Wet Rocks, 3 for C&C

[RobNZ]

Went out to a small coastal town with another photographer last night, hoping we would get a really nice sunset, typically the cloud hanging around the hills in the distance killed the last 20 minutes of light.

With nothing much of interest light wise the mission was on to find a decent composition, I struggled to be honest, there wasnt really anything interesting landscape wise at the location we ended up at without a good sunset and cloud formation.

1.

2. Best of a poor sunset, but the way the light hits those rocks when wet is something to keep in mind. But its kind of a nothing shot. The beach is a coarse gravel and shell, gives quite a rough texture look which was not working for me.

3. Another nothing shot of nothing remarkable, so lighting had to be key I think, the actual light was almost blue, used a couple of photo filters post to get the look I ended up with here. Too busy perhaps with no real focal point?

Any feedback appreciated as always.

 

[Jeatley]

Lets see! I think you are little to hard on yourself. Almost nothing nice to say about them but you posted them so I am sure you like something about them

1. I really really like! I would mess with the crop some but I think I might end up with the same. Also maybe adding a little fill light but still think I would go back to orignal. I like it

2. I like the rough texture vs the smooth water. I think this shot has tons of potential but not as much as the first

3. I think you are right here cause my eyes bounce all over the frame and cant figure out what to look at. But I do like the color.

I think all three of many things to learn from! Keep it up

 

[RobNZ]

Thanks Jeatley, I am hard on myself, but I think this is what drives me to improve, nothing is ever good enough, so I try harder next time, learn from past experiences etc.

I do like them, but I am more interested in what other peoples opinions are of them, maybe I missed something, compositon could be improved, or the shot just doesnt work at all (even though for me personally it may).

Thanks again for your feedback :thumbup:

 

[jackiejay]

I liked the first one and the last one Liked the reflection from the lights on the water in 1 seems like a peaceful place.

 

[Rudha]

I like #1 but the star effect(i think thatz what it's called right??) on street light is really disturbing for me and i love #2 and #3 the mood they set is amazing.
keep shooting and keep posting here

 

[dcmoody23]

These are great - 1 and 2 catch the eye.. Are these all single exposures?

 

[LittleItaly]

#2 is awesome.

 

[Derrel]

These are okay representations of place, but they do not rise to the high level of quality I've come to expect from your work Rob. The thing they lack is exceptional or remarkable lighting...the light is early morning backlighting over wet rocks...the lighting while nice, is rather unremarkable. There is not much interplay of light on the rocks...the rocks have light patches where highlights form, but that's about it in terms of variation, so the scenes look rather, well, unremarkable. Like in shot #2, the left side of the frame is slightly bright, then there is a bright line down the middle caused by the highlights on the waterline, and then the right hand side is all dark...not much of a transition....bright, very bright line, then dark...not much interplay of light within the two major areas, but just a divided image...the picture just does not visually come together as a "rewarding" image. Same with #3...it is mostly somber overall, with a nice distant city's lights echoing the dappled sunlight that penetrates the clouds, but the preponderance of the foreground's dull,dark rocks weighs down the image a bit. I do like the city's morning lights the most, but that is a very small part of the image, but the contrast of city and nature, and light and the darkness is kind of the best thing shot #3 has,for me at least.

I'm not bashing...these are okay shots, but they kind of lack...something...the conditions while pretty, are just not really grabbing me, not really visually exciting me. This kind of photography is most visually compelling under freakish,weird lighting conditions, and these look like fairly regular, early morning conditions. My suggestion would be to apply some dodging to various areas, maybe some fake color casts, to try and add impact, or just to consign these to your B-roll list. Given your typical standards, these just cannot measure up to your A-list stuff...and it's not really your fault, it's sort of the fault of the lighting present at the time.

 

[arcooke]

The 2nd picture is outstanding. I'm going to have to disagree with Derrel on the lighting.. I personally love the lighting/colors on that one. Sure there's a bright line down the middle, but then again there's also a bright blob in the clouds, bright reflections on the rocks on the left, a bright reflection on the rock on the right.. lots of bright areas in this picture that balance each other out.

This is, of course, just my opinion.. but I really like #2. Not sold on the other two though.

 

[syphlix]

#2 is my favorite... the light has nice shape to it... the others just seem a bit flat...

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I will go in with all the other lovers of the second image. The back lit rocks really caught my eye.

 

[RobNZ]

I liked the first one and the last one Liked the reflection from the lights on the water in 1 seems like a peaceful place.

Thanks for your feedback jackiejay

I like #1 but the star effect(i think thatz what it's called right??) on street light is really disturbing for me and i love #2 and #3 the mood they set is amazing.
keep shooting and keep posting here

Cheers Rudha, the star effect is a result of long exposure.

These are great - 1 and 2 catch the eye.. Are these all single exposures?

Thanks dcmoody, no they are all mutliples, 3-5 exposures each.

#2 is awesome.

Thanks

These are okay representations of place, but they do not rise to the high level of quality I've come to expect from your work Rob. The thing they lack is exceptional or remarkable lighting...the light is early morning backlighting over wet rocks...the lighting while nice, is rather unremarkable. There is not much interplay of light on the rocks...the rocks have light patches where highlights form, but that's about it in terms of variation, so the scenes look rather, well, unremarkable. Like in shot #2, the left side of the frame is slightly bright, then there is a bright line down the middle caused by the highlights on the waterline, and then the right hand side is all dark...not much of a transition....bright, very bright line, then dark...not much interplay of light within the two major areas, but just a divided image...the picture just does not visually come together as a "rewarding" image. Same with #3...it is mostly somber overall, with a nice distant city's lights echoing the dappled sunlight that penetrates the clouds, but the preponderance of the foreground's dull,dark rocks weighs down the image a bit. I do like the city's morning lights the most, but that is a very small part of the image, but the contrast of city and nature, and light and the darkness is kind of the best thing shot #3 has,for me at least.

I'm not bashing...these are okay shots, but they kind of lack...something...the conditions while pretty, are just not really grabbing me, not really visually exciting me. This kind of photography is most visually compelling under freakish,weird lighting conditions, and these look like fairly regular, early morning conditions. My suggestion would be to apply some dodging to various areas, maybe some fake color casts, to try and add impact, or just to consign these to your B-roll list. Given your typical standards, these just cannot measure up to your A-list stuff...and it's not really your fault, it's sort of the fault of the lighting present at the time.

Thanks Derrel, appreciate your feedback, I was quite gutted the cloud killed the sunset (not sunrise) and left the lighting to be sub par. It was more a case of working with what it was and making the best out of it.

B-roll list they shall be, they may not have the impact I was hoping for pre-shoot, but sometimes I guess you have to be happy with what you got, move on, try again.

The 2nd picture is outstanding. I'm going to have to disagree with Derrel on the lighting.. I personally love the lighting/colors on that one. Sure there's a bright line down the middle, but then again there's also a bright blob in the clouds, bright reflections on the rocks on the left, a bright reflection on the rock on the right.. lots of bright areas in this picture that balance each other out.

This is, of course, just my opinion.. but I really like #2. Not sold on the other two though.

Thanks arcooke.

#2 is my favorite... the light has nice shape to it... the others just seem a bit flat...

Cheers syphlix.

I will go in with all the other lovers of the second image. The back lit rocks really caught my eye.

Thanks Bitter, so basically 2 is the most appealing out of this bunch, great feedback from you all, thanks again.

 

[sam_justice]

New Zealand?! You lucky bas... I mean they're fantastic locations and great compositions but like Derrel has mentioned with a more colourcast contrasty sunset/rise these would like fantastic.

 

[Jacki]

They are all gorgeous, but #2 especially.