Mangroves in the Morning

[dje]

For various reasons, I haven't had the opportunity to do any photography for quite a while however I made it out again this morning. I selected a day when low tide co-incided with sunrise and headed to Nudgee Beach. Now this beach is no Surfer's Paradise but it does have good mud flats at low tide !

I'd be interested to hear your views on this image. I've boosted the colours to get a bit more out of the image (Saturation +30 on the ACR7/LR4 scale). Are you comfortable with that ?

17mm, 10 sec, f/11, ISO 100. 2 stop hard grad GND.

The shot was taken about 20mins before sunrise.

Dave

Pls click on image for best viewing.

[Bobobird]

Beautiful place and well shot image.

Since you did ask - is that foreground blue really that blue? I have the same problems with snow.

[dje]

Beautiful place and well shot image.

Since you did ask - is that foreground blue really that blue? I have the same problems with snow.

Hi Bobo, thanks for commenting. I couldn't really say what the mud looked like as it was a bit dark. It was sort of gray though I think. The saturation setting in ACR had no significant effect on this part of the image. I can only attribute the colour of the mud in this image to the light reflections off the water in the recesses.

Dave

[Rob Douglas]

Great shot. Maybe a slight gradient of desaturation from the bottom up to ease the blue. I like the blue tone to the mud but it could be brought down a notch IMO.

[dje]

Great shot. Maybe a slight gradient of desaturation from the bottom up to ease the blue. I like the blue tone to the mud but it could be brought down a notch IMO.

Thanks Rob. I had a quick look at your suggestion with the de-saturation gradient and also had a look a selecting the whole mud area and de-saturating that. I think it's worthwhile. I won't bother posting it but it's a good way of fine tuning the image.

Dave

[HDphotography]

Nice composition. The color of the mud in the foreground, in my opinion looks odd. I am sure it can be fixed with any editing software. Th only other thing, I would suggest is to crop the image, just a little above the tree top.

[Rob Douglas]

Glad to see it was a good suggestion for you. The reason I had thought of the gradient was to slightly lessen the blue in the foreground but let it stay more intense near the horizon where it would look more natural. Again, great shot!

[Nicola]

I do like this picture: good job.
I like the contrast between the scrabbled foreground and the smooth sky. The red line and the black mangrovia adds a very interesting subject.
don't know how the scene was, anyway it's quite usual to capture such tone of blue after the sunset\before the sunrise, if there's something reflecting the blue sky opposite the sun.
Finally, I like as it is
but if you will try the ways the guys told you, I'd like to see also those results..
thanks for share

Nicola

[dje]

Thanks Hemant, Rob and Nicola

Here is a modified version with the de-saturated gradient and the suggested crop. I keep oscillating between the two crops, I guess they just give a different emphasis to the shot.

Dave

[HDphotography]

[QUOTE=dje;288706]Thanks Hemant, Rob and Nicola

Here is a modified version with the de-saturated gradient and the suggested crop. I keep oscillating between the two crops, I guess they just give a different emphasis to the shot.

Dave

[/QUOT

Looks great.

[tomdinning]

Hi, Dave.
In defense of your first shot, its always good to keep in mind what you want this place to look like in the final print. Irrespective of the cliche of the sunrise/sunset decide what elements of composition you want to include. In your shot it seems you have chose the foreground textures, the space of the sky and the warmth of the morning colours with the tree to give context and added interest with a bit of depth to boot. All nicely done, by the way.
Now, the issue of altering you colours by either desaturation or saturation is really up to you. It doesn't have to be like it was, it only needs to be like you want it. The deeper blue in the foreground complements nicely the warmth of the rising sun and the gradient in colour of the sky. The additional space you have originally provided in the sky with its pinks running through it provides a sense of vastness that matches that of the horizon and the length of tidal recession. Cropping out this space gives extra emphasis to the tree which becomes more dominant and I'm inclined to think that isn't what you want.
With a shot like this its often a good idea to go with your first impressions. Don't let the brain take over and over ride Impressionism. Photography is a form of expression as much as description. Use the space and colours to express how it is for YOU. I also love the early mornings in the mangroves around Darwin. Photographing them is a pleasure I never get sick of. Seeing you first shot warmed my heart. I might even get up early this week to go down with the mozzies, mud and crabs. You have inspired me and isn't that nice.

[dje]

Hi, Dave.
In defense of your first shot, its always good to keep in mind what you want this place to look like in the final print. Irrespective of the cliche of the sunrise/sunset decide what elements of composition you want to include. In your shot it seems you have chose the foreground textures, the space of the sky and the warmth of the morning colours with the tree to give context and added interest with a bit of depth to boot. All nicely done, by the way.
Now, the issue of altering you colours by either desaturation or saturation is really up to you. It doesn't have to be like it was, it only needs to be like you want it. The deeper blue in the foreground complements nicely the warmth of the rising sun and the gradient in colour of the sky. The additional space you have originally provided in the sky with its pinks running through it provides a sense of vastness that matches that of the horizon and the length of tidal recession. Cropping out this space gives extra emphasis to the tree which becomes more dominant and I'm inclined to think that isn't what you want.
With a shot like this its often a good idea to go with your first impressions. Don't let the brain take over and over ride Impressionism. Photography is a form of expression as much as description. Use the space and colours to express how it is for YOU. I also love the early mornings in the mangroves around Darwin. Photographing them is a pleasure I never get sick of. Seeing you first shot warmed my heart. I might even get up early this week to go down with the mozzies, mud and crabs. You have inspired me and isn't that nice.

Tom, thanks for going to the trouble of providing your detailed comments.

When I was editing this shot (which was originally 3:2 but a bit wider than my first posted shot), I fiddled around with a few different crops and couldn't really decide which I liked the best. The second shot gives more emphasis to the mud flats and tree(which I wasn't necessarily after) and the first is more balanced giving extra emphasis to the sky. They are just different I guess and I was interested to hear other views. I didn't have anything in particular in mind when I set up at the site because I hadn't been there before, I arrived in the dark, and I had to start shooting straight away to get the good light.

Your views on colour manipulation pretty much align with mine but I am wary of going over the top with this sort of thing.

I made one fatal mistake on this excursion - I forgot to take the mozzie repellant and was nearly eaten alive! At least we don't have crocs here to worry about.

Dave