The first one, for me, is pure drama.
Love it.
Thank you
Elgol is surreal, and looks almost computer generated. Amazing shot. My one crit is that I'd have liked a little width on both sides to show more sea & more beach/cliff, and this tight composition puts several of the key elements too close to the edges of the frame.
The second image has fantastic lighting and clouds, but I think it needed to be shot with a much wider lens. The border really doesn't work *for me* either.
Thank you. Any wider in the Elgol shot and there's just too much of honeycomb rock in on the right (it's slightly cropped from that side) and there is absolutely nothing going on in the left hand side of frame out of shot to warrant any wider.
The border on 2 is certainly one that divides opinion, and I very very rarely do it, but it just didn't feel right without it in that instance for me. Again, shooting wider...it doesn't work for me (hence the 5:4 crop) as there's just too much water and nothing else in frame that way.
1st is an absolute belter.
edit, is it me or can you see the sensor pattern in the clouds?
Thanks Tom, not sure what you're seeing but I can't see anything along and lines of pattern, just checked the full size image and certainly not...
It could be the rain Tom.
Thank you, more than likely, as it was lashing down.
The light in the first is incredible, but like Toni it feels a bit tight for 2 bits of drama - the rainbow and the spray over the rock on left. This may be heresy - but have you tried a squarish crop to concentrate on Sgurr na Stri, dropping the spray/rock?
Thank you. I don't like it any wider as there's nothing going on to the left at that time, and any more to the right and there's just too much rock. I have many more images from this to go through and try different crops for sure, including some taken just of Sgurr na Stri.
First one is ridiculously good. I just can't think of a better expression.
Thank you
I see a good square in one also but I like it as is with the rock on the left with the spray. It's a well judged composition and exposure. It's very "Martin" for sure.
However I really like two despite it showing a) a road b) a lake without still water.
There's plenty more to process from the time 1 was taken, some longer to work a square crop too. You know me and my style more than anyone on here
Two, I'm very pleased with, it just worked out as a dump the car and run shot. Even without reflections
Conditions look great in both - I really want to like the first as there's some obviously fantastic stuff going on, but my eyes are bouncing all round the frame a bit, plus the brightly lit rock jutting out on the extreme right edge pulls me away a bit and I don't think it's adding anything to the shot positioned where it is. Just feels a bit unbalanced and chaotic. I could be totally wrong but it feels a reactionary sort of shot to what's going on.
Second one is really very nice and typical Skye
I get the chaotic thing too Stuart, and I know what you mean about honeycomb rock on the right as well, but for this particular image it threw the rainbow too close to the edge of frame if cropped out, and was far too distracting if I didn't crop some from the right. It wasn't a reactionary shot, I had loads of time to shoot these conditions, I was already set up here before the rainbow appeared and have many more to go through taken at different focal lengths and slightly different compositions too.
As much as the Elgol shot is more 'me' I think I prefer number two from the pair myself. I've shot Loch fada numerous times over the years, but never from this side on spot, and I think it just works better than the usual wide shot from the head of the loch that everyone shoots.
Wow, they're really great. I agree with the idea of cropping out that right hand rock in #1 though.
Thank you. Cropping it out leaves Sgurr na Stri and the rainbow too close to the edge of the frame. Any wider and there's a tide line of seaweed along the beach, it was a balance of what to add in and what not to, and honeycomb rock got left in.
I don't - perhaps it's familiarity with the location but it helps anchor the shot and without it there would annoying amount of beach in the frame, not enough to add to the composition, just an odd distraction. Here the beach forms a cohesive part of the frame. Lose the beach entirely and the rainbow goes to the frame edge. My first reaction might be to have more of the beach and cliff on the right rather than less.
I have images with more rock to the right too, but too much tideline mess along the beach also.
That first photo is a cracker. I love that dash of colour the rainbow brings to it.
Thank you
Elgol by Martin Steele, on Flickr
Loch Fada by Martin Steele, on Flickr
