Minimalism in Blue

A bit of an experiment here. We got up for sunrise, but obviously that was not happening with the heavily overcast sky so rather than hang it up we decided to emphasize the conditions we were dealt. I just tried to keep it simple and use the lobster boat as a point of reference. Just wondering if this works for anyone?

What technical feedback would you like if any?

All C&C welcome

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

All C&C welcome

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Nikon D800, Nikon 80-200 @ 200mm, f 8 @ 1/25 sec, ISO 100, cable release & tripod

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Hi Ed,

I like the soft light and the colour of this shot.

For me the boat and the wake are a distraction to a calm peaceful scene.

If this shot was mine I’d remove the boat and looks to bring more textures out of the sky and make the sky the main subject.

:thinking:

Ed, I am not sure… this doesn’t work quite well for me. I like the sky, I like the water, but the story is not quite there yet for me. This is a great canvas for a composite though. Have you ever thought of playing with that?

Hi @Ed_Lowe, really nice shot. I love the simplicity of the composition. Did you try to put the boat in the centre of the frame? Thanks for sharing.

Ed - this reminds me of a shot I took a few months ago…where I specifically asked if an element was too small in the frame.

?Too Small in Frame?

I reviewed the comments I recieved from this and the consensus was that indeed it was too small in the frame as an indentifiable element that helps to tell the story. Interestingly, you were the first to comment on my image and others agreed that your take was correct. I do like the color and gentleness of textures here and like @Nathan_Klein said, I’d be tempted to create a different story/message. Hope this helps.

Ed, the blue, minimalist view looks good, with enough texture in the water and the clouds to keep things interesting. I also like the boat, but feel like the wake is getting too much attention. You could clone out the entire wake to create a “lost in the vastness” view or do some reverse burning/dodging on the wake to reduce how much attention it gets.

Ed,

Minimal indeed and I like it. I think it works. Having the boat provides context, and for me anyway helps draw attention to, or look for, a horizon. Just having the boat makes me want to see and have a horizon line, but it’s not there. Makes this pretty engaging I think.

I might suggest a couple things though. There’s a bright white spec - a buoy? that I would certainly clone out. I’m not sure about the other, softer white things near the right edge; too big for birds? Not as distracting as the buoy. The other, more significant, suggestion is having the dark wake merging with the left edge. May just be my perspective, but I would like to have a clean edge with just enough space behind the boat’s wake. Shouldn’t be too difficult - but for sure I like that the boat is not centered and there is plenty of room ahead of the boat for movement.

Couple of tweaks and I’d like this even more.

Lon

Thanks guys @Nathan_Klein, @Adhika_Lie, @masdamb, @Jim_McGovern, @Mark_Seaver and @Lon_Overacker. I appreciate your input.
@Nathan_Klein & @Jim_McGovern: I thought there might be differing opinions on the boat because it was small in the frame. Here is another image without the lobster boat. This one was a lot of work; I think I must have cloned out at least a hundred birds. :grinning:
@Mark_Seaver & @Lon_Overacker: I removed some of the wake from along the left side and cloned out the boat light along the horizon. I removed the highlights on the right from the sun trying to peak through.
@Adhika_Lie: That’s cool; it would be boring if everyone liked the same thing. I had not thought about a composite’ I will keep that in mind.
@masdamb: Glad you liked the image. I am not a big fan of centering things as I like the rule of thirds better. Thanks for your idea though.

Ed, the “boatless” one is a fine “study in blue”. Your wake removed helps, but I think cloning out the entire black part would look good. A tip of my hat for your bird removal effort.

An interesting discussion…
I think I would accept that I got up early for nothing except to enjoy the new day. Nothing interesting happens, so what. That’s all in the game. No need to spend time post-processing an image that would (in my case) probably end up with so many others in the waste bin. Not to be blunt, a matter of taste for sure, but frankly speaking I don’t see how this can lead to anything that I would like to keep :slight_smile:

Ed,

Interesting and amazing how we as individuals view things. For me anyway, the image without the boat isn’t really about anything. I suppose it’s so simple, it’s almost a blank canvas. With the boat - and it’s wake - it becomes a story, of an endless sea… imagine oneself at the helm, navigating where you can’t see the horizon… maybe some fog… Infinity comes to mind. I dunno, just my take.

I see where Mark is going by removing the black part of the wake at the end. Rather than remove it, I lightened in a mask. I also “moved” the boat and wake a little to the right for extra room so it wasn’t breaching the edge. You mention “minimalism” from the beginning and I think this captures that perfectly.

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I agree with Lon’s take. Without the boat the image lacks interest.

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Many thanks to @Han_Schutten, @Lon_Overacker and @Igor_Doncov for taking a moment to leave a thought.
@Han_Schutten: Thats fine, nothing wrong with being honest.
@Lon_Overacker: Thanks for taking the time to do a rework; I like what your small tweaks have done. I also prefer the one with the lobster boat because it does add context and it helps to tell a story of folks working for a living.

Ed, at first I thought this image was too minimalist, and wasn’t really sure if it worked for me or not. But then I saw @Lon_Overacker rework and you know what, a few subtle tweaks made a significant difference. It’s amazing how such small changes can make such a difference.

I also agree that without the boat the image just doesn’t work.