I photographed this image as the waves spilled over the rocks. My aim is to capture a unique design in the moving water using long exposure. There is a careful balance between the shutter speed and filters used to create the mist and shoot the design created just at the right moment.
Type of Critique Requested
Aesthetic: Feedback on the overall visual appeal of the image, including its color, lighting, cropping, and composition.
Conceptual: Feedback on the message and story conveyed by the image.
Emotional: Feedback on the emotional impact and artistic value of the image.
Technical: Feedback on the technical aspects of the image, such as exposure, color, focus and reproduction of colors and details, post-processing, and print quality.
Specific Feedback and Self-Critique
As landscape photography is new to me, I will appreciate any comments on composition and technical aspects.
I welcome any thoughts! Thank you.
Technical Details
Olympus OMD 1 Mark ii, Olympus 12-100 lens at 41 mm, f/4.5, 3.2 sec, IS0 200.
Beautiful, Ann Louise, and it is good to see you back here.
My first impression is how nicely the rock formation curves around upper portion of the frame and then bends towards the viewer. The mist and details in the rocks are perfectly captured, IMHO. But. . .the swirling water is so very engaging, bring back again and again. The soft lighting works for me, as it fits the scene, but perhaps others who are more similar with landscape photos/techniques will have more informed suggestions. Very nicely seen.
I really like the swirling water and sea mist Ann Louise. Your composition does focus the viewer’s attention on the swirling water. Nice use of soft light.
Well done, Ann Louise. You captured the movement and direction very well. The lighting looks great and well balanced. I cannot see any needed edits with this one.
The water color and inherent motion is really super. What a nice image to come back with! I wonder if a little more texture in the rocks and the water might be brought out with some dodging and burning. I often use this in conjunction with luminosity masking to bring out contour and modeling for a more 3D effect. There may not have been much room to maneuver, but I’m not crazy about the rocks at the very bottom. Depending on how much more of the scene you have - a wider view maybe - you could try a crop with a bit of a clockwise rotation to align the water more diagonally and reduce the amount of sand and scree at the bottom. I find that diagonal water makes for a bit of a more dynamic presentation that straight across the frame. There is so much interest there that I want it to pop more and be more dramatic!
I really like the misty feel and the movement in the water around the rocks. The contrast in textures between the rocks and the water is very nice.
That said, I think most of the interesting elements in this image are in the upper half and you might even consider cropping a bit off the bottom. Here is a quick edit of what I had in mind; I hope you don’t mind.
In addition to the crop off the bottom, I also added a bit more space to the top and filled it with content aware fill because I felt the balance was off after I did the crop. I also slightly increased the contrast in the midtones.
I enjoy the soft color palette and the way the water is portrayed due to the shutter speed. Compositionally, I find that cropping out the grouping of pebbles in the lower right, by cropping up from the bottom just to the point where they are excluded, strengthens the image. It’s a very simple photo and losing those pebbles keeps my focus wandering through the rest of the frame, rather than drawing it toward the bottom. Overall though, this is quite lovely. Thank you for sharing.
I pretty much agree with what Tom Nevesly wrote and his assessment of the image. The image feels unbalanced due to the bare area in the bottom right quadrant. The spirit of the image is not so much in the swirl but the rocks and atmosphere around them. You captured the spirit of the place really well. I like the lighter tones in the central rock. In my opinion that is the star of the image.
I think you managed to achieve your goal quite nicely!
Your aim of capturing a unique design in the water along with your title of “Swirl” says to me that your vision was the swirling water around the central rock formation. I like how the flow from both sides of that rock formation converged in a way that created such a visually pleasing design between the central rock formation and the sand.
And I like how the partial whirlpool around the right side of the rock formation shaped up, it’s a very neat element that adds to the visual appeal.
I feel the sand is an important part of the scene because it defines where this is taking place.
Personally, I like the diagonal direction of the rock formations.
The perspective this was shot from seems to have been a good choice IMHO.
I’m sure it took some time and work to get the right shutter speed in order to create that neat design and the mist.
Perseverance pays off!
My suggestion is to crop just enough off of the bottom to eliminate most of the pebbles at the bottom but keep a small portion of the sand, then just clone out the few remaining pebbles scattered about on the water’s edge.
I feel that a very slight crop off of the left would also help by eliminating the vertical sliver of rock near the top left corner, or just clone it out if you prefer that route.
For the edit, I did the following to improve the image but keep in mind that this is only my personal preference:
Created a mask using a very small brush with as much feather as Lr has to offer, then brushed the gaps between all of the rocks with the exposure lowered just enough to add definition and provide separation in the rocks.
Globally increased the saturation slightly in the Aqua color, then lowered the luminosity of the same color (using the HSL panel). I did the same for the blue.
Created another mask using a brush over the upper portions of the rock formations where they are dry looking (the brighter parts), then lowered the saturation just a tad, as well as slightly reduced the exposure.
The saturation and exposure adjustments slightly reduced the effect of the mist so I selectively added diffuse glow using the same color of the mist as the glow color.
This is only my suggestion for overall improvement or enhancement of your vision of swirls and unique designs in water.
This was well planned and well executed IMHO
I just saw your other swirl image in your portfolio, very well done as well and the rest of your portfolio is impressive, too!
Hi Ann Louise, thanks for posting this and welcome back. I really like the overall comp here. I think some of the tighter crops lost that wonderful wave swirl that is such a focus for the image. I think @Merv’s crop and clone work very well too.
The light, colors, and composition are wonderful. It reminds me of some of the Oregon Coast here. Wonderful. This certainly doesn’t look like you’re new to Landscape Photography, Ann Louise.
Glad to see you post an image. And what a lovely seascape. I like this quite a lot. Like many of the comments, I’m especially drawn to the upper portion, the ghosting of the waves and the very energetic rocks.
I’m in complete agreement with Merv - in fact this was what I was thinking before he posted his comments. While most of the reaction, like mine, was finding great interest in the upper part, your stated goal here was the swirling water around the rocks. And I think this frame is wonderful in that regard. I love how the water swirls together from both sides - a confluence of flow - or something like that.
The colors are wonderful. So the challenge comes in with the bottom as most have pointed out. But the bottom is where your heart is with this scene - I’m assuming. I really, really like Merv’s edit, so I’m not going to post mine.
The most notable comment on the original I don’t think has been mentioned. I think the big rock on the lower left kinda makes everything a bit unbalanced. So my suggestion would be to crop some from the left to have the rock lose some weight… but that’s minor.
Hello Linda,
Thank you for your observations! I had not noticed the curve in the rock formation. I am so pleased to get many comments on this image as I intend to print it. I have missed posting. There is a new subject in my life: grandchildren!
Ann Louise
Mervin, thanks for taking the time to make so many comments and give me the specific steps in your edit! All helpful. I really like the change in the rocks that improved the clarity and color of the rocks. Question: How did you add “diffuse glow”? I am not familiar with that…in Lr?
Tom, Thanks for demonstrating your thoughts about the elements of the image. It is really helpful to see a possible new direction and crop.
Lon, that rock on the left has bothered me a bit and now I know why. I will crop some from the left.
I am excited to work on the edits you’ve all suggested and see where I come out. I plan to print this image for a show.
Ann Louise
The one I used is in Ps, I did the edits in Lr but sent it to Ps as a Tiff file so I could add the diffuse glow effect.
Diffuse glow is in the “Filter Gallery” under “Filter” but it’s grayed out by default.
Do the following:
First, choose the glow color of the mist with the background color eye dropper. (See attached screenshot with text and arrows).
Copy the background layer, this is the layer you will be adding the glow effect to.
Go to Image > Mode > then in the drop down list, change it from 16 Bit/Channel to 8 Bit/Channel (This will not effect the image quality in my experience).
Then go to Filter > Filter Gallery, a new window will pop up and in that window, choose “Distort”, that’s where you’ll find “Diffuse Glow”
Once you’ve selected diffuse glow, look to the right and adjust the Glow Amount and Clear Amount.
Glow amount is stronger when the slider is moved to the right, I usually use a value of 1 to 6 (1 being no effect at all).
Clear Amount is stronger when the slider is moved to the left, I usually use a value of 16 to 20 (20 being no effect at all).
Note: Don’t be too concerned about the amount of glow at this point but do make the glow slightly stronger than you feel is needed, the fine adjustment comes next.
Go to Edit > Fade Filter Gallery, then fine tune the amount of diffuse glow you want with the slider in the small pop up window.
Then on the copied layer with the glow effect, use the eraser tool with opacity at 100%, hardness at about 35% and brush diameter at about the size of the swirl in your image, erase everything but but area where the mist is most prominent, this may take a little patience and a few tries so the “Undo” feature can be your friend here, just play around with hardness and brush size until you’re happy with the result.
Go to Image > Mode > to change Bits/Channel Back to 16 Bits/Channel (not sure if this is needed but it can’t hurt )
Finally, save it back to Lr (go to File > Save).
It sounds like a lot of steps but it works well and it doesn’t take but a couple of minutes once you’ve done it a few times.
I’m sure that some of the available plugins for sale work great but this has always worked well for me,
Thanks for the kind words and my apologies for the late response!
I would add one final adjustment option, and this applies to any adjustment layer you may have. Merv suggested making the effect greater than you think you may need, and then suggested the “fade” option. In addition to this, you can always change the “opacity” of the layer itself. I do think often to reduce the effect to some desired result.
With all things LR/PS, there are a thousand ways, well maybe not a thousand… to get things done.
Thanks for pointing that out, Lon!
This tip is especially important because the Fade option disappears after you have done the next edit, (whether it’s brightness, saturation, etc.) so, the opacity of the layer becomes your only way of making that adjustment at some point.
In fact, it’s best to do the fade step with the opacity at 70% or so, that way you can increase the effect later if desired.
I don’t always remember to write out each detail these days so it’s great that you stepped in to fill in the gaps of missing information!!!
I never forget it while editing, it’s just when writing it. Hmmm…
Mervin,
This is a terrific tutorial for me. Thanks for taking the time to outline the steps and post the diagram. I went through all of your edits and the steps for adding diffuse glow. I will need to do it a few more times. I do like the effect. It makes the mist blend with the water color. I am not sure I achieved the clarity of the center rock formation that you and Tom Nevesely show in your edits. Still a work in progress. Just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your detailed instructions!
Ann Louise
You are very welcome!
I enjoy sharing little tips that I have learned over time, and with NPN being a learning site, it gives me the perfect opportunity to do that.
Just glad I could help in some small way!
Don’t hesitate to ask for more clarification on processing, I’m sure someone here will be more than happy to help (Including myself if I can).
