Rework with suggestions (burned some of the white waves, added a little bit of punch to the opening between the clouds and the water, Added a little bit global light and dodged just the rock formations ever so slightly. I think there is a little bit more of a glow now and also removed the small rock on the left edge)
This image is from last year on my return trip from visiting with my daughter in Washington. It’s been well over 4 months since I’ve snapped a single landscape image (so busy with work) so I’m going back through my images from over the past year that are just sitting on the hard drive. I had only been to Bandon, Oregon once before so I thought I’d stop in and try my luck once again. The weather was cloudy, pretty much socked in, so I opted to go black and white for the processing. The color version had almost no color in it anyway so it was the obvious choice. I don’t recall if this was high tide or low tide or perhaps somewhere in between but it doesn’t really matter. I stood just close enough to the waters edge to get the tripod feet slightly in the incoming and outgoing water and took several exposures long enough to just slightly blur the water. Although it looks like I’m deep in the water it’s simply the focal length.
At the time that I took this image, the clouds were just starting to break along the horizon but not enough to color the sky very much.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
I guess I’m more interested in the overall aesthetic of the image and perhaps if there is any artistic value to this image.
For me, given that the wind was howling and the weather was bad I felt like the Dog should be Howling.
Technical Details
Z711, ISO 64, 24-70mm @ 40mm, F/13, 1.7 seconds, single shot
Very beautiful. I like the cleanness and crispness of the image. Maybe that’s a result of the rich, dark rock. The overall darkness looks good. This is like a study in black tones. The water’s dark gray tone is gorgeous (as is the smoothness), with just a touch of white.
By the way, the white border is good looking too.
Great shot David!
This is perfect, as is. The dark presentation certainly sets a mood which, for me, is a somber one. But, I like it. Lovely composition, spot on processing, beautiful scene.
Hi David,
I like the dark moody look of the image. The shutter speed is just right so that the patterns of the waves match somehow the patterns of the clouds.
And I love this tiny little detail with the bird resting on the rock.
My advice: just print it out and hang it on the wall.
I really like the mood you get here, and those water patterns are amazing.
If you don’t mind I would suggest some burning on the face of the rock and the water patterns, and I would erase the small rock on the left border (roughly on the middle)
Beautiful, stormy look to this scene, David. Really love the black and white. I also really like the shutter speed you used for the water, it actually seems to do something for all the rocks surrounding the ‘howling dog’, like they are moving too! Beautiful image!
Hi David, Always a treat to see one of your images on display, even if it is pulled out of your backlog. As I scrolled through some of the recent postings on this page, it took me about 1/8th of a second to recognize that this was one of yours. It is very moody and just edging on abstract . I might be tempted to bring up the detail on the leading stack and perhaps the one just to its right - but just a hair for added mystery. It would be interesting to print this one as I suspect the subtle tonality would play rather differently in print then when back lit on a monitor. And this would be a killer print.
Oh my! So, so moody and even ominous. Can’t think of much to add that hasn’t already been said. I would agree with Kerry in -maybe- lifting some of the darkest stacks to provide a hint of detail - and maybe more so in the secondary rocks, not necessarily the main one.
I too love the water. Just a beautifully executed seascape. It’s not often that such darkness works so well… but this one breaks the mold!
Moody and mysterious; I love this David! This is what I call making lemonade from a lemon. B&W was definitely the way to go with this scene. Everything looks perfect to me and the seabirds on the rocks were a nice little visual treat as well. That lighter sky along the horizon is key in this moody image as it helps to separate the darkness of the sky and water. No suggestions from me.
As I’m sure you all know, this was meant to be dark, mysterious and moody but I will play with some of the darks as Lon and Kerry suggest and repost. I will also remove the very small rock about half way up the left side of the frame just under the larger rock as Joao suggests (great catch Joao). I might even burn down some of the water waves just a smidge.
As Ed says, this was making lemonade from lemons since the conditions were rather drab and there was no color in the sky. Black and white was the obvious choice here. Ed also noted that this wouldn’t have worked quite so well had it not been for the bright band of light between the clouds and the water. That’s for sure. Thanks for noting that, Ed. It wouldn’t have worked at all.
I’ll post a rework tonight. Thanks for the your tips, suggestions and your eagle eyes.
I really like this image, David! The composition is beautiful and the moody black and white is spot on! On a side note, I had no idea that this rock was called howling dog but yeah, it definitely looks like it’s just that.
This is pretty much how I see Bandon as well - dark, moody, and mysterious. I also think that b&w is the way to best showcase this place. Perhaps I’ve been influenced by Cole Thompson’s fine work here. In fact, this does remind me somewhat of his take on the place. The difference is that he uses very long exposures to stretch out those clouds, which enhances the spooky look. The composition is excellent and I like all those subtle tonal variations in the water (and sky). This is certainly better than anything I came back with from Bandon.
@Tom_Nevesely , @Igor_Doncov …Thanks very much for your comments.
Tom, I knew nothing of the place the first time I visited so I did a little bit of research and found that many people get The Howling Dog rock and the Wizards Hat rock confused and that’s where I first saw the name of this rock formation. Glad you like the moody nature of this image, Tom.
Igor, I think you’re right about this place. It’s rather colorless, foggy, and sterile most of the time which can play well with B&W and I had no color in this image so it made sense to do the conversion. I didn’t even think to try and longer exposure as I was trying to retain some texture in the water but I’ll have to try that if I ever go back to this location. Thanks as always for your input.
