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Don Lacy
04-18-2012, 11:37 AM
I was scouting the other day for some new areas to shoot when I remembered that the local park had a few rocks that might be interesting. I haven't been to this park which is a few miles from my house in years so you could imagine my surprise when I climd the stairway to the top of the dune and saw about a 1/2 mile of exposed limestone thats has been reveled due to severe beach erosion. Now I do not know how long it will be before they restore the sand to this part of the beach so I plan on spending a lot of mornings there in the next couple of weeks.

Jay Gould
04-18-2012, 01:34 PM
Very simple; very lovely. If it were mine I would probably boost contrast and colors a bit. I am siting in a coffee house in Page, Az chatting, not "up", with a fine arts masters graduate. I am now going to ask her opinion.

Fascinating! BPN Landscape Forum could use a nonphotographer critique person.

First reaction was too monochromatic, and the horizon line should be softened.

Next there is a lot of purple, yellow,and orange that is too muted.

We read right to left, and leading lines going left to right set upan antagonism when viewed.

The empty water space on the left is loaded with color that can be either

Don Lacy
04-18-2012, 03:06 PM
Interesting I especially like softening the horizon line here is a version incorporating your suggestions not much more color left to pull the red channel is already clipped

Don Lacy
04-18-2012, 03:17 PM
In this version I ran a reverse S curve on the water to pull out more detail since you got me thinking about detail and color there

Jay Gould
04-18-2012, 03:38 PM
I definitely prefer the final RP. BTW, there is at least one dust spot in the URHC; might be more. Cheers,

Rachel Hollander
04-18-2012, 07:37 PM
Don - I prefer the final repost. Strong fg and beautiful colors. Curious as to what you did to soften the horizon line. I see a dust spot on the cloud in the ulc.

TFS,
Rachel

Don Lacy
04-19-2012, 11:24 AM
Don - I prefer the final repost. Strong fg and beautiful colors. Curious as to what you did to soften the horizon line. I see a dust spot on the cloud in the ulc.

TFS,
Rachel
Hi Rachel, Thanks for commenting I ran a very week gaussian blur on a layer and painted in with a mask

Angelika Schauf
04-20-2012, 12:48 PM
Beautiful soft colors and great clouds.

Morkel Erasmus
04-20-2012, 05:55 PM
Lovely scene here Don. I find the comp quite balanced. Interesting notes from the fine art masters graduate, Jay! :bg3: Always good to get a fresh perspective.

Here's a rework I did, starting with Don's OP JPG. Obviously it's best to work from the high-res RAW or TIFF :w3

First tell me what you think - and then I'll tell you what I did...:Whoa!:

Don Lacy
04-21-2012, 07:51 PM
Hi Morkel, Looks like you added more contrast maybe NIKs Tonal contrast filter

Morkel Erasmus
04-22-2012, 04:54 AM
Hi Morkel, Looks like you added more contrast maybe NIKs Tonal contrast filter

Didn't use any NIK filters. All PS. Added some midtone contrast and some saturation, also dodged highlights and burned shadows on the FG rocks.
What do you think - too much?
:e3

Don Lacy
04-22-2012, 03:43 PM
Didn't use any NIK filters. All PS. Added some midtone contrast and some saturation, also dodged highlights and burned shadows on the FG rocks.
What do you think - too much?
:e3
For me to much on the rocks and but I do like the sky.

Andrew McLachlan
04-22-2012, 07:04 PM
Hi Don, a think this is a lovely scene. The water is beautifully blurred. For me I think I would like to see the contrast somewhere between the original post and Morkel's repost, but I think it is mostly a personal choice...go with what you prefer.

Morkel Erasmus
04-24-2012, 01:55 AM
For me to much on the rocks and but I do like the sky.

All a matter of taste, Don...I think Andrew has a point - somewhere in between is best IMHO...

Robert Amoruso
04-25-2012, 06:47 AM
I prefer the more subtle approach of the original.

BTW, I don't agree with any of the points Jay brought up with the Master of Arts graduate.



My take on those comments.

Fascinating! BPN Landscape Forum could use a non-photographer critique person. Perhaps but does not mean I am going to agree with them. :t3 Obvious joke.

First reaction was too monochromatic, and the horizon line should be softened. As I understand monochromatic as applied to painting, it is the use of one color, or tones of one color. Here you have muted colors to be sure but IMO a nice selection of pastels not unlike those I see in many of my sunrise images. Softening the line, as was done in a RP makes it look unsharp given this is a photograph and we expect it to be sharp. My images like this always have a sharp horizon - just don't over sharpen it. To me it is more distracting to have it unsharp then well defined.

Next there is a lot of purple, yellow,and orange that is too muted. I feel this is subjective as muted vs. bold is a creative interpretation of the scene. I see many affects in nature, pre-dawn and post-sunset with soft graduation of tones, muted to be sure that are beautiful. If the photographer's expression of the beauty is for a soft pallet of muted tones, I am all for it.

We read right to left, and leading lines going left to right set upon antagonism when viewed. I am guessing what is meant here is reading left to right vs. the rocks jetting out right to left. It is antagonism because active resistance occurs by forcing the viewer to follow the lines in a direction we normally do not read. However, in nature, in life I never feel antagonism when I view things traveling/appearing before me from right to left. I don't find it a problem in an image like this. I find this particular issue over-used. Many have asked me about flipping images to alleviate this perceived problem (BPN recently had a thread on flipping images). I don't condone flipping the image for this reason. I just don't see the need for this perceive constraint.

The empty water space on the left is loaded with color that can be either The thought seems to be unfinished. However, I strive for a look devolve of detail and in this case monochromatic to the water by using a long exposure. This type of photography is personified in such photographers as Michael Levin and those of his ilk.

Don Lacy
04-25-2012, 06:40 PM
[QUOTE]Fascinating! BPN Landscape Forum could use a non-photographer critique person. Perhaps but does not mean I am going to agree with them. http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/images/smilies/tongue3.gif Obvious joke./QUOTE]
Im with you on this one while I may incorporate suggestions received here and repost an image with those suggested changes for others to judge more often then not I will keep my original vision of the image.

[QUOTE]Next there is a lot of purple, yellow,and orange that is too muted. I feel this is subjective as muted vs. bold is a creative interpretation of the scene. I see many affects in nature, pre-dawn and post-sunset with soft graduation of tones, muted to be sure that are beautiful. If the photographer's expression of the beauty is for a soft pallet of muted tones, I am all for it./QUOTE]
I to also love the muted tones we have here in Florida and enjoy the peacefulness of those image as much as I find the bold colors inspiring, each morning I go out to see what the universe has to say sometimes it pays to listen to the whispers.

[QUOTE]First reaction was too monochromatic, and the horizon line should be softened.As I understand monochromatic as applied to painting, it is the use of one color, or tones of one color. Here you have muted colors to be sure but IMO a nice selection of pastels not unlike those I see in many of my sunrise images. Softening the line, as was done in a RP makes it look unsharp given this is a photograph and we expect it to be sharp. My images like this always have a sharp horizon - just don't over sharpen it. To me it is more distracting to have it unsharp then well defined./QUOTE]
I to found the monochromatic statement puzzling so i ignored it but I do find the soften horizon works for me here only because of the soft water from the long exposure.

[QUOTE]We read right to left, and leading lines going left to right set upon antagonism when viewed. I am guessing what is meant here is reading left to right vs. the rocks jetting out right to left. It is antagonism because active resistance occurs by forcing the viewer to follow the lines in a direction we normally do not read. However, in nature, in life I never feel antagonism when I view things traveling/appearing before me from right to left. I don't find it a problem in an image like this. I find this particular issue over-used. Many have asked me about flipping images to alleviate this perceived problem (BPN recently had a thread on flipping images). I don't condone flipping the image for this reason. I just don't see the need for this perceive constraint./QUOTE]
I agree with you here also I find no reason to feel antagonism when viewing images that travel from left to right but I also feel that does not even apply to this image if you start in the LLC and follow the the rocky shoreline it leads you into the image and across it reveling more of the shoreline as you journey thru the image, also as you travel thru the image I feel it becomes a nice balance of yin and yang between the soft ocean and hard rocks. Now I do have to fix the dust bunny in the URC if I print it:S3:

Robert Amoruso
04-26-2012, 07:15 AM
Thanks for your input Don.