Critique Saltwick Bay and the Admiral Von Tromp wreck

jpgreenwood

jpgreenwood

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jason
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Very difficult to get to due to high-ish tide, big waves and slippery rocks. Eventually made it but we'd missed some of the water around the wreck. Skies were bland so though I'd go dark and moody for the PP.
There was a guy there who had come up from London and left his camera and tripod unattended as he went into his bag for something. It was very windy and...…..
One smashed Gitzo tripod, Nikon D850 and snapped off lens. Probably 4k worth of damage.
Poor bloke had travelled up and slept in has car all night for the sunrise shot that didn't happen. He was then booked onto an expensive one day workshop locally with a pro. Felt gutted for the guy.
DSC_2643 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2643-2 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2658 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2651 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2643-2 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2629 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
DSC_2623 by jason greenwood, on Flickr
 
Hi Jason

DSC_2651 & DSC_2623 are the two I prefer.

First one is very very dark and the vignetting is far too much for my taste - I'd like to have seen some detail in the rock and on the boat a bit more, as well as in the foreground. For a mono shot, it's normally the form and textures which make it work - because I can't see much of this, it doesn't appeal. But I do like your composition.

Second on is still too dark for me and looks very flat, maybe a little selective structure/contrast/lightening using something like Viveza might enhance this, but again, the composition is really very good on this one (better than first, as losing that bit of foreground makes the boat stand out more)

Third - I like the way you've placed yourself to take this shot, as I always like images with strong diagonals, and I really like the way the horizon is broken by the 'sticky up' bit, I also like the contrast you've got on this one as the light has worked really well, and I love the detail you've got in the hull. Composition wise - not as good as no 2, but that's only my opinion ;)

Fourth - as already said, this is my 'pick' of them - the only thing I would say is that I can see a bit of haloing, and I'd love to see just a little more light on that rock to bring out a little more detail. I think this one would work beautifully in mono - do you use Silver Efex Pro?

2629 - on closer inspection I think this one works really well, I like the contrast and banding of light, but it does look a little like the horizon is dipping to the right. Have you thought about cropping some of the bottom off? taking a slice off the bottom to make that diagonal line of rocks meet the corner of your image might improve the composition, a little more light/detail in the foreground rocks too please, but I do like this one!

Last one - a few of the comments above apply here too, more detail, straighten, etc - but again a good shot, it also might work very well if it were cropped into a letterbox format.

Hope this helps!
 
Nice series Jason, my tip for this location is to time your arrival to coincide with the tide turning i.e. starting to go out. This allows you to follow the tide out walking (Wellington boots required) below the cliffs along those very slippery rocks. Doing so should allow you to get the the wreck whilst there's some of the receding tide around the Admiral Von Tromp.
PS. Dont try it on a rising tide that would only end in tears
 
1st and last 2 for me
everytime I go , its seems that you are dodging tides
it comes in pretty fast, and can catch you out
nice work
 
ST1 said:
Nice series Jason, my tip for this location is to time your arrival to coincide with the tide turning i.e. starting to go out. This allows you to follow the tide out walking (Wellington boots required) below the cliffs along those very slippery rocks. Doing so should allow you to get the the wreck whilst there's some of the receding tide around the Admiral Von Tromp.
PS. Dont try it on a rising tide that would only end in tears
Click to expand...
Thanks. This is exactly what we did but the sea was that rough it just kept coming back in, covering most of the beach, so the only way across was by scaling the rocks. It took a while. Going back to the car was much more straight forward.
 
First two are really big eyesores for how underexposed they are. The codeword is moody I guess. That just covers anything badly underexposed now instead of what it once originally meant. OK...

What is the mood or atmosphere of the painting? What emotions do you experience looking at it?
  • Calm, content, peaceful, relaxed, tranquil
  • Cheerful, happy, joyful, romantic
  • Depressed, gloomy, miserable, sad, somber, tearful, unhappy
  • Aggressive, angry, chilling, dark, distressing, frightening, violent
  • Energetic, exciting, stimulating, thought-provoking
  • Boring, dull, lifeless, insipid
Click to expand...
https://www.thoughtco.com/art-words-list-2577414
I'd pick words from line 3 or 6 for such conditions

Some of the further ones get a little bit better, and you could (and perhaps should) say that you've just worked out the compositions and checked the location over for the next time.
 
Harsh crit as usual Longlens but I understand where you are coming from. I did think this was too dark I suppose, and did another edit. Not sure I could ever get it right due to the dull day but hey-ho, it was a good experience to go and recce this place for another visit in better conditions. (This is what you wanted me to say wasn't it?) lol.
DSC_2643-ds by jason greenwood, on Flickr
 
LongLensPhotography said:
First two are really big eyesores for how underexposed they are. The codeword is moody I guess. That just covers anything badly underexposed now instead of what it once originally meant. OK...
Click to expand...

Careful - you might upset some precious delicate souls on the forum :D
 
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jpgreenwood said:
Harsh crit as usual Longlens but I understand where you are coming from. I did think this was too dark I suppose, and did another edit. Not sure I could ever get it right due to the dull day but hey-ho, it was a good experience to go and recce this place for another visit in better conditions. (This is what you wanted me to say wasn't it?) lol.
DSC_2643-ds by jason greenwood, on Flickr
Click to expand...

This is a lot better-I like a lot of midtone in an image, but 1st was too greyscale - even more me - look at the waves in that version, and then the latest one and you can clearly see the improvement.

3,4 and the last from your original post are processed fine.
 
jpgreenwood said:
Harsh crit as usual Longlens but I understand where you are coming from. I did think this was too dark I suppose, and did another edit. Not sure I could ever get it right due to the dull day but hey-ho, it was a good experience to go and recce this place for another visit in better conditions. (This is what you wanted me to say wasn't it?) lol.
DSC_2643-ds by jason greenwood, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Yes, this is a lot better. It is now dark but not overexposed. It may only have a tiny bit of highlights in the sea waves, but it does the trick, and the contrast is back. It is still not my thing but it looks reasonable and polished.
I have to say there is just a bit of a white outline around the rock on the right. I'm not sure if you can do anything but it may be worth looking into it for the future reference.

SFTPhotography said:
Careful - you might upset some precious delicate souls on the forum :D
Click to expand...

They will eventually get used to having an actual critique on this forum :)
 
I can take critique as long as its backed up with recommendations. If its not youre type of shot then fair enough. Being rude is completely different but I understand your critique so im fine with it. Don't think we could be pub buddies though. :)
 
Sometimes gloomy conditions work very well, especially at the coast as you've shown in some of the examples here. The black and white in post 7 is my pick, though I feel there could've been a bit more separation between the wreck and the Nab. This scene wouldn't have the same effect on a blue sky day, being part shipwreck it suits sombre conditions.
 
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