First post. I’m really excited to join the site and contribute where I can and get some feedback/ critiques from like-minded people who have a passion for nature and photography.
This shot was taken from a fairly well-known location on the east coast of NSW, Australia near Newcastle about a week ago. It’s one of my favourite places near home and I was fortunate enough to be treated to a pretty intense sunrise.
What technical feedback would you like if any?
Maybe the composition and processing but anything really, have at it.
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
Same as above, don’t hold back.
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
This is multiple exposures blended together for focus stacking and exposure blending. 4 images in total.
Sony A7rII 16-35 mm @ 16mm
ISO-100 for all exposures
F/8 for all exposures
Shutter speed ranges from 1/50 to 1/2 sec for the multiple exposures.
First of all, Ben, I want to welcome you to NPN! I find this a great community of photographers, where you will enjoy help with critiques on your photos, but able to view and help others as well. It has challenged me to improve in my photography. Lots of great articles on NPN to read and learn from as well.
I don’t get out to do much in landscape anymore, so I’m not the one to critique in this area, but being the first to see you wonderful image, I am the first you get to hear from. With that said, I am loving everything about it. You have wonder light, great lines leading the eye in, and an interest subject. No nits from me, but again, this isn’t the section I feel as comfortable in. I’m sure some others will be able to more aptly critique this. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Thanks for sharing a place that I have never seen, and most likely will never see in person.
Welcome Ben and a great first post. The lighting is spectacular and I love the leading lines with both the rock formation and the coal loader. The processing looks very natural and you captured some sweet color in the clouds. I look forward to more of your post along with your critiques.
Welcome to NPN Ben, this is an outstanding first post. It is a difficult exposure / processing situation that is handled very well. I’m glad to see that you retained rich dark shadows and you avoided veering into an HDR look that lacks contrast. I also like your colors here, you kept shadows cool and highlights warm, which makes for good color contrast. The composition is very strong, I love that you have multiple leading lines all converging at the sunstar.
While this image is great as presented, I have few suggestions for enhancement, which of course are a matter of personal taste. I would recommend a crop from the top, it would place more emphasis on the foreground, and you wouldn’t lose much in terms of sky color. I think some local dodging of highlights and burning of dark areas would enhance the foreground. One of the best things about this image is the light on the rock edges, I think that could be dodged lightly for even more emphasis. I would also burn down the dark areas in the sand/rocks on the right side of the image, it would place more emphasis on the leading line of the sand ripples. If you don’t mind here is a rework reflecting my comments. Subtle changes like local dodging and burning can make a big difference sometimes.
Welcome aboard, Ben. Look forward to future images from your part of the world. This one is very dramatic. The edge lighting along the stone formation is great and can be worked as Ed M has indicated. I was going to say a crop not showing the cut off railing, but after viewing the pier structure I see that it is in it last days. The space and broken Pylon beneath is a good anchor/rest spot for the image. Well done.
Hi Ben - Welcome to NPN! I am sure you will receive some very useful feedback. This is a wonderful image nicely exposed. My only nit is the distortion visible near the left edge of the image. Not sure if it is caused by the wide angle or the pier being in disrepair.
Thanks alot for the warm welcome and kind words Shirley. I’m certaily keen to become a bit more active in the community and hopefully throw a few more of my images up.
Probably better to do this in one message in future.
Thanks Ed L, Ed M, Stephen and Eva for the warm welcome and feedback, it’s greatly appreciated.
When time permits I will try some more dodging and burning in the FG for a bit more emphasis and a crop of the sky and see how it turns out.
Eva I think the distorted look near the edge is due mainly to the condition of the Pier. I’ll see how it looks with a slight crop to remove the distraction.
