The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
Bass River Boardwalk in Yarmouth, MA, affectionately known as BassHole at Gray’s Beach. This boardwalk extend 0.5 mile out over salt marshes, the likes of which most people have never seen before! The Sunsets are stunning and of the most colorful on Cape Cod. Each board is engraved with the name of someone very beloved. These engravings helped fund the boardwalk’s initial build and it’s continuing care. You meet the nicest people on the boardwalk. There’s an innate understanding that we are all sharing a unique and special moment together as the Sun descends below the horizon.
Specific Feedback
Looking for your educated opinions as well as kind advice on how to better this image.
Technical Details
Canon Eos RP
Canon 100-400mm
metadata lost or wiped out accidentally
I did not alter the saturation. I did add a touch of softness to it and a very slight vignette.
Critique Template
Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.
Vision and Purpose:
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Emotional Impact and Mood:
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I love Gray Band sunset colors and this one is accentuated with that band of clouds. But in this photo, what I think makes it even more impactful, is the lone figure just sitting there on that bluff. It has a sense of quiet somberness.
Did you know that the gray band seen on the eastern horizon post sunset and on the western horizon pre-sunrise is the earth’s shadow cast on the atmosphere, and its appearance is the true sign that the sun has actually set?
Hi Lori,
I am finding the combination of warm and cool tones in this scene to be quite lovely and the pano format works beautifully to emphasize the strip of beach. From your description it sounds like a wonderful area that the people cherish and respect. When opening the large version the solitary figure sitting on the sand was a great find as was the shorebird hovering over the grasses. This is just my personal opinion, but I think I would back off the softness a little as the grasses look a little to soft; at least to me. I am loving the mood you captured with this image. Beautifully done.
Great idea to go with the panorama format, and the color is wonderful. I like the way it stacks up through the image, and the horizon/spit of land provide a nice central interest. The birds and human add a nice sense of scale too.
I think the vignette is fine, although I could see reducing it just a tad to make it more subtle.
My thoughts echo Ed’s pretty much word for word. The bird in flight and the solitary figure weren’t at all obvious in the smaller version and they were a lovely surprise in the larger one. The grasses are definitely too soft for my tastes but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong…could be exactly the look you were going for. Hope to see more of your work here, Lori!
I’m a little bit late on this one Lori but I wanted to welcome you and also give you my 2 cents. I’m immediately drawn to two things. The gorgeous colors in the sky and water reflection and the pano making this a minimalist scene that is calm and relaxing. The pano format adds greatly to this effect in my opinion.
When you zoom in, you are immediately rewarded with all kinds of hidden easter eggs. The person sitting in the sand on the beach, the bird flying over the grasses, all of the shore birds in the water and maybe even a small mountain peak poking up from clouds on the left edge (maybe)? You certainly captured a beautiful scene here and you composition is spot on.
There are a couple of dust bunnies in the sky. One is just inside the top left corner in the vignette area and the other is just above the blue grey sky poking into the pink a couple inches left of the person sitting on the beach. Easy to take care of. The other thing you could consider is softening the vignette. It’s very noticeable and to my eye stands out a bit too much. Again, easy to take care of if you wanted to. Thanks for sharing this one, Lori.
I agree that this image should be viewed large to appreciate all the hidden wonders. The lone person and the bird add a lot to the image.
The colors and the mood are great. I like the pano format very much. The vignette isn’t necessary to me, but a choice that you made and that’s totally up to you of course.
The softness fits the image, but it is maybe a bit too much for the grasses on the sand bank. You could apply it selectively, if you want.
I think that the image suffered a bit from a strong jpg compression, used to post it here. There is some blocking in the water (and the file size is small). The image is too beautiful not to present it as good as possible.
Perfect composition, great scene. Thanks for sharing.
This scene evokes a peaceful feeling. The softness and layers in the image give this almost an abstract feel. I like the color palette in the image. For my preference I would prefer to see more sharpness and detail, but I can see that that isn’t really what you were going for.
