Some Black and Whites from the beach...

[AmericanMag]

These are some photos I have taken in the Cocoa Beach area of Florida (by Cape Canaveral). Please be open with the feedback. I am trying to get better and any help that you folks can give will definitely help.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Thanks!

 

[photo28]

2nd and last are my favorite. I like how it leads to the water - gives the photo a deeper meaning

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Overall a bit gray. Lack of contrast and life. But the exposure in 3 and 4 is wrong and raising the contrast there would not help. It would actually do the opposite as some areas are already blown.

Composition wise, I do get a sense of a vision but, unless intended, it does not work in #1. This walkway leads nowhere.

#2 could have been quite nice if you had gotten the slightest bit higher up to shoot and separated the horizon line a little more from the hand rail line. Also, the grasses on the left kind of kill the balance in this symmetrical composition and it may have been better to make it less symmetrical. but that is just a personal like.

#3 I like the composition but the exposure problem kills it.

#4 I feel like I've seen this photo so many times and, again, the exposure is wrong.

Keep shooting though. You have nice ideas and they will get better as you shoot more.

 

[AmericanMag]

Thank you very much for the feedback! It is greatly appreciated! Still learning and having your responses is helping the process!

 

[Sachphotography]

#3 would look great if you shoot is with a ND filter and leave the shutter open about 1 or 2 sec. It will make the water dream like and ghostly.

 

[Antithesis]

The first one is cool because of the sky. If you use the black & white adjustment layer in PS, try and crank the blue up to get the sky darker. Overall though, the images are lacking any real subject or interest. Technically, they look fine, but I'd just like to see a person or something to help keep me interested.

 

[austriker]

the 3rd one has the ocean blown out (overexposed) which probably could not have been avoided, but i still say it hurts the photo a lot.


2nd one is best by far.. nice work

 

[Silver Halide]

I really like the second one with the boardwalk. It gives me a feeling of infinity.

 

[Randall Ellis]

#1 I like the treatment of the sky - lots of interesting cloud details, but the right side of the composition carries more weight than the left (the bench and the tree branch are the culprits here) so it feels unbalanced. The tonal values are a bit flat as well, which lessens the impact. The leading line of the boardwalk is good though...

#2 Better. The sky has more impact due to the increased contrast of tonal values, the boardwalk leads the eye deep into the image, but this too is heavy on the right side. The grasses in the immediate left foreground help some, but they are not enough to balance this fully. I agree completely with c.cloudwalker on the change in point of view - that would have added a good deal of impact to this one.

#3 I sort of like the composition here, but that leaning piling is distracting as presented. Again, I completely agree with c.cloudwalker about the exposure - the blown out sky is a magnet for my eye and detracts heavily from the rest of the scene. There is a lot of detail in the pilings that we are missing out on because they are lost in heavy shadow. If this were evened out quite a bit (shooting at a different time of day perhaps) this would be a much stronger image.

#4 This composition is very closed, and the foreground sand does nothing to add to this image as presented. My eye is pulled right to the blown sky in the center and it just stays there. The overly high values in the mid-right are also a distraction. Here again I think that you would be better served if you come back when the light is not such a problem. I would also suggest that you consider moving forward to eliminate some of the upper part of the image (the underside of the pier) and the foreground (sand), neither of which does anything positive to this.

- Randy