Shots from the Gulf of Mexico

[terrib]

Just returned from a Caribbean cruise with my husband and his adult children. Many different opportunities for different types of photos.

These images were shot from our balcony on the ship. I cannot decide which I prefer but am leaning toward the second. The first one was shot with the correct exposure. The second was underexposed and I brought it up almost 1 stop in post. I prefer the orientation of the boat in the second one.

I'm interested in your comments - what you like or don't like about these images.

[jeeperman]

I lean to the second heavily. I not only like the placement of the boat but I like the sky better as well, not to mention the overall exposure. I look forward to seeing more of your trip images.

[beachgirl444]

Wow . . . Stunning!

[jamn4ex]

Very beautiful images Terri, Like Paul and yourself I lean a little towards 2 also!

[Jack R Mann]

#2 Terri awesome like to see more.

[Mike Buckley]

A really difficult exposure handled very well. I agree that #2 is better for the reasons already mentioned.

However, all color is lost in the sun. That's a style that can work if the edges of the sun are well defined, unlike this image. In this situation, I like to select the white part of the sun and replace it with just a hint of color that is adjacent to it. Often no more than 10% opacity is needed to add just a touch of "color."

[teokf]

I would go for the second pix too

[FlyingSquirrel]

Super photos, Terri. #2 is gorgeous. A few thoughts:

I know you had no control over the contrails in the sky, which is unfortunate because they are a bit distracting. In shot #2, consider making a version where you crop the top off immediately beneath the upper contrail section where it breaks, and then clone out the smaller lower left contrail section. This would place the horizon mid frame, so then you may or may not want to crop a bit of the water off the bottom to offset that. I think in both cases (top sky and bottom water) the data that would be removed would not be too important and would draw more focus to the central area where the amazing colors and detail are. It would also have more of a panoramic layout which could look nice. Just some thoughts.

[Sergio M.]

I echo everyone else's remarks, Terri. Stunning images.

[terrib]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to comment. I do appreciate the compliments!

Mike, that's a great suggestion about the sun color. I'll definitely give that a try.

Matt, I was torn about the con trails and ultimately decided that they didn't bother me. It helped that they echoed some of the cloud's movement. But, I did a quick play with your suggested crop/clone and I think with a bit more time it will work well. Thanks for the feedback!

[Bobobird]

Awesomely beautiful.

[splashy]

I like your pictures very much.
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[kaisies]

great pictures! sunset, im guessing? Im going in 2 weeks.. (woohoo!) any quick tips?