Second in a handful of images from the beach. I was actually just doing a second pass and this one started to jump out at me. Shot at 300mm 1/4 sec, allowing me to pan with the wave to freeze some of the action there while blurring the surrounding water. The waves were not big at all, I’m hopeful on a future outing some day to catch something a bit larger. I went in a completely different direction with the edit on this one from the last and tried to limit it to two colors, the deep blue and a bit of a briny green. I don’t want the blue to overpower the green, so maybe it needs desaturated a bit?
Specific Feedback Requested
Are the top and the right too empty? Could easily crop a bit of that out if it would bring more attention to the wave.
This one feels a bit like a painting to me, so any suggestions on how to accentuate that would be appreciated.
I don’t think the right is ‘empty’ because the wave is going to the right. I think have space in front of a moving object is better than a lack of space. The biggest thing to suggest is a color change. Waves have green sections to them when backlit but I’ve never seen a sea this color. I would shift away from the green. We always say that color is subjective so you may like this color. I feel like a hypocrite comparing some images to reality and encouraging freedom of expression in others (see Mario’s image).
@Igor_Doncov Thanks for looking. That is a good point regarding the space. I’ve never shot wildlife before but I have seen that referred to a lot in that space and it make sense. This one was rare for me in that I edited it and shared it all in the matter of about 30 minutes. I didn’t really “sit with it” at all. You are right in that this is not an accurate description of the colors that existed…event he blues weren’t like that! Which got me thinking about when am I, personally, O.K. with playing with color to a point that it no longer matches the experience, but maybe takes on a new meaning. I still have to think on that more.
Before posting, I actually created a saturation layer and played with the idea of heavily desaturating the whole image to the point where it almost approaches a black and white. Ultimately, probably shouldn’t have posted it so quickly. Thanks for the suggestion, I will let this one linger a bit.
You see this comment a lot in the context of wildlife photography, and its appropriate here because the space to the right makes the wave look more dynamic by creating a sense of implied motion. It leaves space for the wave “to move into”. It gives the image more energy.
I like everything about this except the color. The composition is very good, and the shutter speed has created a very interesting look in the waves, with lots of bands of light and shadow. But the teal color just doesn’t look real, which i find a bit unsettling. It’s a problem with hue more than with saturation for my personal taste. It might work with more blue and much less green. And I think it would work well in B&W too. Otherwise the rest of the image works very well. My suggestion would be go back and rework color, and/or try B&W.
Gorgeous work panning the movement of the wave.
I like how you almost can see the wave moving, part of that may be due to the right space refered by @Igor_Doncov and @Ed_McGuirk.
I would try a iteration of two, maybe crop it to 16:9 and fill the frame with that movement. Also try B/W as suggested, add a bit of contrast while you are converting.
Looking forward for the reworks.
This is lovely.
Love the overall mood, the movement - the flow.
I sure understand @Ed_McGuirk arguments but in this case i kind of like the color.
Very nice image.
It is not anywhere near “natural” that is for sure. I have to mess a bit with the colors to see what I can come up with. It seems like the dark blue is ok but the green/teal needs some work if I’m reading correctly. I can mess with that. B&W is an option as well. More ground to cover, I could probably create 4-5 alternatives of this one may be interesting to see it in different forms and what people like.
Added a second edit, much more blue. Feels very different to me from the original. Interested in if this is what people were envisioning by shifting away from the teal toward more blue or if I’m missing something.
Another vote for the blue version. While the blue color is bold and clearly processed for an artistic interpretation of reality, the blue just feels more appropriate for this than the green.
@Michael_Lowe@Ola_Jovall@Ed_McGuirk@Harley_Goldman Thank you all for taking a look, the green is a bit harsh for sure. The blue still doesn’t feel quite right…the colors just seem…off. I have a few other versions of it I have been messing with. I am assuming that the amount of contrast I ended up working into this is having some impact on the colors I’m achieving.
The third version I played with the temperature and tint in a Camera Raw layer:
Absolutely love this image and scene. Outstanding use of the ICM; real enough to know what we’re looking at, but just enough abstract expanding this image way beyond just an image of the wave and sea.
Honestly, my first impression here was about the wave, the implied motion; simply beautiful as captured and presented. Color did not enter my mind - or at least did not cause me pause. Reason being, because this has entered the creative and abstract realm, color is no longer as relevant as if you were attempting to present reality. I like the contrast and color as presented. But I do think #3 is much improved and I like the best. The wave is emphasized quite nicely. #4 is close and looks good as well. thanks for taking the time.
Having said that… I get the comments on color and appreciate your efforts to address.
Hey @Lon_Overacker Thank you so much for the kind words! These images seem to be striking a bit of a cord. I’m hopeful to continue shooting them and play with different shutter speeds. I hope to get better at tracking the waves and really “freeze” them even though they are in motion.
This is where I was initially…and also where I ended up. I think 3 is my favorite as well. I like them all for different reasons, but It is the most complete in my opinion. I had fun messing with the colors and trying to create different effects.
Have you noticed that the colors in the upper half seem to be less saturated than the wave and below? Is that my imagination?!i saw it from the start but decided to not comment because it might just be due to the angle of vision.
@Igor_Doncov I thought the same thing. I’m not sure if it is the angle, looking directly into vs across or contrast related. I could probably balance it pretty easily I would assume.
