Low tide night walk

Critique Style Requested: Initial Reaction

Please share your immediate response to the image before reading the photographer’s intent (obscured text below) or other comments. The photographer seeks a genuinely unbiased first impression.

Questions to guide your feedback

Hey y’all!

what I’m interested in mostly is how you perceive my edit (and especially the colors). The original horizons line was kind of orange-muddy, so I took it more on the red side.

Thanks!
Markus

Other Information

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Image Description

I took this image on a Frisian island in Germany. I know this place very well, so it’s rather hard to photography for me (and there’s not much going on). So, I decided to take my later and try some stuff. The idea is not new, I know! But it seemed the only way to put some kind of object into my image and feature the nice colors and clouds.

Technical Details

Bildschirmfoto 2024-04-15 um 17.49.06

Specific Feedback

Every other thought is welcome!

1 Like

Markus,

Initial reaction - Very cool! I especially love the light/shadow patterns in the sand.

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I like this Markus. The reddish tone to the last light works well and looks quite realistic. The rippled clouds juxtaposed with the ripples in the sand work very well. I don’t know if you can do anything about it in post, but to me the person’s light is a bit too much for the mood of the rest of the image.

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I would suggest a shorter exposure for the sky with perhaps a 1 to 2 second burst on the handheld lamp. Composition and overall design are quite pleasing which to me would suggest a reshoot.

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Hi Markus,
that looks great. I also like your color work here.

The OOF Stars pop nicely between the clouds

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Thank you very much, guys!

Sorry I’m late here – still underwater from the eclipse trip! This is a wonderful image, very well planned and executed! The colors look fine to me! The FG and horizon are gorgeous and the clouds point to the lone figure. The stars are a bit strange, with the halos. I wonder if that can be fixed?

Thanks for joining the discussion and giving your feedback, Diane!
Concerning the halos: I sometimes do this on purpose (dodging them a bit) in order to give it kind of a dreamy look. I found it quite appropriate as there was a high cloud cover anyway. It might not be to everybody’s taste.:slight_smile:

I wouldn’t object to the stars being diffuse, but the edges look artificially sharp. Fuzzier would be nicer, for my taste.

Here’s how they look shot with a refractor telescope (admittedly much more attuned to pinpoints of light than a daytime lens) and processed with astro software – just a quick screenshot.