Sand and Foam B&W

Image Critiques Landscape Critiques
1

Sand and Foam B&W
Sand and Foam B&W1500Ă—1000 448 KB

Sand and foam on Inverness Beach, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia during a stormy sunset. The sea and wind were churning up large chunks of foam. The weather and light on this beach are very dynamic. Always changing. Always something new.

Thanks for looking.

Specific Feedback Requested

Is the contrast too much? I tend to process my B&W conversions with higher contrast.

Interested in your thoughts and critiques.

Technical Details

Is this a composite: No
Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70 2.8L @ 70mm
ISO50 1/4 at f/22

Silver Efex in PS for B&W conversion

Sand and Foam-5069BW2 1500
Sand and Foam-5069BW2 15001500Ă—1000 505 KB

4 Likes
2

Nice stormy scene. I am finding the highs in the wash a little to bright for my tastes. The scene does strike me as too contrasty. Great clouds.

1 Like
3

Nice moody image Eva. These are great conditions for B&W, it’s highly dramatic light. The light rays are wonderful. I also like that you brought the mountain into full silhouette, it adds to the drama level. I like the processing overall, but I agree with @Harley_Goldman about pulling down the highlights in the middle of the image. I think doing this would make the light rays pop even more.

1 Like
4

Really nice scene, but agree with the comments about pulling down the highlights in places. For me, the lightrays are the spectacular part of the photo and I want my eyes to rest on them for longer. With the current highlights in the photo, I find my eyes being drawn away from them and bouncing round the scene a bit too much. Really like the silhouette of the land mass in the background.

1 Like
5

Beautiful photo. My thought is that perhaps the issue of the lower portion seeming too contrasty is that it is over sharpened. The part above the foam seems too “crunchy” to my eye. Maybe decreasing the sharpening rather than the contrast would result in a more pleasing image.

2 Likes
6

@Harley_Goldman @Ed_McGuirk @david20 @Tony_Siciliano Thank you all for you input on the contrast and/or sharpening. I’ll have another go at it maybe with a fresh start. Thanks again.

7

What a beautiful scene Eva. Love the convertion to B&W as well and I just love the sun rays. I agree with @Tony_Siciliano about being perhaps too over sharpened, particularly in the shoreline where the rocks and foam are and they butt right up next to the soft, smooth waves. It’s a very busy scene with lots of stuff going on so maybe some negative clarity and texture could soften things just a bit. I love the mountain range being near black making it very pronounced and it perfectly meets the breaking wave rolling to shore. I can feel the power in this scene.

1 Like
8

@David_Haynes @Harley_Goldman @Tony_Siciliano @Ed_McGuirk @david20

I reworked the image and attached it above. Thanks again for your input.

9

Really beautiful dramatic scene,Eva. And I really like your rework.