Repost with Halos Removed:
Original:
Bandon Beach in Southern Oregon is my all time favorite place to photograph. This was taken in late May, 2018 as the sun was setting and a storm rolled in. I tried for a shutter speed that would provide a bit of motion in the waves.
Any comments appreciated.
Is this a composite: No
120mm, .4 sec @ f/22, ISO 100.
Great sky and real nice scene. I would be tempted to trim just a very little off the bottom to just include the whitewash LRC, but pretty minor change. Good one.
Wonderful image David. You managed to shoot this moody place under ideal conditions. Unfortunately I was less lucky during my lone visit. The waves have that angry look, as does the sky, and that goes well with these brooding monoliths. I don’t think I would crop off the bottom and bring the rocks further down.
David, I really love the very 19th century Romantic appeal of this image. It is in the colour palette - the greens of the ocean against the blues of the sky - and most especially in the lighting, which I really do find stirring. The storming clouds perfectly mirror the action of the surf. For me, maybe just a bit more texture in the leading , darker boulders on the left, would feel a little more satisfying to my eye, though this is a minor point.
On a technical note, I find the haloing, that is bound to show up when you’ve done the kind of contrast and colour adjustments that you have, undermines somewhat the overall effect of the image. The rocks don’t quite seem integrated because of the tiny, tiny outline caused by pixel separation. But it is very easy to fix using the clone stamp tool in photoshop. 1) Create a new (top) layer. 2) Select the clone tool 3)Not up top but to the right in the layers panel where it typically says “normal”, switch that to “Darker Color” (in other words you’re not changing the action of the tool but the action of the layer itself) 4) Set the clone stamp opacity to somewhere between 70 and 100% 5) Set the clone stamp fairly small and max feather and have the stamp follow from just off the edge of, in this case, the rocks. Because you’ve set the layer to “Darker Color” you won’t alter anything of the rock itself, you will only fill in the pixel gap with the sky color just beyond. This image will be quite quick and easy to alter. You don’t notice so much that the halo is there but you will really notice the difference when you compare it to when it isn’t, if you follow my meaning. In any case, splendid image!
I love the light and textures in those rocks. I also love how they pop out from the image and feel almost three-dimensional. Of Course, that sky just completes the image!
David, you did very well catching good action in the surf and outstanding details in the clouds. The ruggedness of the sea stacks fits pulls all of the other details together very well.
@Kerry_Gordon, thanks for catching the halos. I am usually very careful about halos, especially around sea stacks. This was originally processed in Adobe Capture Raw, I’ve since moved on to Capture One where the Halos are much better controlled. Thanks for the tip on getting rid of them. Works nicely, although is a bit tedious. 
I probably should just rework it in Capture One, but I used your tip and posted the change above. Thanks again.
Gorgeous image, with brooding sky and sea! Very well done!!!
David, this is simply gorgeous, there is a lot of raw power and energy in this image. Similar to @Kerry_Gordon comments it’s the color palette and light that set this image apart for me. These are weather condition to die for, and your image takes full advantage of them.
