One of the great things about shooting at the ocean is that each swell can dramatically change the scene. This is at one of my favorite spots to shoot at low tide in San Diego, a recent storm pulled out a lot of sand really exposing these rocks.
I’m really happy with how the lighting and colors came out but I’m still not sure I love the composition. I tried cropping the sky out but it really needs to be there to tell the story. I tried adding a little more sky to the top of the frame to get more sky to fill up the top third but that looked really funky.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Do the colors look natural? Any critique is welcome.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Does the crop work? Does the little bit of clouds at the top help the story?
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single exposure, 10 stop ND filter used for the 104 second exposure.
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@andrewjameshertel
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Love the concept here Andrew. I like the softness of the rocks against the sea and the lower contrast/higher key appearance of the image is a nice transition towards the horizon. I would be tempted (myself) to dodge the deeper shadows in the immediate foreground rock however. My only other comment is that the entirety of the image feels just a little cramped for the openness of the sea in the background. It seems that the image would perhaps benefit from some breathing room around the rocks. I’m sure you considered this in the field and perhaps this was not an option. Still, a beautiful scene to imagine experiencing…thanks for sharing!
Thank you @Jim_McGovern, I appreciate the feedback. I know what you mean about the image feeling cramped, there wasn’t much I could do about that since there were so many rocks especially to the left. I was so focused on the cropping of the sky I didn’t really pay enough attention to the crowding of the rocks. Need to do better border patrol in the field. It was one of those outings that was so great witnessing with my eyes I’m just trying to force the image. Thanks again.
“I’m really happy with how the lighting and colors came out but I’m still not sure I love the composition”
Long exposure seascapes can be fun to do, and the seaweed on those rocks is awesome. And I think you ended up using a good shutter speed for the long exposure waves.
The composition does feel a bit cramped as @Jim_McGovern mentioned. There are a lot of rocks along the frame edges that are cut off in ways that don’t look like deliberate decisions to crop them that way. This contributes to the cramped feeling for me. I agree with you that the sky is helpful, it gives your eye a place to rest after following the leading lines of the rocks. Many of the rocks lead your eye from right to left towards the color in the sky. But the big rock in the center points away to the right, and due to its size that rock carries a lot of visual weight. This makes it a bit dissonant with the other rocks. Due to the color in the sky and the positioning of the rocks, the composition also feels too heavily weighted to the left, and a bit unbalanced. Change in shooting position (moving to left), might have helped, but not being there I don’t know what constraints you faced.
Beautiful sky, rocks and with the shutter speed, mood created by the misty look. I would agree with @Jim_McGovern and @Ed_McGuirk about the room on the sides, but I still really like the image.
Thank you very much for the feedback @Ed_McGuirk@Harley_Goldman , I appreciate it! Funny how we, the artist, can get tunnel view on our own images. I didn’t even notice that the big rock was pointing in the opposite direction of the others, I was focused on getting the green moss and the sunlight correct that I didn’t even notice. Thanks for pointing that out. Not much more I could have changed with the composition due to where I had to set up. I great learning experience non the less, thanks again for the feedback.
Love this. I think the long exposure has really transformed this in to a quiet, almost tranquil image. So often the sea with it’s crashing waves and constant motion, it’s difficult to quiet things down. I think you’ve done very well here. I know many don’t like the “ghostly”, silky results, but I think there’s a time and a place for all shutter speeds (we’re shutter speed inclusive here…) And I think the results are wonderful.
So, to the sides and feeling a little cramped, I would have to agree somewhat. But also understand we’re almost always constrained with things we as viewers can’t see outside the frame; and so in the field we make the best decisions we can. Not sure if this would work for you in terms of how far to take modifications, but I took some liberties here for illustration. So for a smidge more room on the left I removed the cut off rock on the left as I thought that was adding to the notion of feeling tight on that side. Then I added a few pixels of canvas for just a skosh more room.
As far as the sky up top, I think it works very well in your original and I think is an asset. The difference that I see, including the bit of sky up top does a couple things: Adds depth and also context, location. We know there’s a horizon. Alternatively, cropping the sky changes to where there is no context, really no depth. But what is added now is that sense of infinity, mystery or a never ending expanse and so the context of where these rocks and moss are located - is gone.
I also added canvas up top after cropping the sky.
Honestly, your original is quite excellent as presented. An alternative view for thought:
Thanks again @Igor_Doncov@Lon_Overacker@Jim_McGovern@Harley_Goldman@Ed_McGuirk for your feedback. I went ahead and reworded the image by cropping and cloning out the bottom rocks, adding a little more sky to the top and removing the rocks on the left. I feel the image has a lot more breathing room.
And I think the results are wonderful.
