Pink Sunset C&C please

[patrick9x9]

I appreciate any comments or critiques. This is a shot that I really like. In contests on other sites it has not faired very well although people have said it is good, have not offered any critique.

Taken with a Canon Rebel XTi
f/22
8 sec exposure
ISO-100
Focal Lenght 47mm

Thank you.

[Geoff F]

Just a personal opinion, but I'm never keen on these very slow blurred seascapes.

For me, they can sometimes work when there is a strong well focused reference point near the foreground.

[Designer]

Kinda tough, Brian, to give a critique when we all have different skill sets. I'm not sure how I would have shot this scene, so please take my crit with a grain of salt.

The overall composition is pretty good, but I think it is the lighting and soft focus that take this out of the competition. I see that the shade side of the rocks need more detail, and the surface of the ocean is a flat, dull grey, which does nothing for your composition.

Photogs with more skills than I would probably suggest multiple exposures, bracketing for the shade and sun, and then make a HDR composite. (not that I have ever actually done this)

Sometimes with all this generic scenery in the shot, we wish there was some human interest in there as well. Next time take your wife with you, and pose her our there on the sand bar looking at the sunset. (This is a JOKE, in case you think I am serious) Still, though, some object that isn't rocks, sky, and water might be what it needs.

[PKFUSION]

It's one of those pictures that is so near, but not quite. It somehow looks a little unatural? I think maybe it is that dark horizon line. it stops the flow of the eye up and across the picture. I assume you darkened the sky to make it more interesting, is the dark line where your work spilled slightly into the water? maybe it is that I expect the sea to be tinged with red on the horizon? Sorry, but I am not good enough to see what it is exactly that holds it back.

[FrankMi]

It may just me my tired eyes, Brian, but I get the feeling that the image is out of focus. Is there any possibility that the tripod got bumped during the 8 second exposure? I also see that you are using F22. You will likely get a sharper image (but a little less DoF) if you opened the aperture a stop or two.

[MrB]

You are pleased with your photo as it is, and why not - it is a pleasant image of the scene.

As an alternative view, there might just be too many elements in the frame, so perhaps consider a simpler composition. It would make a different photo, but this is the advantage of digital - the ease with which you might produce another image, from your original file, that you also like.

Four examples -



Philip

[patrick9x9]

Thank you everyone for your comments. It's very helpful. I had to go back and look at the original to check, but the horizon is as it was. I did not do any selective adjustments. Just edited in ACR, used the fill light, recovery for a blown out spot in the sky. Increased contrast slightly. As far as the red tinge on the horizon Peter, I'm not sure what you mean unless you are talking of the line from a sunset. This in fact was not yet a true sunset. The sun was well away from the horizon at this time.

Frank, it's certainly possible that the tripod was bumped but I don't think so. I will try what you suggest and open the aperture a bit more. My shots are often not as sharp as I like them and that could be why.

Philip, thank you for that reminder, lol. I do that all the time, I'm so focused on the entire composition that I've captured I forget, we have so much freedom to make multiple pictures out of one.

Thank you all, I really appreciate you taking the time to offer suggestions.