B&W Dungeness - Defished Beachscapes

I love Dungeness!
To be honest, what I would change here is the central placing of the boats and the horizons.
The position of the boat in #1 is more where it sits better IMO.
 
I was hoping the compositional structure would be mentioned - in post, a large number of keepers featured more centralised placement. For pretty much each frame where the boat is central, I've taken others where it's left/right of centre - but they just didn't seem to 'work'. When the images are defished, the angle of convergence widens (not surprisingly). The shots where the boats are centrally placed typically feature elements that draw the eye from the corner of the frame towards the centre. For me it's akin to a shot of a road extending towards the horizon shot from close to the road.

It's obviously very subjective. But for me, the more centralised composition seems to suit the ultra-wide aspect ratio more. Nevertheless, I really do appreciate your comments.

The placement of the horizon was again, tricky for me. I wanted to include the shingle - as much as the boats. Had I used a lower aspect ratio, I'd have probably opted for something more 'conventional'.

Dungeness is beautiful. It's somewhere I've wanted to go for ages. And I'm sure it's somewhere I'll go again (soon). We stopped in a beautiful cottage. The food (and beer) at the nearby pub was excellent. The best part was that my wife liked it too. And she wants to go back again! Yay!
 
I would probably echo the others not because I just want to conform to the norm, but because I believe in this case it would work better for the eye (my eye). I often don't read other posters comments until I have written my own two pennies worth, that way its my view and its not tainted either way by someone else's views. However I must admit I would have set the boats either to the left or right but I would have utilised the old nets and ropes as a lead into the shot. I do agree with what you say about convergence when using UWA lens. So I think 1 and 4 are my pick here Some nice textures in the hull on the boat but I find the "Black Boxes" a little distracting although I know not much can be done about that and the horizon is a little off left to right. Really like the clouds in No2 but there is noticeable distortion in the horizon in this photo. Its nice to see a fresh take in these shots and its something a little different to look at, still trying to decide if I like the 50:50 sky land ratio;)
 
69Bonni said:
I would probably echo the others not because I just want to conform to the norm, but because I believe in this case it would work better for the eye (my eye). I often don't read other posters comments until I have written my own two pennies worth, that way its my view and its not tainted either way by someone else's views. However I must admit I would have set the boats either to the left or right but I would have utilised the old nets and ropes as a lead into the shot. I do agree with what you say about convergence when using UWA lens. So I think 1 and 4 are my pick here Some nice textures in the hull on the boat but I find the "Black Boxes" a little distracting although I know not much can be done about that and the horizon is a little off left to right. Really like the clouds in No2 but there is noticeable distortion in the horizon in this photo. Its nice to see a fresh take in these shots and its something a little different to look at, still trying to decide if I like the 50:50 sky land ratio;)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Following some of the other comments, I went back and looked through some of the images I'd rejected. I think the problem is twofold. In some, I haven't accounted for the spherical to rectilinear conversion sufficiently and, as a consequence, the boat is either noticeably distorted (if it's too far towards the edge of frame) or just not far enough from the centre. In others, as I've said previously, the exaggerated perspective seems to suit the central position better (IMO).

Thanks for picking up the curvature in #2. It looks like that needs a tweak. [EDIT] Now fixed. As good as DxO ViewPoint is, I occasionally still have to make the occasional adjustment using the Adaptive Wide Angle filter in Photoshop.

I appreciate you saying that this is a fresh take. I'd looked at other images people had taken and didn't see anything similar.

This is the first time I've ever tried this and I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to take some more. I've taken all of your comments on board and now feel a little more confident in using this lens (and the post-processing). Who knows, I may even take a few that conform to the rule of thirds!
 
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Well Photography is truly a subjective thing isn't it !

I think in the majority of cases the “Rules” of photography apply, but there are always the exception. I guess it’s a matter of when breaking the rules knowing how to do it effectively (I’m not good at that). Normally I’m extremely over critical of my own images, and why is it you only ever see the issues when its home up on the screen?!!!:rolleyes:

I think that with UUWA lens’s there is probably a whole new or perhaps different rules that might apply because of the effect that they have on the image. I think that “using” the effect created by the lens and learning the nuances of such a lens can be interesting and of course, it produces something different in a landscape shot, to what one would normally expect. (slightly controversial perhaps):eek:. I guess what I’m trying to say is that Landscapes shot with these lenses are going to be different! And who’s to say it is not going to be “Your” style just because it doesn’t conform to the norm.

OMG that was all a bit highbrow…. Can’t believe that came out of my head, just goes to show there must be something holding my ears apart.:)

Personally I think TP is great and I have to say taking on board critique and giving it has really improved my work. Studying peoples work to see what works and what doesn’t is very useful.(y)

Have fun with the Lens, and look forward to some more interesting shots!
 
I'm in agreement with the other above about moving the composition off centre, with the exception of #2. I like the perspective feel to the image and once the distorted horizon is fixed it'd be my pick of the set.
Also I'd like to add my vote for Dungeness. I've never shot there before and can see it's appeal. I have however, sea fished off the beach on a number of occasions. A funny story comes to mind when, not knowing seaweed fluoresced, I was helping my buddy clear sea weed from his rig. It started glowing luminescent green like a watch face. Seeing that we were downtide of the power station we got panicked by the sight of green glowing seaweed. Oh we did feel fools later... :)
 
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