(My first image I’ve shared here on NPN.) Seaside ICM under midday light at low tide revealing the various depths of the water splayed out before me.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
Honestly, nothing imaginary here. I took it because I needed some sort of expression of the beach I was at under the light I was handed while also being drawn by the various shades of blue, green, yellow before me based on the depths of the waters going out about a half mile. I wanted it to not speak of a specific place, but rather the essence of seaside colors (Northeastern US) and tranquility during a summer day.
Technical Details
ISO 31 – 200 mm @ f22 x 1.6s – Breakthrough Filters CP
I love the colors in the water and the sand, painterly like. I wonder if there is too much sky, as the dominant part of the image is the water/beach. It would be more of a panoramic.Paul Hetzel
Thanks, Paul. Yeah, I agree with that idea of thinking about it in a different aspect ratio. I was really drawn by the textures that came through in the lower half. I suspect a more panoramic crop could help it overall. Will give it a shot and live with it a bit. Cheers. -James
Very nicely done ICM, James. I am enjoying the horizontal bands of color in this image as they are representative of the colors along the beaches in the northeast. The camera movement also portrays a nice sense of motion to the viewer. I only have two small suggestions. The first is just a personal preference as I could see a crop of some of the sky to make this more of a pano. The second may be an optical illusion, but the horizon looks like it could use just a little bit of CCW rotation. Beautifully done!
Thanks for your input, Ed. I agree with your suggestions and am curious to see it in a different aspect ratio. I think there is an optical illusion at play but it’s certainly worth looking at again.
Very nice, soothing view of the sea. I agree with reducing the sky so the emphasis is on the water. Love the varying tones. I am impressed with the straight horizontal lines, assuming this was a hand-held shot. Thank you for posting this!
Thank you. Yeah, it was handheld. After a lot of coffee, too, which may speak to the image stabilization I probably forgot to shut off. So kudos to it. Anyway, thanks, I have a big print of it now and it has me rethinking the image a bunch more in terms of color and cropping. I’ll post it here when it’s done-ish.
This is such a beautiful example of intentional camera movement. The colours, and movement in the water create a very relaxing scene.
Whenever I am thinking of executing that movement, horizontal never crosses my mind. Somehow, I always default to vertical. This is a terrific example of just how well the horizontal movement works.
Thank you, James, for pushing me to think of a different way to execute this. I appreciate that.
You’re so welcome, and thank you. The finer detail of the image is lost at this size, but on magnification there’s a lot of what look like brush strokes in the foreground that then fade in sharpness further into the scene.
I’ve been showing it at an art fair this weekend for the first time and it’s sold twice and has generated the most conversation out of my pieces on display. Not that any of that matters, but in the least it’s been helpful feedback to direct future image making.
