Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
This image was made shortly after watching TJ Thorne’s talk, “There’s No Such Thing as Bad Light”, on Nic Stover’s website, and was taken in the bright late afternoon of a sunny late summer day. I’ve probably witnessed this scene of swash thousands of times in the 50+ years I’ve spent at Lake Michigan’s shoreline, but never thought to photograph it, partly because of the “bad” light.
Specific Feedback
What are your thoughts on the overall image? It appears to be on the border between representational and abstract (if that matters). The more I study this image, the more I am inclined to crop the top down to just below the dark shadow on the top right. Please share your thoughts.
Technical Details
Nikon D800, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 @ 200mm, 1/10 sec, f/22, ISO 50, handheld.
Robert, I see many excitting smaller pictures here. The area of beach that dosn’t have much going on occupies a large percentage of the frame. I see multiple ways to crop that would produce different and interesting compositions. I downloaded it and tried various crops. Here is one that makes the swash the powerful force in the composition. The lighting makes this an fascinating play of color and texture.
I am wondering, now if the top portions down to almost the sand should be cropped. This is what I mean about this picture. There are so many possiblities.
@Barbara_Djordjevic Thank you for your feedback. I like what you have done and also your suggestions for additional potential crops. I’ll work with this some more with your ideas in mind.
Kudos for playing with afternoon light Robert. (While there may not be “bad” light, I definitely find some light challenges me more than others.)
I think your experiment payed off well. The contours and lines are attention grabbing, and I really like the “icy” appearance of the water.
I do like @Barbara_Djordjevic’s crop. It takes on an even more abstract quality, but in a good way as it focuses on the most dynamic and intriguing part of the image.
