Peaceful or Boring?

[SquarePeg40 1]

Really torn on whether or not this is just too bland. On the one hand I find it soothing but on the other it is a lot of gray shades. Suggestions? Comments?

 

[Designer]

Not peaceful, disturbing.

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

Why is that?

 

[Designer]

A chair in the water is anything but peaceful.

IMO.


YMMV

 

[limr33 3]

I agree that it's not quite peaceful but I'm not sure that I'd go as far as disturbing. The chair in the water is certainly odd. A lounge chair that is sort of near the surf so if you are sitting there, you can get some water on your feet - that can be nice and relaxing. This, however, is too far out and it seems like the wrong kind of chair for lounging, so we're left with questions.

Having said all this, I like it for all those reasons. It is a very peaceful, tranquil scene, but then you get to the chair and you think, "Huh?" I find the composition pleasing, and I tend to prefer subtle colors like you have here.

Edit: One tiny little nitpick - I wish the reflection of the chair weren't cut off.

 

[Dave442]

The calm after the storm.

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

I agree that it's not quite peaceful but I'm not sure that I'd go as far as disturbing. The chair in the water is certainly odd. A lounge chair that is sort of near the surf so if you are sitting there, you can get some water on your feet - that can be nice and relaxing. This, however, is too far out and it seems like the wrong kind of chair for lounging, so we're left with questions.

Having said all this, I like it for all those reasons. It is a very peaceful, tranquil scene, but then you get to the chair and you think, "Huh?" I find the composition pleasing, and I tend to prefer subtle colors like you have here.

Edit: One tiny little nitpick - I wish the reflection of the chair weren't cut off.

I think the type of chair may be what is misleading people. This was low chair only a few inches off the ground. The water it's in is about 3 or 4 inches deep at the most. Someone had been sitting there enjoying a drink and cooling off just a few minutes earlier.

Thanks for the note about the reflection, I hadn't noticed that. It's a crop so I'll see if I can work the full reflection back in without adding back a few distractions that I was cropping out.

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

For better perspective on the chair in the water, here's a different shot:

Here's the original re-cropped to show the full reflection:

 

[The_Traveler]

While I think this is peaceful and nice, I do think that having the chair so far in the corner and clipping its reflection just a tiny bit makes it look like a little bit of a missed frame. Making it a bit more prominent and corrected the clipped part makes it seem a bit mroe important to me.

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

@The_Traveler

I love that crop. Thanks!

 

[KenC]

Regarding your comment on there being "a lot of gray shades," I think all you need is something closer to a real black. If you look at the horizon in the wider shot you posted for context you'll see that it's much darker, which provides the needed contrast with the sky and water. I'd process the other shot that way and make the chair darker as well.

 

[The_Traveler]

@The_Traveler

I love that crop. Thanks!

I added from the original and didn't even see the crop you added just before.

I think that moving the chair out of the corner gives the viewer a better sense that the chair and its absent occupant is more important. When the chair is important than the scene becomes less just another scenic view of a horizon but an appreciation that someone liked this scene enough to grab a chair and put it out there to look.
The person, even absent, becomes a part of the scene.

 

[SquarePeg40 1]

Regarding your comment on there being "a lot of gray shades," I think all you need is something closer to a real black. If you look at the horizon in the wider shot you posted for context you'll see that it's much darker, which provides the needed contrast with the sky and water. I'd process the other shot that way and make the chair darker as well.

I'll have to look back at that one. I think I used a Topaz adjust filter to get the contrast.

 

[Austin Greene]

You asked, so I'll answer:

boring.

 

[BillM]

Peaceful, i wish i was there right now.