Skerries

[Melanie90]

[Shadowman]

Have you considered cropping out the bird, it takes my eyes away from the flowing surf?

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Melanie,

I'm afraid this isn't working for me, although it might - with some significant changes - that said; you are perfectly entitled to disagree with me on one or all of these thoughts and suggestions.

Is the White Balance a deliberate, artistic choice?
I ask because to me it looks too yellow/green, which is adversely impacting the sky (and sea)
Although I've never been there, I suspect it wasn't really this colour, the Auto WB (I assume) has been fooled by the angle and brightness of the sun).

I'm also not sure that the aeroplane vapour trail and gull really contribute to the image in their current positions within the composition - for the title and apparent subject.

The 'breaker' that is exiting the right edge of the frame also takes my eye out of the picture, whilst simultaneously competing with the 'logo' and white text in the lower left corner and the rest of the image.

If mine I would;
a) Crop some 25% of height off the top edge - to just exclude the gull and everything above it
b) White balance it for a more natural look
c) Clone out the breaker on right (and not add the text, etc. on the left)
d) Check the black point to give a little more contrast
e) Add some Local Contrast Enhancement (LCE)

I sincerely hope you find these thoughts helpful (as intended) and not just a collection of 'negatives'.

I do think the image has some potential, or I wouldn't have taken the time to write all this out, just that a combination of things beyond your direct control* (bird, plane, wave) have conspired against it (in my opinion).

* This is the very reason I personally don't shoot many land/sea scapes - I'm never satisfied with mother nature

All the best, Dave

[JohnRostron]

With a title of 'Skerries' it suggests that this was taken off the west coast of Ireland or Scotland. Where was it taken?

I don't find the bird a problem, but I do worry about the colour/whitebalance.

John

[Wavelength]

This is really dramatic.... it looks like an oil painting; the bird in flight and something seen as meteor adds to the wonder

[Melanie90]

Photographs are not an automatic reflection of the world, that's why I feel free to change colours and contrast.
I agree about the breaker, thanks for the suggestion. Also I'm going to drop the seagull a bit more on the left.