I posted another shot in the texture challenge this morning at the beach. The other one was a closeup with contrast. Here I go for the long horizon.
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
This photo to me is missing something. How would you have composed it to make it stand out?
Technical Details
Sony Alpha A6600, Sony 18 - 135 Kit lens, f/14, 1/50 sec, ISO 200, 19mm
Hi Bradley,
another beautiful shot with those awesome sand textures. The image instantly evokes a vacation mood. Especially when I look out of my office window and see the current gloomy and dull German weather.
I really like the simplicity of your photo. And maybe that simplicity could be improved when you cropped the image differently. The bright cloud at the ULC distracts my eye. I would try cropping about one fifth of the image on the left.
Additionally, two technical things could be fixed as well:
The image has a green color cast. You should correct the white balance (dragging the tint slider to the right).
The horizon isn’t straight. It seems to bend a little bit. So maybe that was introduced by your lens distortion (rotating the image slightly does not work). You can do that by simply activate the “Enable Profile Corrections” checkbox in the “Lens Corrections” Panel in LR.
Let me know if you have any questions about how to apply those changes on your beautiful image.
I find this quite engaging and interesting. I think somewhat unique because these are sand patterns we most associate with dunes, and not necessarily at the beach next to the ocean, and without footprints! Of course there’s sand, so these patterns created by the wind can happen anywhere… but still, this sure seems different than what we might normally see.
Good comments and observations from Jens. I took those comments and made a few quick changes. Color and WB are difficult to make from compressed jpg’s, so this is really just a ball-park attempt. I did a Color balance using TonyKuyper’s action. Reduced blue and cyan saturation in the sky a tad after the color correction and used Levels to take a bit off the brighter clouds (and apologies, a last second after-the-fact clone on the one lone cloud that was standing out in the top center of the sky. Oh, and did a transform/warp on the horizon to correct that. Then some contrast and burning and dodging. I think working from the RAW file (if you shot it RAW) you could potentially do better than my quick edit here.
Very simple, but effective composition. I like it.
I like the way this is composed with the lines arranged as they are, not sure why you feel something is missing (unless your significant other was there just before this image was recorded? )
Just kidding!! Of course!!
I’ll have to echo @Lon_Overacker’s sentiments on the sand and how unusual it is to see that pattern.
I have seen similar but only at remote areas where no or very few people gather.
I’m glad Lon added an alternate way to straighten the horizon by using transform>warp, it’s an easy method when the lens correction method isn’t practical (the lens correction method has to be done to the uncropped version and even then it doesn’t always work).
I’m also glad that Lon only corrected the white balance in the sky because most of us do recognize that sand and water colors are pretty subjective but sky color during a normal day needs to be some form of blue (Unless that is really what you want and it’s OK if you do).
I’m guessing that @Jens_Ober was probably referring to just the sky as well?
Anyway, my take on this is “Well Seen and Well Done” with the exception of the minor WB in the sky and the horizon correction thing.
The perspective makes this feel like it’s a vast area as well as untouched even by critters.
I really like those lines, they remind me of a fingerprint, unlike humans, this fingerprint changes every time the wind blows
I think @Lon_Overacker did exactly what was needed in this image. It’s a very minimalist scene with intriguing sand patterns directing the eye towards the ocean and sky. I might burn the left clouds a little bit more to even out the sky but this is a beautiful ocean scene particularly for people having a tough winter. Very inviting.
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