First I would show the full dark curl area, to the right, with some whitewater beyond it.
I like the curl and the white water to the left, but the dark curl does not go for me, even though I think it would add to the image if more of it were shown.
You could use some contrast adjustment.
Additionally lighting the dark area of the curl would improve it.
While the cotton candy effect is nice, you should have something in the image in sharp focus in the image. A rock or beach sand would do the trick.
I would say you have a nice subject, but need to expand the area of the image to complete the dark curl on the right and add some focused image within the frame.
Good luck and don't take the above as a criticism, just my view on a critique.
Thanks for the tips! This is full frame, so unfortunately I don't have anymore of the dark circle. I took a lot of photos with the beach and with rocks; but here I was going for something slightly abstract, trying to catch the wave as it curled. Do I need more or less contrast?
I like as presented, very painterly. I will not add more contrast because it would loose the soft mystical mood. If anything, I'd crop some off the bottom for a stronger composition.
Hey Paul,
Very interesting and unusual abstact. Like Fabs, I like the soft feel here and adding contrast will change the feel. I also agree on the crop off the bottom (just above your signature).....but would also take some off the top....just below the dark area on the left edge of frame.....creating a wave curl pano abstract... Now that's a first! Really showcases the motion of the water well and the silky areas shape and flow really make this interesting. Nicely seen and handled.
This is a quick change that I and the others noted. I added +12 contrast, just to pop it a little. I like the mist, but personally would prefer some focused element. Given what is there, this is my "suggestion". However, it is your image, to create as you saw it.
I like the pattern and the curl on the right side but was finding the odd mixture of colors distracting. So I desaturated the image, applied a strong s-curve and then created another curve correction where I experimented with the individual RGB channels.