Theme - Foggy Sunrise

[Cheryl Slechta]

I was in Cocoa Beach last Sunday morning and ran down to the beach early in the morning before leaving. It wasn't really foggy - mostly mist from the ocean. I used Topaz Adjust Soft Focus, both I and II, then a "Clouds" overlay from Shadowhouse Creations blended with Soft Light. The texture just changed the hue a slight bit - the real sky and clouds were so nice I didn't want to interfere with them.

[Diane Miller]

Love the clouds, reflection and soft look! This is one where the horizon in the middle works! The figures and birds add greatly to the scene.

[Nancy Bell]

Beautiful pale and soft pinks and blues! You have just enough details for the eye to look at in a hazy, lazy way. I like how the gulls and waves balance the people and buildings. I also like the expansiveness of the view, with the lines of clouds widening towards the top and the horizon extending forever to the right. Good for you to run down to the beach so early.

[Randall Farhy]

Cheryl-There's so much to like about this one! Very short on time-Suggest playing with pano crops, either with more foreground or more sky as either would work-only thing I'd try is to tone down the brighter area on the right of frame, it tends to pull the eye no matter which crop is used. Gorgeous, serene capture!

[Jackie Schuknecht]

Very nice Cheryl, the pastels are lovely. I must say I like Randall's crop.

[Judy Howle]

I love the hazy softness and the composition is really nice. I might crop about an inch off the bottom but not quite as much as Randall did.

[Kerry Perkins]

Lovely image Cheryl, the soft colors and textures really work together to paint a scene of serenity. I'm a fan of big landscape images and people are always telling me to crop away some foreground or sky, but I like the original post. Horizontal space is fine, but I like to see big sky too!

[Anita Bower]

Beautiful. The elements lead my eye to the pier, which is perfectly placed. Love the soft glow of colors in sky and reflection--they seem to suffuse the entire image. I see what is meant by the light areas in lower right, but I hadn't noticed them. The original crop is fine with me, but so is the second.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

Cheryl,

Greetings. Over the years having always lived near the beach I've taken the long shot down the beach quite a few times. This one is a real keeper. The soft texture and color with the great reflection off the sky, birds and people and the expansive foreground are superb. The radial alignment of the clouds is lost in Randall's crop along with the gentle way the OP envelops me. I feel I'm there walking along in this beautiful scene. Thanks for posting. Good show!

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Cheryl Slechta]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I prefer the OP because I wanted to capture the reflection of the radiating clouds in the foreground. I even like the horizon in the center - it just seems to be right for the image although I can understand why Randall prefers a pano. This was taken with a Canon Rebel SL1 - I had experimented with other smaller cameras but never liked one until I got this one. It is their smallest camera, weighs less than a #, is 18 MP and I think it has the same sensor as the 7D. Lots of controls so it feels like a "real" camera. It's great for taking along when you can't take all your good gear. I was pleased with quite a few of the shots I took with it.