One of my last trips to the Southern Coast and Bandon, Oregon prior to Covid…I wanted to spend time with a telephoto lens picking out scenes that offered some intriguing depth. I hope this one works. The far sea stack is Face Rock.
I thought the B&W version better presented the scene. Here’s the color version:
Any comments appreciated.
280mm, 1.9 sec @ f/22, ISO 100, Tripod, Polarizer
Processed in Capture One.
Wow, David. A powerful composition, well presented. I probably prefer the color version, but I’ll bet I’m in the minority on that. Either way, well done!
Love this composition David; nice job on an original take of an icon. I definitely prefer the BW.
Since the focal point is Face Rock so nicely framed, I’d consider adding just a bit more contrast there. You do want it to stand out from the foreground IMHO, as the fog helps to do, but a bit more detail might enrich it. A second thought would be to tone down that bright white at the bottom of the image. It’s even brighter than the sky, and tends to snag my eye from flowing to Face Rock.
I played with a crop that cut off the tops of the foreground stacks. It’s a different image, and interesting, but I didn’t find it more appealing. (Besides, that crops out the goose which is of course the coolest part 
)
David,
Love the concept/title of the “stacked” “stacks” Great play on words, but more importantly terrific execution of the idea and use of the longer lens.
While I generally like to see things presented in b&w, I think for this image I prefer the color. I love the earth tones (duh, earth…) in the cliffs and the hint of some color in the ocean-mist sky. With b&w here, there is very little tonal separation in all the stacks and thus the details are diminished - IMHO.
Really enjoying the comp and how you positioned the far stack in between the two others.
The only other nit is that I think the bottom is kinda unresolved. Or, it’s a " 'tweaner" - meaning either I want to see more of the surf, perhaps even some sand/beach, OR none of the water at all. Hope that makes sense.
Great eye and technique - I expect you’ll be doing more of on your upcoming trip!
Lon
Hi David! My first comment, based on @John_Williams’ comment - you definitely don’t want to crop off the goose! 
Seriously, Really nice image of the “stacks”. I also prefer the color image as it shows better detail. I agree about adding more contrast to Face Rock to make it more prominent. I would also clone out the white spots on the left cliff as they are a bit distracting.
@terryb, @John_Williams, @Lon_Overacker, and @Steve_Kennedy thanks for the comments, much appreciated. So it looks more or less even between B&W vs Color preferences.
Things to do from the suggestions:
Increase detail in Face Rock
Remove Guano on left rock
Tweak the water foreground
Thanks again all.
Cheers,
David
I think that makes sense - it’s a nice image - it would be interesting to see what this would look like with slightly less sky or none at all.
David, love this image. Naturally, I’m going to choose the BW 
I like everyone’s suggestions. The Guano doesn’t bother me, much, though. I took a real quick and dirty shot at trying to darken the stack in the back and then do some dodging and burning on the other rocks to give them some more character. I think this image is worth spending a bit of time on. The layers would be fun to play with exposure, shadows, etc. Nice work!
