Swept Away in Evening Light

This is a top-down image of a wave sweeping in with the last rays of evening light. The shadow of the wave is apparent in the image showing the low angle of the sun. A slightly slow shutter speed was used to show motion as the highlights sparkle in the brighter areas of the top left. A rock just barely peaking above the shadow of the wave catches the light as well anchoring the image.

I find myself fond of the image because it was my first real attempt at something looking down at my feet for an image. I do hope to find and capture more scenes like this one in the future!

What artistic feedback would you like if any?

Does the image play out well in the balance of light/composition? I did try to be more natural with the post processing as well while also trying to emphasize the cool and warm tones throughout, and I am interested in knowing how this looks on other’s monitors?

Pertinent technical details or techniques:

(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)

This is a single image. I prefer to keep most of my new work this way for two reasons: so that it is kept as realistic as possible and to avoid working too hard in post in front of a computer screen.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.
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Kyle, I love the play of cool and warm tones throughout the image. The right hand side where the shadow and light meet holds my interest the most. The rock is anchoring that side very nicely. But I do find the wave a little distracting. I like the shape of the wave that sort of completes the curvature in the image but I think its texture and brightness are too strong for the rest of the image which is very subtle (and that’s what makes it so beautiful). I am on the fence about desaturating the rock: I like it as is but it does feel like the color comes out too strong for my taste.

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Very well seen Kyle, I like the texture in the sand and the way the light illuminates it. The little rock is a nice anchor but I agree it’s a bit too bright and over-saturated for my taste. The blur in the water distracts me, it’s right at the point where it’s not quite blurred enough to have natural looking movement. If you’re open to some digital manipulation you could try blurring the water a bit more. Here’s a quick example of adding some motion blur in Photoshop and matching the angle of the water.

Yes, well seen. The light is beautiful. It might be nice to see just a bit more detail in the shadowed area around the rock. I appreciate that you want to keep it natural, but just a tad more detail would make this more visually balanced. The shadowed area takes up a lot of real estate in the frame, but doesn’t have much detail, giving it a lot of visual weight. I gave it a crack - hope you don’t mind.

Thank you! I can see what you are saying about the wave being a bit aggressive. The saturation on the rock hasn’t bothered me, but I don’t mind the saturation on it being turned down either like others have pointed out!

I do like this quick edit a lot! I understand the wave is a bit harsh to the scene, but I struggle with changing the way it was captured in post. Me knowing that I didn’t get it in camera like that is enough for me personally not to alter the image. I do think it warrants another attempt in the field though to get something like that!

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I can see the direction you are going with the shadow detail being raised. I like the flatness though because the hint of detail in the areas receiving direct light give enough of a hint at what is there. I was also shooting on a crop sensor at a slightly higher ISO which makes me concerned about raising shadows too much and bringing out unnatural noise and artifacting.

Kyle, I didn’t raise the shadows, just some of the highlights and I actually darkened the shadows, both done with luminosity masks and dodging/burning.

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Kyle,

Welcome to NPN! I think this is great! Just this last weekend I was playing around with a similar idea on the beach - only with my cell phone… :roll_eyes::wink:

I quite like this. The motion of the foamy surf is a bit out of the box and I think quite effective. I don’t mind colors, contrast or any of that; I like the highlights not only in the leading edge, but also the trailing highlights.

My biggest distraction is wishing the sand was sharper. Just the contrast in the motion of the wave line with sharp details in the sand would have taken this up another notch, IMHO.

Enjoy this a lot. The timing and tension with that wave is engaging. Well done.

Lon

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Welcome Kyle,

The anticipation I feel while looking at your photo is what grabbed me initially. There is great tension in that the little rock has no hope of surviving the rush of the wave and in moments all will be different on that beach.

Contrary to what others have said, I do not think the image needs any additional adjustments. Yes, the stone is bright, but it needs to have your attention and I think its brightness commands that from us.

The sparkles in the water are not natural to begin with as we do not see the water that way with our eyes, so blurring it anymore just takes to a different place.

I also do not think opening the shadows are needed. If anything a slight bump in contrast with a simple S-curve, but slight is the key.

In addition what I like about the sand is the “line” of "curve the patterns present from LLC to URC as to almost suggest that there is a way out for the stone.

The whole image just works well. Kudos!

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Love the tension the wave motion creates here Kyle; nicely done.

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