Widecombe Sunset

[chuckles]

Taken last month when we visited Marianne's daughter..... BBQ's, surfing, etc. I couldn't believe how cold it was. Brrr! I thought landscape photographers were die hards.....!

http://baz.barrianne-photos.co.uk/4_tpf/widecombe_bay_1.jpg

[dod]

Nobody comes into critique after only two days :p

I've tried this sort of shot a few times and never found it easy.

The water provides a good lead in but I think there's too much foreground if that makes sense. Going even lower would have compressed the foreground a bit more and perhaps brought out the people on the surf line. At the moment they're too small to have any real impact and I'm not sure if their inclusion adds anything or not, although it might look a bit empty without them at the top. They're also not quite where I'd have expected them. The water leads you up the right hand side and then you scan across to them on the left.

As it is it almost feels like two seperate images, one of the surf and sunset and another of the water on the beach. Perhaps going to landscape and a lower perspective would have kept everything closer together?

Then again, wouldn't be the first time I've spoken rubbish, it's a good bit better than my efforts :)

[matty]

i would agree with Dod, the foreground also seems a bit dark to me, there IS a very good shot in there, just needs tweaking

[Arkady]

Yep - just a bit on the dark side.
Shoot a bit lower and tweak the shadow areas a little.

[chuckles]

I couldn't get much lower without a shovel and a wet-suit LoL :shock:

I'm wondering about monitors here.... I wanted dark shadows (and I can still some detail in the larger rocks). I felt it suited a low-key treatment so that's it got!

Agree about the figures in this instance though. Might post a link to a full-frame version if I get time (and it's on my work's lap-top). I think it's one of those images that only really works BIG! :)

[dazzajl]

To throw a different light on it, I think the bottom section is just great but I'm not really liking the top part of the image. The dark section of beach below the shore line on the left dominates a little too much for my taste.

I do think though that there is a fantastic square shot in the lower part of the shot. Really concentrates on the lovely trio of rock, sand and molten looking water. Although that does draw the eye into the footprint in the bottom left corner.

[chuckles]

Ok - the first image is unaltered, straight from the camera, except for an horizon crop

Straight image 2.5Mb (http://baz.barrianne-photos.co.uk/4_tpf/wid_bay_1.jpg)

This second is, perhaps, an improvement with a lift in the shadows using a levels tweak. To my mind the colours are way too muted now.

Levels tweaked 2.5Mb (http://baz.barrianne-photos.co.uk/4_tpf/wid_bay_1_levs.jpg)

These are the "full-frame" didn't know whether I could post a reduced image into this critique thread :(

[Marianne]

I prefer the straight image :)

[CT]

Straight image I think. :) Ideally I'd go for something between the two, but what I'd do is selectively lighten the darker areas rather than try to do it in one go.

Edit

It's OK to post another version or versions of the same pic. or for people to have a go for you if that's your wish. We keep it to one pic so that people can give proper consideration to the shot. Some people will mull over a pic for a couple of days before they post an opinion. :D

[AquilaEagle]

I think I am in no position to critique, but from my eye, I think I would have been lower to the ground, and shot a bit more upwards, so if that makes sense, there would be more sky in the picture, and the land would be at a less acute angle.

Does that make sense?? :D