Tides Out

[marlindmills]

Critique Style Requested: Standard

The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.

Description

First time exploring the western English coastline. Amazed by the tidal changes. Loved the patterns created by the receding tide and exposure of the land features. Was an overcast day, surprise, surprise. Hiked to the top of the down for this expansive view.

Specific Feedback

Any thoughts, composition, monochrome look, because it was a monochrome sort of day.

Technical Details

Hand Held.

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Critique Template

Use of the template is optional, but it can help spark ideas.

• Vision and Purpose:
• Conceptual:
• Emotional Impact and Mood:
• Composition:
• Balance and Visual Weight:
• Depth and Dimension:
• Color:
• Lighting:
• Processing:
• Technical:

[Barbara_Djordjevic]

• Vision and Purpose: Marlin, thanks for sharing the details about the location. I am going to use the critique outline to share what I might do with this wonderful scene.
• Conceptual: I get the feeling of the vastness of the shoreline.
• Emotional Impact and Mood: There is a sense of isolation and almost a dreary feeling to the day.
• Composition: The pilings and the line extending from them are what make the image.
• Balance and Visual Weight: To me, there is a top-heavy feeling due to the extent of the background.
• Depth and Dimension: I understand the attraction of the parallel lines, but it seems they don’t hold the interest all the way to the far distance.
• Color: The monochromatic values set the mood for me.
• Lighting: I took the liberty of downloading it to add some contrast, which adds interest to the wonderful textures of the sand.
• Processing: I also added a graduated filter at the top to define the background and keep the eye towards the center of the scene where there are two little objects that keep intriguing me. By brightening the scene just slightly, it brought out the interesting color in the near foreground. It seems to give a bit of life to the moody day.
• Technical: The changes were easily done in the layers in Photoshop. I am including a screenshot of what I did.

Reworked image

[marlindmills]

Barbara, Thank you for the review and comments. It was a dreary sort of day. I like the changes you have made to the image. Definitely keeps one interested in the brighter area in the center of image and not trying to look beyond the horizon. Since this challenge was about parallel lines, I thought the combination of the parallel posts and lines in the sand were an interesting counter balance to the other patterns. Thank you again for interest and insights.

[tamar-aharony]

I definitely think the posts give the picture the anchor that allows you to wander around in the vast areas of sand. It is really placed well in the picture and the line going from them connecting them directly to other sections of the picture. I also liked the combination of shapes - the little ovals and round lines in the front and then going into the parallel lines further down. It adds interest and helps create a sense of depth. Very moody and interesting picture.

[Sandy_Richards-Brown]

Well seen ! Very interesting lines and patterns, and the small bit of colour at the bottom works well.
I like Barb’s graduated filter idea - but also wonder what just cropping a bit at the top and leaving it bright would look like.

[marlindmills]

Tamar, Thank you for the comments. It was a very intriguing location. The expanse of the tidal change was not something I had seen before. I also like the contrast of the swirls and parallel segments of the image.

[marlindmills]

Sandy R-B, Thank you for the interest and comments. I did like the suggestion about cropping and brought the top of the image down to just below the highest horizontal line. It opened up the top of the frame rather than closing it off. I also tried without a linear gradient and with one. It is amazing how subtle changes can change out the image feels, at least for me. Without the gradient, my eye tends to look out on to the horizon and wonder what else is up there. With a linear gradient (-.4 exposure decrease and angled to match the angle of the foreground shadows) my eye goes up but isn;t drawn there and returns to the center to explore the swirls more. Thank you all for the comments which , I think have helped make this a better image, regardless of whether you like to look to the horizon, or explore the shore structure.