Shots in between the rain - C+C

[mcleish]

Hey everyone.
Ive started two different threads with images, hoping to get a bit of C+C, but unfortunately they got nothing. And to be honest, I'm not surprised. Plonking images on a page and saying ‘C+C please’, IMO, isn’t really good enough. Therefore, this time around, I'm going to comment on my own pictures and see what you guys think? After all, its all a learning curve and you need to be able to spot your own mistakes.
By doing this, i hope you guys see the effort I'm putting into photography and will share a few comments of your own.
I’ve been practicing with long exposures, and I’m still going with it. I think, overall, my pictures lack a standout subject and they seem a bit busy. Its frustrating knowing all of this after i get home and look at my pictures, but when I'm out it just doesnt seem to come together. I know practice is the answer.


1.

DSC_0266-2 by mcleishlad, on Flickr
f8, 30 secs, iso 200.

2.

DSC_0273 by mcleishlad, on Flickr
f8, 4 secs, iso 200.



So number 1.
I really like the moodiness of the clouds and the movement i feel whilst looking at them. The ocean I'm a little disappointed with as i was hoping for it all to be ‘white foamy’ looking. I like the build up of all the rocks at the bottom of the cliff, but i wish there was something at the edge of the cliff like a building of some sort - something that would draw the eye in stronger. I wish the cliff would be sharper also - my focus fixed itself on infinity, where maybe i should be looking at hyperfocal focus? I think i may have left a little too much space on the right, and could have composed better. I could have also cropped in post.


Number 2.
The lights are blown - Simple. Im kind of bummed by that to be fair, its very distracting. I like the boats in the foreground and how they drag my eyes from left to right to the side of the beach. Not much more i can say about this one really. I do and i don’t like it. The mix of colours from left to right, with the clouds that lead into the city. Hopefully you guys will have more of an opinion about this one.


Thanks for looking, and look forward to your comments.

 

[Mully]

I like them both! The street lights in the second shot are a little bright but you could shop them down then reduce the overall brightness of the city. With the city toned down the photo will improve

 

[cannpope]

I really like #1.

 

[kathyt]

#1 is stunning and #2 is okay. I think the yellow lights are a little overbearing.

 

[theraven]

Personally I would have liked to have seen more sea and less sky in #1, as the sky is not the most interesting but the sea is, because of the effect of the long exposure.

#2 I think may look better without the boats at the bottom, they seem a little dark and distracting to me, either that or lighten them to pull out more detail.

Other than that i think they are lovely shots, especially the detail in the rocks in #1.

 

[jfrabat]

I think the horizon is too close to center in both, and in these cases, that is not adding to the pictures. Other than that, they are pretty good shots!

 

[spacefuzz]

I think you did pretty good.

1. You wont get the white and foamy look with such a wide high shot, youd need to be closer to the rocks to get that long exposure fog. I like the moving clouds, but I feel compositionally its weighted too heavy to the left. I wish there was a rock out in the surf to help balance.

2. I like the coloring and dont mind the lights being blown a bit. A tad too centered, and if it was me I would have played up the boats by getting closer to them. Make them the foreground anchor and use the reflections to lead into the city scape in the background. It would also let you compress some of the negative space in the beach and tighten everything up.

My 2 cents hope it helps!

 

[rexbobcat]

Those clouds are freaky lol. Great stuff. I like two more, though. The color of the lights complement the color of the sky well.

 

[mcleish]

Thanks a lot to everybody that's commented so far. Much appreciated.
At this stage I feel (constructive) criticism is a lot more valuable to learning than positives, so I thank those who gave me a more detailed comment.

@Mully - I did a bit of brush work in LR4 and toned down the overall brightness, and it does look a lot better. Thanks.

@cannpope - I'm glad you liked it -

@kathy - thanks for the look and comment. Id only just looked at your thread for your wedding and really like your work. It gives me motivation to know you liked my shot.

@theraven - thanks for the time to write your comment. With #1 I understand what your saying by having more sea in therefore setting the horizon higher, but I really liked the movement of the clouds also.

@jfrabat - Yeah I said the same thing to myself after looking them for a while. Thanks for the comment mate.

@spacefuzz -(#1) Ah, so been closer to rocks creates the whole foamy, foggy effect? Thanks for that. I'll keep it in mind next time I'm trying for it.
I understand what your saying with it been weighted to the left. I sort of said that in my first post - having so much dead space. If only there was a rock, or some sort of different element.
(#2) I like your idea of getting closer to the boats to get create a stronger anchor and to remove some of the dead space in the sand. I'll give that a go the next time I'm out and let you know how I get on.
For your comment again mate. Much appreciated.

@rexbobcat - thanks mate. Glad you got the same feeling with clouds as I did! Thanks for your time looking.