Scottish sea-scape 01

[Neil Burton]

Have been out of the country for 5 weeks and have a whole load of shots to go through from the Mull and Skye family holiday (we were there only 2 weeks). Not always easy finding time, especially as my usual 5am rise meant swarms of vampire midges! But I tired ;)

Here is one from Neist Point, mostly known for it's lighthouse view. I decided to clamber around a bit and find something new.

5DIII, Zeiss 21mm, f16, 8secs, MLU, tripod, 3 and 2 stop NDs and CPL, wet feet

143879

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful! For me, this one doesn't even need the BG -- I LOVE those waves in the FG!

As is, I long to see a little more detail in the cliffs.

[Don Railton]

Hi Neil..
Very nice scenery you have here, thanks for showing us. I too would like to see more detail on the distant cliffs and especially what I think is a waterfall. For my tastes I would have cropped/framed the image higher along the lines shown. To me the appeal in this image is the rocks and distant cliffs, and not so much the waves and my crop reflects that I feel.. As you can see Diane and I have different ideas/ likes so take from that everyone is different..

Lastly the squareish rocks mid frame have a white crusty look about them, is that ice, some sort of growth, maybe barnacles, or sharpening?? Kudos to you for looking past the obvious and going as far as getting your feet wet for the shot..

best regards

DON

[Neil Burton]

Thank you both for commenting. Those cliffs and the waterfall were a very long way off and the constant drizzle meant contrast and detail were low at that distance, I have added contrast to the top third. So I framed for the rocks and the water. The rocks are covered in barnacles, big and many very small ones which I guess do look like frost (but they did make the rocks nice and grippy ;) )

[Grady Weed]

To each his own I guess! I love the image as presented in the OP. First; the waves muted, soft swirled water, detail of the rocks below the waves, all of it is sometimes overused or overstated. But not here. A little forethought was exercised and effort was expended to obtain the image. Hard work is always rewarded when the photographer explains that is what they were doing! Thank you Neil for explaining why you took the image as you did and for going the extra mile to do it. Way too many of us take images that have already been done and expect the viewer to see it as an original. To me the bg cliffs add depth to the foreground aspect of the image. Neil was already at f16, 8 second exposure with a 2 stop ND filter...what else could he have done to get detail in the cliffs so far away and under dark toned clouds?

Don has a right to his perspective...I'm not ragging on him here and he took the time to express why he saw things differently. Thanks for posting this image.

[Diane Miller]

More detail in the cliffs could be brought out in processing, which I would find visually pleasing. Others may certainly differ -- just my perspective. I wasn't criticizing the capture.

[Grady Weed]

Diane, nor was I criticizing you for your comments or Don. Thank you both for your participation here on BPN.

[Neil Burton]

We all have our views. I have, over the past year or so, resisted the temptation to slide the saturation and contrast controls too far. I have changed my outlook on nature photography and err a little on the bland side perhaps?

As for the cliffs, I did even try to take a closer shot of the waterfall with my 200-400 but the results were grey and mushy due to that constant rain/drizzle and haze. :)

Thanks for the interest, it is good to talk ;)

[Don Lacy]

Love the fore ground and how the waves lead the viewers eye into the frame and through the image. Here is a version with more detail on the for cliffs I used Niks Color efexs pro detail extractor at the default settings and applies it to the cliffs only with a layer mask I then adjusted the strength of the effect with the opacity slider.

[Don Railton]

I like what Don has done here.. I feel there is a subtle but important increase in detail in the cliffs which make this a very appealing image, for me anyway...

regards to you all

DON

[Neil Burton]

I do not have Nik plugins but can only presume it works like the detail slider in LR?

Thanks for the re-post.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Late to this one, Neil. Some good builds and reposts received already...thought I'd throw a monochrome spanner in the mix.
VERY quick job in Silver Efex, went for sombre/foreboding mood. WDYT? Note the halo along the ridge of the cliffs which is evident in your OP as well...:t3

[Neil Burton]

Halo is a sharpening thing at 900px (why 900px when posting portrait?)

Like it, bags of mood. Once i get through the colour shots I will be revisiting some mono conversions! Don't have any plugins though, usually do the Rob Carr thing.

Cheers mate.

[Dave Spates]

I think the original and re-posts with the detail in the background is great. Wet feet usually equal a better shot then if we didn't get our feet wet :)

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Neil, I think this is lovely capture with well thought out placement of the elements. I do like the extra detail that Don brought out with the detail extractor tool in Nik and Morkel's B&W repost creates a more moody image that I am favoring over the color version...might be worth creating the two alternatives. Can't wait to see more.