Critique Tenby Harbour - Blue Hour

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James
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The intention was to drive across to Tenby (roughly 1hr 40mins) to capture a stunning sunrise over the harbour. I set myself up and rattled off a few exposures to check my composition. Soon enough the rain set in and put to bed my idea of a glorious sunrise. Instead I came away with this shot of the harbour during the blue hour at sunrise.

As this is a fairly long exposure (around 10 seconds) there is some obvious movement in the boats, I couldn't think of a way to freeze them apart from creating a composite image (which had slipped my mind at the time having left the house at 0345). I also didn't want the harbour right in the middle of the frame so have opted for this crop. However, the horizon cuts the photo in my opinion but again, I could't think of a way around it; do you feel it's detrimental to the image? Anyway, here is the photo:

Tenby - Blue Hour


Critique is greatly appreciated - thanks all,
James
 
I think you are worrying to much about little details, like the boats showing movement. At the scale shown here I can't see much sign of them moving and as for the horizon cutting the image in two well that's what horizons do what else could you show? I think it may be improved with a slightly shorter exposure or taken a little earlier as the sky appears almost as full day light rather than the darker blue you can get with the blue hour photography look. The street lighting has come out nicely to give a nice warm glow contrast to the over all cold blue of the image.
 
Too much empty space in this for me, I would have got a bit lower and closer to the harbour, some really nice colour in those house above the harbour.
 
Too much empty space in this for me, I would have got a bit lower and closer to the harbour, some really nice colour in those house above the harbour.

Have to agree with this. There is a great expanse of blue here which I don't think you could crop easily. Other than that it's a lovely shot of a lovely place.
 
Have to agree with this. There is a great expanse of blue here which I don't think you could crop easily. Other than that it's a lovely shot of a lovely place.

All to our own.

I think the wide expanse of the blue water leads my eye to the harbour and balances the colourful road on the RHS. Just my 2p worth...

Great photo, and up so early........

Mj
 
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I think you are worrying to much about little details, like the boats showing movement. At the scale shown here I can't see much sign of them moving and as for the horizon cutting the image in two well that's what horizons do what else could you show? I think it may be improved with a slightly shorter exposure or taken a little earlier as the sky appears almost as full day light rather than the darker blue you can get with the blue hour photography look. The street lighting has come out nicely to give a nice warm glow contrast to the over all cold blue of the image.

Thanks Andy. There wasn't much of the blue hour left at that point. I did take some exposures earlier in the morning but thought this was the best of the lot; the others really were dark.

Too much empty space in this for me, I would have got a bit lower and closer to the harbour, some really nice colour in those house above the harbour.

That had entered my mind but I decided against it. I felt the harbour would lose it's tranquillity as the composition became busier.

James
 
I too am not sure the bottom third of the image adds much to the overall composition tbh.
Tenby is such a pretty place, and I'd love to see the former lifeboat station (now a house) a little more prominent in the shot.
 
I too am not sure the bottom third of the image adds much to the overall composition tbh.
Tenby is such a pretty place, and I'd love to see the former lifeboat station (now a house) a little more prominent in the shot.

Thanks Ruth. I'll keep that in mind for the next time I trek across there. As the days are getting shorter, I may get a lie in!

James
 
I like it James, the composition is good, strong leading line and a lovely curve. The empty water adds to the image for me.
Don't worry about the boats bobbing about, and the horizon is perfectly fine where it is.
Slightly earlier would help, as Andy said, giving you the deeper blue hour tones, but it's still a great bit of work. Keep it up (y)
 
This is fine and I'd leave as is. Crop the bottom and you'd lose the sense of depth conferred by the lit road, making the shot more boring. The overall asymmetry adds interest.
Too much empty space in this for me, I would have got a bit lower and closer to the harbour, some really nice colour in those house above the harbour.
But then it's a different picture, not a better one. Why mess with it?
I too am not sure the bottom third of the image adds much to the overall composition tbh.
Tenby is such a pretty place, and I'd love to see the former lifeboat station (now a house) a little more prominent in the shot.
So is it all about 'pretty'? And why do you need the lifeboat station more prominent? Again, that would be a different shot, not a better one.
 
This is fine and I'd leave as is. Crop the bottom and you'd lose the sense of depth conferred by the lit road, making the shot more boring. The overall asymmetry adds interest.

But then it's a different picture, not a better one. Why mess with it?

So is it all about 'pretty'? And why do you need the lifeboat station more prominent? Again, that would be a different shot, not a better one.

I gave my opinion. I stand by it.
Get over yourself.
 
I gave my opinion. I stand by it.
Get over yourself.

It's really you that needs to get over yourself. You could have just posted the first two sentences there without the last one. Unnecessary.
 
Oh here we go.
 
Definitely a mailbox crop required loosing the first 6 or 7 cars in my opinion The embankment on the R/H/S detracts from a very pleasant harbour.
 
I agree with many of the comments already made. I like the quality of the shot but would have cropped the picture more tightly. Lose some of the sky at the top of the picture and lose most if not all of the parked cars on the bottom.
A lovely shot though with really nice colours.
 
I think the road on the right lends a good lead in line to the main body of the image.
 
Of course, photography is totally subjective, everybody has a different view. There is no 'correct' answer or solution !
 
Thanks all for your thoughts and comments!

@Blank_Canvas - Re the cropping, I've seen many images of the harbour cropped as you've suggested (I think Arriva Trains Wales even have such a cropped photo as an advertisement) but I wanted to do something different; I don't think the embankment detracts from the image, personally. As you say photography is subjective. :)

James
 
I quite like it James, just echo Jakes comments really, would leave it as is, a bit deeper blue would have been nicer, I think a bit earlier and darker would have brought out the reflection of those lights in the water a little more, but that's a shot for another day;)
 
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Thanks Steve. I'm taking some annual leave in October so I may head across again and stay the night (beats getting up at 0315!).

James
 

I see you were some minutes too early to press the trigger!
…the blend is not quite right IMO.

…and/or the rendition is showing an over exposed view!
 
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I see you were some minutes too early to press the trigger!
…the blend is not quite right IMO.

…and/or the rendition is showing an over exposed view!

I'm not sure what you mean by "the blend is not quite right"; it's a single exposure, not a composite.

James
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "the blend is not quite right"…


I mean the blend between daylight and artificial light! Sorry for the unclear statement.
 
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