefully before the week is out.

I also appreciate your encouraging comments on the half circles. I’m glad you enjoyed those. I almost didn’t post this because, while I liked them and thought them the best from the images I tried, I more or less considered my experiment unsuccessful. In fact, I didn’t really give much thought to the speed of the water in creating lines/patterns until I was doing this and realized how very slow and shallow it was, and how much difference it made. I was kind of laughing at myself for trying to make wave patterns in those conditions.

Balance is something I need to pay more attention to, so I’m glad that was mentioned.

Thanks again for the helpful comments. If I can, I will try a couple of crops and repost.

1 Like

@Mark_Seaver Thanks for the unexpected EP! :slight_smile: