Autumn Morning - Cape Henlopen

[AndrewMcD]

What can be a crowded beach in August has a different appearance at dawn in October. I've looked at this long enough that I've lost objectivity so I submit the image for comment and critique. I rather like the geometry and the morning was all about the clouds but not sure if there is something I need to do with those clouds.
Andrew

[Shadowman]

Nice crisp image, not much to do with the clouds but more so with the water and beach area; would expect some cast shadows.

[Geoff F]

You might get away with adding a tiny bit more highlight brightness to the clouds to give the scene a fraction more 'pop' but don't overdo it.

Or one of the other similar options like Local Contrast Enhancement or a layer set to Soft Light Mode, etc. Just be careful to avoid clipping any of the highlights.

[bambleweeney]

Me, I kind of like the softness in the image and personally I would crop out the land form on the left of the image to give a rather nice minimalist shot and process with that in mind.

[Mike Buckley]

Me, I kind of like the softness in the image and personally I would crop out the land form on the left of the image to give a rather nice minimalist shot and process with that in mind.

Exactly my thought and glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking that. The resulting image would be a magical pair of symmetrical triangles.

[AndrewMcD]

Wow, it never occurred to me to crop out that hunk of land but I just covered it over and YES, I will have to give that a try!

[bnnrcn]

I certainly agree with Paul and Mike about the crop and I would like to see it

[AndrewMcD]

Here is the initial image posted with the land mass cropped out.

[Stagecoach]

Very good Andrew, I like its simplicity.

The debate now is just how much of the plain horizontal sand line far left do you include?

[FootLoose]

With regard to your original question, Andrew, you could try increasing the contrast in the clouds for a more dramatic effect. But that would make it a different picture.

The crop is a good suggestion, but I agree with Grahame, think you might have taken a bit too much off.

[IzzieK]

I know you are talking about clouds here, Andrew, and you got it here. I like the OP because this one lacks a focal point of interest...like a person walking down the stretch of this beach. Lovely place though...

[AndrewMcD]

With regard to the crop; the suggestion had been to crop out the land mass and create a more abstract image based around the two triangles created by beach and ocean. I think the crop works in that regard.

Whether the lack of focal point is now an issue I'm not sure. I thought the land mass, the bright sky just to the right of the land mass and the line of the cloud all combined in the original to provide a focal point. My landscape images have had problems with focus and I thought I had structured the original to address that issue However, as I stated originally, I needed fresh eyes on the image and think the evolution to a more abstract image has proved interesting.

[chauncey]

Amazing is the variety of opinions...we probably couldn't agree on what day it is.

[Mike Buckley]

My landscape images have had problems with focus and I thought I had structured the original to address that issue

I think you mean focal point as opposed to focus (sharpness) and I also believe both images are composed very well to include a focal point. In the first one, the triangle of water points very nicely to the land formation on the left. In the second one, the pair of triangles is the focal point. Two very different images. Both are nice but the second one is a bit more unique.

[bnnrcn]

I like the crop, very simple and nice composition I would make the colour of the big blue cloud at the top paler so that it doesn't compete with the triangles.

[AndrewMcD]

Yes Mike, I did indeed mean focal point.

Just for fun call the cropped image Henlopen North and here is its companion, Henlopen South.

[IzzieK]

I just forgot to add that I like the first one and now that you have cropped that, there was nothing much to look at with any element....just a clean shot, simple and straightforward. I like it though but I prefer the first one better.

[mugge]

I agree that the image is stronger cropped.
Ole