Wind Point Lighthouse - Dark Sky

[David Kennedy]

Canon 5D and 300mm f/4 L
Eight vertical images exposed 1/800 sec. @ f/8, ISO 160
Wind Point Lighthouse, Racine, Wis. (February 2008)

I rarely place a tree directly on top of one of the architectural subjects in an image, but I thought it worked in in this instance. I'm curious to see what others think. The sky was turning particularly deep blue and I lightened it as I'm not the biggest fan of monotone dark gray/blue winter skies. Fortunately, there were a few wispy, lighter clouds (upper RH corner) to break it up. A rare thing!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey David,
Overall I like it. I don't mind the tree in front of the lighthouse at all. I'm still debating the dark tree on the left...i simply held up a piece of paper to block it out.....using the center of the smaller BG tree as the crop point...........I might prefer that???? Not sure yet??? Part of me feels the left dark tree mimics the right evergreen. Remove it.....and you have an even tonal value and the Lighthouse in the third position. I'll let others chime in on the crop..........but I like it overall,
Roman

[Grady Weed]

How about instead of cropping out the tree on the left, add room to the right?

[Robert Amoruso]

I am betting that there is diminishing returns on each end, the more you include the harder it is to determine where to stop (more trees left and right).

Overall, I like the composition.

[David Kennedy]

I am betting that there is diminishing returns on each end, the more you include the harder it is to determine where to stop (more trees left and right).

Bingo. What I was trying to do in this image was use the dark trees on the extreme left and right as end points. Whether that was successful is clearly debatable. I had ranked this image with two stars (out of four...I don't use the fifth star for reasons that are beyond this posting) but was curious how others would receive it.

I had thought about Roman's suggestion--back when I was making this one, actually--and the trouble is that the empty sky between the tower of the lighthouse and the next tall tree on the right is very awkward if it is placed dead center. As it currently is presented, that empty space straddles the middle and right vertical thirds of the image (albeit unevenly). That said, I've tried it and posted it here. Who knows, maybe my apprehension is unwarranted?

Thanks for all of your thoughts on this one!

[David Kennedy]

As an alternative, I also tried lightening the trunk of the left tree. However, I'm not certain that it wholly compensates for the problems presented by that edge (or that I went far enough).

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hey David,
Nice job in seeing the different views. I like your last re-post.......the crop clearly took it out of balance.......I was afraid it would do this........now that the left tree isn't as dark...I think it balances well with the right one. I think this is a good example for others..........you looked into the suggestions and even attempted them.......decided you liked original comp........but tweaked a few things others brought up and I think you have a shot you should be very happy with! Forgot to mention the first time.........really like the sky!
Roman
Roman

[Gus Cobos]

Hey David,
I like the original post the way it is. Its like the old saying, "IF IT AIN'T BROKE, DON'T FIX IT"
:D:D:D

[Gerald_Gilligan]

David,
I like the original crop with the lightened tree trunk, I would like to see a tad more sky and less snow...
Great sharp image, makes you feel like you are there.
Jerry

[Bob Ettinger]

Great effort and I think that I'd go with the last post.

[John Cooper]

An appealing winter scene David and I like the original post - can't see any improvement on subsequent posts!!

[Jason Vaclavek]

This is very peacefull. Great photo!