On the dunes of Cape Henlopen

[AndrewMcD]

I liked the composition of this shot, the slope of the dune, the posts in the sand and the fence seem to lead my eye up the path to the distant figures. As a beginner I still struggle with deciding the appropriate metering mode; center spot, center weighted, or averaging. I think this was done with averaging light metering.
Post processed with Lightroom 5. Increased exposure half a stop, slight boost on Clarity +13 (mid tone contrast), and some sharpening.
Sony NEX-6, 1.5 crop factor, 200mm, f/11, 1/200, ISO 200

Any suggestions regarding composition improvement, exposure (appropriate metering mode especially) and what might be done to improve the image in post processing would be appreciated.

[rpcrowe]

I increased the blue in the sky to separate it from the sand on the beach. I increased the saturation and contrast of the entire image as well as adding some sharpening and structure...



However, I m not quite keen on the out of focus reed sand fence at the image right...

[Kaye Leggett]

I rarely use anything other than average metering, occasionally spot metering when there is a lot of contrast and its a portrait I am taking - but I am no expert. There is a good tutorial on it on this site, so that may be a good place to look ?

[AndrewMcD]

Richard - I agree, the out of focus fence detracts from the image. Your tweaks definitely improve the image. I noticed the need to separate sand and sky but did not think to simply increase the blue in the sky, duhhhh! Thank you.

Kaye - Thank you for responding, I will indeed revisit the tutorials.

[Nancy Moran G]

I like your thought process and I also struggle with same issues as you.
What would have happened if you had moved a few steps to the left? Would the fence have continued and given our eye more to follow? Or would keeping the top of the fence in the frame have made a difference?
Can't help with processing, just got my 1pp product a couple of days ago, so am very lost at this poi t ;0
Nancy

[AndrewMcD]

What would have happened if you had moved a few steps to the left? Would the fence have continued and given our eye more to follow? Or would keeping the top of the fence in the frame have made a difference?
Nancy

Nancy - Yes, I was trying to use the fence to guide the eye up towards the subjects but I failed to see it correctly. I suspect had I moved a few steps to the left as you suggest I might have achieved a better composition and eliminated the fence line. Thank you for the feedback.
Andrew