I haven't done anything serious lately; there is so much going on lately. Nevertheless, I have a shot from an excursion to the beach recently which I am not sure where to post. But I thought everyone here could enjoy it and maybe learn something from it as C&Cs come in.
Shot at 20mm FF, 1/20, f/8, ISO220, HH. This family were having a "picnic" at the beach: The kids were playing, the dad was fishing, and the mom was making sure the gulls were not eating their food. The shot was pretty much a spontaneous burst of 8 pictures; this one being the one with the most pleasing composition: The boys and the dad are making a nice triangle and they are in a way interact with each other (that also includes the older boy's hand position in the frame) if those make any sense.
I have to increase the exposure a little bit here (+1.25) plus some shadow recovery (+82). On hindsight I could have used a higher ISO.
I would love to hear your thoughts, comments, and critiques on the picture! :)
Adhika! Something different! Love it! And I'm pleased you posted it here. This is a lovely family scene. Are they friends? I'm always a little worried about shooting other peoples children at the beach (or anywhere).
I do like the triangle composition. Though I might take a slice off the top. I like the diagonal lead in from the wave in the LH corner. I'm not sure if I would have shot this at such a slow shutter speed. The boys are interacting but there doesn't seem to be any eye contact with each other. But you can see the fun they are having! Adhika, I believe there is a magenta cast, especially on the waves and the sand.
I hope we see more of this sort of image! Thank you Adhika.
Adhika: I am a horrible judge of what makes a good photo like this, but I can say that for me I would have been distracted by the beautiful sunset taking place. You must have seen it -- did you take any shots of it as the sun was setting?
I too would have liked to have seen more eye-contact between the kids as Glennie mentioned, and I also would have been slightly concerned about taking pics of other people's kids; thinking some parents would not like.
Good to see different kinds of pics here in ETL. Hoping you get some more C&C and I'll certainly be reading comments so I can learn how to take a better photos like this.
This family was just some strangers at the beach. As a nature photographer, I am always wary about shooting people as well. Knowing that I shot pictures in public space doesn't make it any easier. But once in a while, I will do this just to get out of the comfort zone and do something different. I think it's our own Doug West that says birds are people, too. Maybe the contrary is true: people are birds, too. LOL. Anyway, I did show this picture to the mom and told her that I am not selling the pictures and even offered to send her a print. Even though she decline the offer, she was okay with the picture.
Glennie: Taking a sliver from the top is not a bad idea! Thanks for the suggestion! Re: shutter speed... I was actually going for motion blur in this image. I was actually hoping for more blur from the kids, but there is no way for me to direct them like in a studio. Haha. The magenta cast was actually the color from the sunset itself. I thought it was kinda pleasing to have that tone.
Andrew: I did have some shots on the sunset, not really like how it turned out. To be completely honest, I am kinda on an artist block on beach sunset. Over the last 4-5 years I have collected quite a few collections on seascape sunset (e.g., 1, 2 & 3) and for the lack of better words, I feel like I am running out of composition and have become increasingly picky (my way of excusing myself not to shoot). This shot is one attempt to break that blockage; we'll see! :)
Adhika: Gorgeous sunset photos. Sunrise/Sunset photos are still on my "to do" list as a new photographer. A favor: post one or two of yours here (or any others that you think relevant) so we can get some C&C and (selfishly) I can learn more about what it takes to compose a good one.
Very nice with great action!! Good thinking on the SS. I need to get out of my box more often like that.
Not sure I'd take any off the top but maybe enhance the natural gradient a bit more. Highlights might be tamed a bit more, but it's sort of fitting the fun style of the image to leave the processing looking a bit more spontaneous, like the action.
I think posting pictures of people is most problematic when you put them on a public site, and especially if you have recognizable faces and location/date information. (I guess it's public here, but quite "as" public as some of the more general sites.
Sunset joy
