Seascape Photo Criticism w/ Nikon D3100

[AngelosPhotography]

The photo was shot on a Nikon D3100 w/ 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6g kit lens. I never had any ND or whatever filters upon my lenses. The location I was shooting at was on the South side of Hawaii, so I couldn't get any shots with the sun (since it doesn't set on the South side). Anyways, what I need is some basic criticism on this image; what do you think? What would you have done differently? Please note that this is actually my second time experiencing seascape photography. My first time was a bit displeasing to me for several reasons.

I'm willing to make some changes on the image (I still have the RAW version).


(Photo re-edited thanks to KmH and everyone else's feedback)

 

[DarkShadow]

Straighten your Horizon and bump up the exposure a tad.

 

[SCraig]

Straighten your Horizon and bump up the exposure a tad.

I agree and disagree somewhat. Definitely straighten the horizon. If it were mine I'd lighten the foreground around the water and darken the sky.

 

[DarkShadow]

yes scott you nailed it.Thats what i am finding a little dark is the water in the foreground or the water in general.

 

[KmH]

Straightened, foreground exposure adjusted, mid-tone contrast boosted, thin black border added:

 

[DarkShadow]

Wow that's nice edit to a nice photo.I love the dreamy water effect.

 

[cgipson1]

Straighten your Horizon and bump up the exposure a tad.

I agree and disagree somewhat. Definitely straighten the horizon. If it were mine I'd lighten the foreground around the water and darken the sky.

^This! This shot badly needed a GND!

 

[ronlane]

Nice edit Keith

 

[KmH]

Thanks! to both you and DarkShadow.

 

[AngelosPhotography]

Ah, I knew the foreground was a bit too underexposed. Thank you guys for the feedback

 

[35mm4me]

I saw this photo on the Nikon D3100 flickr community; I liked it , but wanted to fix the horizon. Nicely edited. Nice shot. Tell me how you have your camera set up. I have been having some problems with sharpness with my D3100. I kind of have it figured out but always nice to hear from other owners

 

[kathyt]

Very nice image OP, and I like the edit KmH.

 

[AngelosPhotography]

I saw this photo on the Nikon D3100 flickr community; I liked it , but wanted to fix the horizon. Nicely edited. Nice shot. Tell me how you have your camera set up. I have been having some problems with sharpness with my D3100. I kind of have it figured out but always nice to hear from other owners

I used the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6g lens without any filters (since I don't have any). The first thing I would do is to go to the location around 1-2 hours before the desired time (I was going for the golden hour) so that I could focus properly and scout for other shooting spots. I used a Targus TGT-BK58T tripod, which was lightweight, but not sturdy in windy conditions, so I dug holes in the sand and buried the tripod's legs into the sand for sturdiness. Then, I used timer mode to take the shot.

 

[TCampbell]

Clearly this camera isn't working out. You should just chuck it into the sea and use a camera phone.

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<grin>

Fabulous shot!

If you find you enjoy taking landscape photos, there are two filters to consider:

1) The "gradient neutral density" (aka "GND"). This filter is rectangular. You mount a "filter holder" on the end of your lens (which does thread onto the lens' filter threads). The filter itself is clear on bottom half and tinted dark on the top half. The idea being that you can use it to darken the sky while not darkening the land. This reduces the dynamic range required to capture the shot and allows you to get a landscape shot with better balance and more drama.

2) The "REVERSE gradient neutral density" -- very similar to a GND except it's optimized specifically for SUNSETS. It's clear at bottom, very dark in the center section, and then mildly dark at top. The idea being that the sun is brightest during sunset near the horizon line. But doesn't require as much darkening at the top.

Play with shutter times... fast shutter speeds will 'freeze' the water... slow times will deliberately blur the water (and you can get some amazing effects by doing this.).