It has been a high surf advisory the last few days and thought it would be exciting to watch the incoming tide at the Maritime Preserve in Dana Point. Actually was hoping for a few Surfbirds along these rocks and had a large lens (200-500) to try and shoot them. Alas, not so many birds. The lens was heavy and bulky and not needed for the shots I ended up taking. Thought about it but I did not dare open the camera up and change lenses so close to the water. ( I’ve got enough dust specs on my sensor as is.)
Specific Feedback Requested
I liked the intimacy and the rock composition for this shot and didn’t have to wait too long for a few good sets to arrive. But now that I see it here, I am bothered by that slightly open right side. Does it look like it could use a little more weight ? I did like the idea of that slightly open darker spot in the wave crash.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Nikon D7100, Nikkor 200-500mm at 220, f8 1/800, ISO 200 handheld.
All LR edits…softened the rocks, backed off on saturation and brushed down the highlights in the wave to get some rolling texture.
1 Like
Hey @Stephen_Stanton I really like the energy in this one, very dynamic! I’m wondering if you cropped in from the top right corner toward the bottom left…as you said it is kind of open, I don’t mind it but by doing so you could also eliminate the two very small tips of what appear to be rock poking in on the right edge of the frame, you could also potentially crop out the white triangle between the bottom two rocks. I like your shutter speed as it froze the action in the wave, there is lots to look at here!
Stephan, I like this one a lot too. Your chosen composition has a well balanced, and interesting arrangement of rocks. I do not think the open URC is a problem. In fact I think showing that much spray in the URC adds some energy to the image. I also find the triangle shaped rock in the URC to have a very interesting shape, and having all that space around it accentuates it.
Shooting a dark subject against a white background can be tough sometimes, but I think you have done a good job of pulling it off here. With that said, I could see a slight dodging of the rocks to try to reveal a bit more color and texture in the rocks.
You’ve captured dynamic of the crashing surf very effectively. I like the arrangment of the rocks and great choice of SS. No the “open” side doesn’t bother me. In fact I think it is important to the image.
Thank you for the comments @David_Wallace @Michael_Lowe @Ed_McGuirk. I appreciate the feedback and input. I never noticed the small white triangle in the LRC, thanks for mentioning it @David_Wallace. I’ll definitely fix that and think I’ll stick with the current comp and leave the open side right side as is. It is a good rock.
