Tampa Bay Sunrise

[Jay Gould]

Each morning before chasing the birds :), James Shadle and I did a bit of "something". Today's "something" was the sunrise experimenting with foreground elements.

Since I am taking the shot; James must be the silhouette!

Camera: 5D2
Capture date/time: 2 Oct 09; early am
Light condition: sunrise
Lens: 16-35 f/2.8
Focal length: 16mm
Extender: none
Tube: none
Flash/Comp: yes; -1
ISO: 400
Exp Prog: Manual
Speed: 1/60 sec
Aperture: f/18
Exp Comp: -2/3
Metering: Evaluative
WB: Shade
AF Drive: One Shot
Tripod: no
Filter: 2 stop RGND
Crop: From 5616x3744 to 4023x3744
All C&Cs gratefully appreciated!

[Dave Mills]

Hi Jay, Interesting diagonal composition along with good use of flash. I would have preferred less of a dominant foreground (horseshoe crab)with the starfish being more subtle yet also giving you interest. i do like your creativity along with a tricky exposure....

[Dave Blinder]

I like Dave's advice on going with just the starfish, maybe even bringing that a little closer. Love the smokestacks!

[Jay Gould]

Thanks guys. Is it horses for courses or in this case horseshoes for courses - :-). The horseshoe was intentionally put into the scene to build the image using the strong foreground point. Someone with better PS skills than mine today could clone it out to see the difference. Thanks for the comments.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey Jay,
VG lesson from James and while I do agree with the others on the shell you want to at least tone down/eliminate the flash highlight and next time aim the flash slighly higher or diffuse it more ....that way the sand behind the crab shell would be lit nicely also. I do like the progression from front to back...so hope the lesson was learned.

[Robert Amoruso]

Good lesson that James was working on with you. I think I would agree that the starfish alone would have been better but it is all part of the learning process. Keep up the good work Jay.