Sea Foam C@C Invited

[conkerwood]

Most of my postings have been in the mini contests and in the Post Processing competitions where my pics have been received very well, but methinks tis time to be a little more adventurous. I am very used to giving and receiving feedback on a number of photography websites but the standard here is clearly higher so, taking a deep breath, here goes.

Some time back the whole of our coastline had three days of enormous swell and pounding waves, which of course attracts two sorts of crazy people, surfers and photographers. The foam that built up was not a result of pollution as the beaches are very clean here, but from wave action and wind. The first pic is of a young lady whom I did not know, but who took somewhat of a risk in standing where she did. What struck me straight away was that her clothes and colouring almost perfectly matched the tones of the sea foam and rocks. I really like the result but I am not sure about the stainless steel barrier behind her. In one way I think it adds to the feeling of risk as she has stepped beyond the the safety limit. But in another way I find it an intrusion. I would be interested in the thoughts of others.

The second pic is a close up of one of the fantastic foam monsters that were being created and then destroyed over a matter of a few seconds. When processing this I wanted to try and get a sense of light and colour coming through the foam from underneath. In looking closely now I do see some artefacts on certain areas of the foam which is a little frustrating. For me they don't detract too much but I would be interested in how others respond to the pic.

Thanks in advance to those who take the time and trouble to respond.

Peter

[dje]

Hi Peter

Both shots look very good to me.

The foam and the waves in the first add a great deal of interest and I dont find the presence of the young lady intrusive - quite the opposite. I think she adds interest (young ladies usually do don't they ?).

The second close-up shot is very effective in my opinion - very creative.

Dave

PS I'm trying to work out where the shots were taken but I'm stuck. You'll have to help me !

[jeeperman]

I don't really have much to add that Dave did not say, so....+1. Nice images.

[conkerwood]

About 70K south of you Dave at Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast. Snapper Rocks to be exact. And you are right I certainly didn't find her intrusive, I just wasn't sure about the steel barrier.

Peter

[Jeff S]

I think the railing grounds the image and the girl within it. As you suggested it puts her outside the expected zone of security implied by the railing and adds to the photograph IMHO. When I block off the railing the photo still works, so I don't think it is critical with or without the railing - I just happen to prefer having it in the scene.

[Nicola]

Hi Peter, first of all, nice pictures, my compliments
I do like the colour in the second one, and the perfect exposition
the close-up pictures of the sea-foam are always fashinating most of the viewers and myself too,
I think that the big issue on that kind of pictures is to represent the dimentions of the subject. Many observers of my foam pics - not only photo entusiasts - asked me "how big was that foam".
I'm waiting the chance to capture something of known dimentions into the foam, like a cormorant swimming in it or a crab escaping from it...
hope this helps
happy new year

[conkerwood]

Hi Peter, first of all, nice pictures, my compliments
I do like the colour in the second one, and the perfect exposition
the close-up pictures of the sea-foam are always fashinating most of the viewers and myself too,
I think that the big issue on that kind of pictures is to represent the dimentions of the subject. Many observers of my foam pics - not only photo entusiasts - asked me "how big was that foam".
I'm waiting the chance to capture something of known dimentions into the foam, like a cormorant swimming in it or a crab escaping from it...
hope this helps
happy new year

Thanks Nicola. Absolutely agree on your comments re scale and to have had a cormorant or something else swimming in it would really have elevated it as a composition. But alas not a cormorant in sight which is probably a good thing because this structure was about 1 to l.5 metres tall and no place for anything alive. Many thanks for your response.

Peter

[JPS]

Hi Peter,
first things first; two great pictures, well done.

As requested I considered your point about the steel barrier and the part it plays in the overall picture. I think the picture works with it or without it. I tried cropping the whole viewing platform and barrier from the picture, just leaving the young lady in the frame; that works fine IMO. So either way woks for me.
Another option is to clone out the steel bar going right to the top of the frame, removing everything above the top horizontal handrails. You would need to clone the missing sky and rocks back in, but this is another option to consider.

The 2nd picture, I like it as it is. I would not change anything.

Cheers
John

[dje]

About 70K south of you Dave at Rainbow Bay on the Gold Coast. Snapper Rocks to be exact. And you are right I certainly didn't find her intrusive, I just wasn't sure about the steel barrier.

Peter

Ah yes, know it well Peter. I used to go on holidays there when I was a kid. I can even remember Jack Evans' "porpoise pool" at Snapper Rocks !

[conkerwood]

Hi Peter,
first things first; two great pictures, well done.

As requested I considered your point about the steel barrier and the part it plays in the overall picture. I think the picture works with it or without it. I tried cropping the whole viewing platform and barrier from the picture, just leaving the young lady in the frame; that works fine IMO. So either way woks for me.
Another option is to clone out the steel bar going right to the top of the frame, removing everything above the top horizontal handrails. You would need to clone the missing sky and rocks back in, but this is another option to consider.

The 2nd picture, I like it as it is. I would not change anything.

Cheers
John

Thanks John. I hadn't considered cloning out the top half of the vertical, its an interesting idea and I will set to work on PS to see how it turns out. Many thanks for your considered feedback, and I am glad you liked the foam monster.

Peter

[CLK]

I can almost hear you guys saying "what steel barrier?" I actually didn't notice it much until you pointed it out. It does add to the precarious nature of her position. I think both shots are really great. The first shows the power of the surf and the second the beauty of it's diversity.

[FrankMi]

Excellent 'vision' to both see and capture these images. Very well done!

[rpcrowe]

I agree with the above comments... I like both images and I think that both the young lady and the railing add to image #1.

Maybe it is my age which makes me consider this but, I wonder how much better (if any) image she is getting than she could have achieved by leaning over that rail.

Of course, at her age, I would have been outside the railing also

[Dave Humphries]

I prefer the girl to the railings

I thought you had her placed nicely on a third and it might look unbalanced with her too far right if the railings were cropped off, but as many have said, it just work like that too

She becomes a bigger part of the scene.

If I were there I think I'd be trying lots of different angles and heights of capture - it looks like where she is, there's just wind blown foam (the rocks are dry), so I'd venture a little nearer the edge personally.

Both shots work well for me,

[conkerwood]

I prefer the girl to the railings

I thought you had her placed nicely on a third and it might look unbalanced with her too far right if the railings were cropped off, but as many have said, it just work like that too

She becomes a bigger part of the scene.

If I were there I think I'd be trying lots of different angles and heights of capture - it looks like where she is, there's just wind blown foam (the rocks are dry), so I'd venture a little nearer the edge personally.

Both shots work well for me,

Thanks Dave I appreciate your comments. Interesting you mentioned that I had her placed nicely on a third when in actual fact her placement and the placement of a number of elements in the pic was based on Golden ratios rather than the rule of thirds as this overlay shows. But more by luck than good management this resulted in the thirds intersection sitting perfectly in the centre of her lens. Sometimes it works out that you end up with the best of both worlds which makes up for the many many times when the composition just doesn't work. Again thanks for the feedback.

Peter

[CLK]

It's interesting that the girl has become a discussion point when what you were interested in was the surf. Did you know her? Did she belong to the deck, meaning could she have been on the deck and there appears to be a level piece of lawn/ground there on the right and just above where she/you were was it reachable and would either of you have gotten more surf action from there. None of which really matter so much since the picture above does what you wanted it to do, show the turmoil of the water and sand making foam and that our pictures tell stories about us and others. An interesting discussion and I think with the deck there it anchors the girl to some safety net that without I would be worrying about her precarious position and miss that wonderful sandy foam.