The power of shadows

[Luis Patacao]

Hi everyone, this is one place in Portugal Shore called "Praia da Foz" and this was made on a stormy day with a ruff sea.

Would love to hear your critiques and/or thoughts on this one.


The power of shadows por Patacão, no Flickr


Nikon D7000, Sigma 10-20 at 10mm, f/8 60sec exposure.
Filters: Hitech GND 0.6 and Prostop 10
Post Processing: BW conversion and adjustments in LR, and the rest(Sharpening, Denoise, curves) in Photoshop.

[David Stephens]

I was reluctant to comment. I know that these smoothed, long-exposure images are all the rage, but I think that the clouds and waves would be more dramatic if shown realistically. I would have tried to catch a wave breaking on the rocks down below your position.

I like your placement of the horizon and curve of the shore, leading to the sun with the sun's reflection leading back to the viewer. There's a nice balance in the composition.

[Dvir Barkay]

Nice shot with the slow shutter speed and the suns light glancing of the surface of the water. Would have been even better with a more powerful foreground.

[Don Railton]

Hi Luis.

I like the composition, but IMHO the white water steals my eye too much. I would like this more with the water not as bright and maybe a little more detail if the long exposure provided any.. If you want to know how look at the top of the landscape forum for the 'sticky' by Robert Am...

DON

[Andrew McLachlan]

Hi Luis, I would tone down the whites...I like the two spots where the water can be seen flowing back into the sea...these will look even better once the whites are toned down. Did you shoot any at various exposures for different effects on the water...if so I'd love to see them posted too. I do quite like the smoothed water, but it also looks like the waves were crashing pretty good.

[dankearl]

I would like to see it larger, you can post 1200 wide.
Whites are too bright, but I like the scene and I like stylized clouds.

[Luis Patacao]

Hi Luis.

I like the composition, but IMHO the white water steals my eye too much. I would like this more with the water not as bright and maybe a little more detail if the long exposure provided any.. If you want to know how look at the top of the landscape forum for the 'sticky' by Robert Am...

DON

Thanks Don, while editing, i did toned down the bright whites but will try to shape them a bit more.

[Luis Patacao]

Hi Luis, I would tone down the whites...I like the two spots where the water can be seen flowing back into the sea...these will look even better once the whites are toned down. Did you shoot any at various exposures for different effects on the water...if so I'd love to see them posted too. I do quite like the smoothed water, but it also looks like the waves were crashing pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback Andrew. I did shot several diferent SS (always do this, usually one long exposure, and one maybe between 1/8 and 1 sec to capture the impact) and yes, the sea was rough this day :) I will look at my other sets and maybe post another with a faster SS.

Thanks.