Managed to get away for a weekend & check out an area I’ve wanted to see at sunrise for a while. I came away with a few shots but this (I think) is the one with the most promise composition-wise
The idea was to use the light hitting the foreground as an anchor & the leading lines of the rocks to bring you up, into the middle with some wave action and then towards the mountains (with a focus on the pointy one)
What technical feedback would you like if any?
I’d love to know what your thoughts are on the composition if there are any tweaks that would help, if the colours seem okay & whether or not the light is doing the right thing and leading you through the frame
Note: the sky is from a different day there, I was just unlucky to get good light but bad clouds that morning - does it fit?
What artistic feedback would you like if any?
I’d love anything
Pertinent technical details or techniques:
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
Single-shot brought into Photoshop, edited with camera raw, dodge/burning
Sky is pulled in
I love this location. Pot Stephens is my home town. Looks like this was shot from the south end of Box Beach.
I like the clouds and the colour palette here, you have an appealing colour contrast. As for the composition, for me the comp feels bottom heavy. I can see the value in the foreground rocks with the shapes and textures but I would be inclined to give less weight to the rocks and give ore weight to the headlands.
Below is a rough edit on how I would present the scene.
I love the wide angle view here. I feel I’m standing on those rocks. I don’t mind the FG being strong, but might think about a slight reduction in contrast there. The sky looks natural and I love the cloud plume rising out from the peak. and the arc of the higher clouds mirroring the curve of the FG rocks. The water is beautiful. I might try to pull a little more detail out of the BG.
Lovely light spilling in there Dale. I’m curious if you have a shot with the camera moved to the right? I’d be interested in comparing an image where those nice grooves in the rock, the strongest part of the image for me, began closer to the lrc and were more diagonal.
Nice job on compositing the sky; it looks nice here, and I always appreciate when a photographer notes that was done.
Lovely photo! I agree with Nathan’s comment, it does feel bottom heavy. His edit is an improvement but I would take it further and do a square crop from the top down.
