new to photography yet hope for some nice critiquing/commentary on my new photo!

[redskies421]

Hello!

I posted a few days ago concerning a photo that I wanted to edit for my dad, however, I was unsure on how to utilize lightzone properly (I am still a bit unsure!)

Anyways, I am incredibly new at photography and I refuse to utilize automode (well..most of the time) since I am hoping to learn how to properly use shutter speed, manual and aperture priority.

I took this photo with my tripod around sunset. I chose an incredibly slow shutter speed (I forgot exactly what), and a low ISO (I figured that the slower the shutter speed..the more exposure, and sunset would allow this photo to be taken without being overexposed with light). F stop was at f/8.0. I thought that both the fireworks and the ocean would provide an amazing opportunity to experiment with shutter speed priority in order to obtain a " dreamy blur" with the water so to speak. Moreover, I was actually just curious on how the fireworks would turn out.

In terms of editing...I upped sharpness, RAW exposure (a little bit), color saturation (a bit), and vibrance. Moreover, I cropped it to get the water, edge of beach, and fireworks in focus.

I would love to read some critiques..I am incredibly new to photography and obtained by camera only a few weeks ago..any tips on how I could have made this photo better (which includes editing it in a more proficient way) would be much obliged!

I am looking forward reading your critiques!

Cheers

 

[redskies421]

ps. Edits welcomed

 

[al93535]

I'm new myself, but I really like it.

sent from a non Apple device

 

[photog4life]

I like it but it's cropped to tight at the top. It cuts off some of the streaks for the firework.

 

[Derrel]

The seascape looks well-exposed. The fireworks appear a bit OVER-exposed. Still, a pretty good effort for a beginner, and sound reasoning for the most part on how to "make" the shot come to fruition.

 

[a_auger]

Very nice! I think it needs a little levelling

 

[Didereaux]

Looking at the large version it would appear that there was quite a bit of camera movement. As you said that this was a long exposure it must be presumed that the tripod is not up to the task. Since the fireworks do not show any great drift then the wind must have been negligible.

 

[Pejacre]

ps. Edits welcomed

Ok then! Brought up the shadows in the lower half to bring out detail and pushed highlights in the top while reducing exposure. Also removed the splodge of rocks on the left of the frame which wasn't adding anything. Straightened the horizon. That's it really - hope you don't think I ruined it. All I can add is maybe avoid having the horizon bisect the picture at the mid point, although the diagonal where the sea meets sand does create a a nice arrow with the horizon pointing us towards the corner where the fireworks are happening. Nice photo and thanks for allowing us to play with it

 

[bianni]

Added some sky and cropped the bottom

 

[photog4life]

View attachment 80274

Added some sky and cropped the bottom

hol' up... This is not the same picture? what the frick

 

[Msteelio91]

^^^ lmao....

What the eff is going on hahahaha

Definitely the same spot unless some crazy shooping is going on here

 

[Designer]

Is this a composite?

 

[AlanKlein]

Have you considered a portrait crop? I don't know if you need all that empty space on the left. Nice shot.

 

[redskies421]

Thank you for the commentary! the shot that Bianni posted was actually from my first post...same location and time period yet different photo. In my first post, I received some great tips on how to utilize programs such as lightzone. This current post is somewhat of a result of me taking the advice and seeing what I could do.

Regardless,

Cheers!