Looking Off Fleetwood Beach

[Chris of Arabia]

I know where I think this could be improved, but I'd be interested in what others think...

 

[Alpha]

I think it's rather nice. I'll leave all the going ape-shxt over technical details to the rest of the crew.

 

[Sweetsomedays]

I love this. I even love your post of it in color I didn't see it in the color pic but I do in the B&W, the little ripple in the water. Only thing I don't like is that pole thingy.

 

[Peanuts]

The gradation of tones from the lower right hand corner to the upper left is fantastic! Nicely spotted

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Thanks for the positive comments. I'd actually written this shot off when I took it back in May, as it didn't really match up to the visualisation I had of it when I pressed the shutter button. It was only as a result of looking through an old magazine last night, and an article on B+W conversions that it came to mind again.

I actually like the pole, as it provides a visual full stop at the end of the breakwater where the eye is being lead - it almost becomes the subject of the shot. I would have preferred that I could have got a little more DOF to sharpen it up a bit, but the sun was setting and a tripod wasn't an option as I was crouched in soft sand/mud already (not a firm foundation). Looking at the shot now, I think a slightly higher view point would have been better, as it would have given the distant land above the breakwater a little more prominence - from where the shot was taken, you're looking across Morecambe Bay to the Lake District. I think it would also have been better to frame things in such a way that the horizon wasn't quite so central. Oh and I didn't notice the dripping water until I looked at the shot on the PC.

 

[abraxas]

I like the combination between the natural and manmade elements of the shot. Almost illusionary too. The centered horizon is cool by me as you have so much under it.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I think I like it better in color even though I'm a black and white kinda guy. Has to do with the seperation of the elements. There is a blending effect in the black an white version.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Try this




Your original shot leads the eye out of the frame left, which is not the best thing to do. Reversing the image gets the diagonals pushing the eye into frame and makes it work for you.
It also makes the tonal gradation in the sky work for you.
An improvement? Si?

 

[PlasticSpanner]

Am I backwards? I prefer images that lead right to left!

Chris, I agree a higher viewpoint could give you more water & less sky but how much reflection would you lose?

Maybe try the opposite way with a lower viewpoint?

Nice shot though even with the centered horizon! :thumbup:

 

[PNA]

It a good shot as is.....

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Your original shot leads the eye out of the frame left, which is not the best thing to do.

I've spent too long in Saudi I think - right to left works just fine for me

Reversing the image gets the diagonals pushing the eye into frame and makes it work for you.
It also makes the tonal gradation in the sky work for you.
An improvement? Si?

Actually it had crossed my mind that it would be better leading in the opposite direction, I just couldn't get my head round Heysham Power Station being where it's now sitting - that's the two little pale squarish blobs just above the breakwater (right on the original, left of HvR's flip)

Right I'm going to try another approach to this based on the article that first made me resurrect the shot. Another version coming up soonish, or maybe even tomorrow.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

Chris, I agree a higher viewpoint could give you more water & less sky but how much reflection would you lose?

Probably not all that much. I was only thinking of lifting up around 6" so that the land on the horizon just cleared the breakwater and no more. A slight downward tilt, and I think you've got all the reflection you need. One to try when I'm back home in late August.

Thanks to everyone for all the ideas and suggestions.

 

[Chris of Arabia]

A bit like this...

It's still not quite as I'd like, too much image degradation along the way I think. I'd be interested to know what you make of it now though.

 

[abraxas]

Sky is much better. Seems to have taken care of something that was going on with the ripple too.

Interesting theory on the left-right thing.

How's upside down look? Too abstract?

 

[abraxas]

...

How's upside down look? Too abstract?

whoa, that's cool- try left to right AND upside down!