I Went to the Beach Today

[Adzman808]

Ok some more from the new guy... Critique welcome...

I'm trying my first ever Photo Project, it's called 'Coastal Isolation' I've been running it for a while and I wanted to add to it today, as today had some time

Sadly it was sunny if a bit cold, and the beach was full of happy teenagers, so my vision of continuing with a bleak distopia wasn't really realised!!!!!!!!!

(That's a bit tongue in cheek BTW, I only do this for fun, and don't possess any real artistic merit, but a man's gotta try right? Even if he just comes home with clichés!!)

Watery Destination by Adam, on Flickr

Castles in the Sand by Adam, on Flickr

Vanishing Point by Adam, on Flickr

Walking the Edge by Adam, on Flickr

Jokes aside, I guess I fancy myself as a bit of mood photographer, although cats and bugs are a bit of a recurrent habit

So by all means (and please do) point out my obvious mistakes, usually my reluctance to crop and my inability to hold a camera level - even in post !!!

But I do have to specifically ask...

Do any of them have any mood to them?

[Geoff F]

For me, Adam. #1 is a good idea but could it take a fraction more brightness on the sand? But don't raise the shadows too much.

#2 has potential but I'm not keen on the out of focus foreground so I would very slightly crop from the bottom and left side. Also, there are quite a few tiny 'hotspots' in the sand which I would clone over.

#3 has a central horizon which tends to create too much of a halfway division. I think I would crop just a little from the top and left side.

The last one is perfect.

[bnnrcn]

#4 certainly has a mood, great image !

[Adzman808]

Thanks everyone!

Personally I thought the 4th image was the weakest, so it's certainly nice to get a different POV!

Geoff, you might have to dumb it down to my level! I'm not much of a PP guy, cloning eludes me and I'm not sure what hot spots are?!

I did so very nearly go B&W on the footprints one (and by go, I mean keep, I only shoot B&W with that camera, then compare the jpeg to the raw and make my mind up then) which would perhaps work better, but that golden glow of the setting sun swayed me!

(Let's see if my signature is here yet, and how do I like other peoples posts, or is that another amount of posts I have to make to get that function?!)

[mknittle]

My vote is for #4 also. #1 is also interesting

[Ndukes]

Hi Adam, your main "obvious mistake" is to believe that you "don't possess any real artistic merit". That's a bad start. If you capture what you saw and what you felt then, and we see any element of what you saw and felt, then you possess artistic merit in my view. I live near beaches and, with my wife and dog, walk them almost daily in all seasons and your images speak eloquently to me of the special nature of these places.
There may be some technical issues (background focus in no.2 - more or less would be better) but I really like them.
More please!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Adam,

My thought on this series - you show considerable promise!

#1 - if mine, I'd have that first footprint more to the right of frame, not centred.

#2 - I really like; the hotspots (glints off individual sand grains) don't worry me, nor does the plane of focus, I'd say this was strongest shot of series because #4, also good, is somewhat a cliché

#3 - discussed below

#4 - If this were mine, I'd try a square crop, losing a fair bit from left, some from right, may be a tad from the bottom. The horizon is centred again, which is a shame, but, there's useful content both above and below that shouldn't be lost, the areas that I feel are wasteful, are those left and right sides, hence my crop suggestion. Although you're entitled to think (but not say) it is a 'crap' suggestion

Personally I thought the 4th image was the weakest, so it's certainly nice to get a different POV!

I thought the third was the weakest - but let's not just be negative, so I'll say why.
In a series with the others, which have good contrast and fairly consistent WB (White Balance, aka Colour Temperature), it is the odd one out. The composition is also weak as Geoff has suggested. However, I appreciate it may be what you were striving for.

Geoff, you might have to dumb it down to my level! I'm not much of a PP guy, cloning eludes me ~

I think we'll need to know what PP software you have access to; e.g. PS CC?

(~ and how do I like other peoples posts ~

The secret of finding the 'like' is to hover a mouse over the post, only then will you see the 'Mark as helpful' link appear in the lower right hand corner of that post, then you can click it.
Not sure how it works with a tablet though; I guess if you tap somewhere on screen within the post and see if the words appear?


I guess that's Porto, since I don't recall Buckinghamshire looking like that when I passed through some of it a day or so ago!

Cheers, Dave

[Adzman808]

Hi Adam, your main "obvious mistake" is to believe that you "don't possess any real artistic merit". That's a bad start. If you capture what you saw and what you felt then, and we see any element of what you saw and felt, then you possess artistic merit in my view. I live near beaches and, with my wife and dog, walk them almost daily in all seasons and your images speak eloquently to me of the special nature of these places.
There may be some technical issues (background focus in no.2 - more or less would be better) but I really like them.
More please!

Hi Neville,

Thank you so much for your kind words.

I do see photography as art (it's a 2d representation of a 3d object, in a very base description, this covers quite a big chunk of art, although obviously not sculpture etc!)

I wasn't kidding (although quite possibly sounding like a knob) when I said I see myself as wanting to capture mood, although I've more reached this conclusion via elimination, I'm no story teller, I'm certainly not a fine art photog, I don't do portraits, so damn what is it that drives me to replicate endless scenes of light/dark with isolated subjects!

And I think it's mood... but not lasting mood... like a firework, the audience looks up, says Oooh or Aaah, then it's gone and they want the next one, a different one from someone else

(pretentious? moi?!!!!)

Lets just say, (before I get carried away!!)

I took photography at college in 1996. My lecturer said to me, "you've an eye for an image Adam, you really have - but your darkroom technique is appalling"

The tech might of changed since then but I fear that still holds true!

The (ongoing) series of my coastal shots is here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/adzman...57660382216686

To reign me in a bit... if you have a look, that would (according to flickr stats) make you the 4th person to take the time!

NB: I don't chase stats on flickr, I place my shots in very few groups (if at all) and I don't follow (or be followed) by 1000s of people, it's not what I want from it. It's a place to store and host my shots. But it does make me smile when I can share a pic on a forum, and it's quite popular, but on flickr it's had maybe 20 views in a month, despite being tagged etc, etc!!

I'd much rather get real feedback, from real people on a forum, who are interesting in photography!

Which I must say you're all giving me beyond expectation!

[Adzman808]

Hi Adam,

My thought on this series - you show considerable promise!

#1 - if mine, I'd have that first footprint more to the right of frame, not centred.

#2 - I really like; the hotspots (glints off individual sand grains) don't worry me, nor does the plane of focus, I'd say this was strongest shot of series because #4, also good, is somewhat a cliché

#3 - discussed below

#4 - If this were mine, I'd try a square crop, losing a fair bit from left, some from right, may be a tad from the bottom. The horizon is centred again, which is a shame, but, there's useful content both above and below that shouldn't be lost, the areas that I feel are wasteful, are those left and right sides, hence my crop suggestion. Although you're entitled to think (but not say) it is a 'crap' suggestion




I thought the third was the weakest - but let's not just be negative, so I'll say why.
In a series with the others, which have good contrast and fairly consistent WB (White Balance, aka Colour Temperature), it is the odd one out. The composition is also weak as Geoff has suggested. However, I appreciate it may be what you were striving for.




I think we'll need to know what PP software you have access to; e.g. PS CC?




The secret of finding the 'like' is to hover a mouse over the post, only then will you see the 'Mark as helpful' link appear in the lower right hand corner of that post, then you can click it.
Not sure how it works with a tablet though; I guess if you tap somewhere on screen within the post and see if the words appear?


I guess that's Porto, since I don't recall Buckinghamshire looking like that when I passed through some of it a day or so ago!

Cheers, Dave

Thank you very much Dave!

#1 That's quite funny because it is mine, literally - having taken about 10 shots of various footprints I found, I had an idiot's epiphany I too make footprints, why not walk in a shape I want, jump off sideways at the end, walk back in a wide circle and shoot that!

#3 suffers from 'I accidently bought a 10 stop ND filter (in a sale) that's technically for UV converted cameras!!' Often compounded with 'I set a manual WB from the WhiBal with the 2 stop ND (which works properly and I love) but then at some stage decide to swap to the 10 stop one, then forget to take a new WB reading'. I suppose the next step will be to remember to reset WB for the 10 stop, but then forget to go back again with the 2 stop.

The fix for this is probably to a)bin the 10stop, buy one for non-converted cameras b)use the bloody whilbal card, that's what it's there for!

I mean AWB is great and I use it when the light's constantly changing, but if nothing else a manual WB in a constant(ish) light means I can batch adjust images #lazy!

Thanks for the like tip, you just earned a like

My PP SW is Capture One. I have tried most of them at one stage, but C1 I just seemed to gel with, I shoot with Fuji X cameras, which work well with C1, I desperately tried to like LR (I've no personal issue with LR and X-Trans, despite the pages of people complaining about it on the 'net) but I think because C1 was the first one I gelled with, all the others just seem a bit awkward to me...



I'm not big into PP... I realise it's necessary and a valuable tool, but I try to think of it as a condiment... You can't fix a bad meal with a good sauce, but a little bit of good sauce enriches a lovely meal! And I'm still learning to cook.... (if that makes sense?)

I seldom drag any slider into double figures (except highlight recovery)

Yup, that's Porto (Northern Portugal, in case anyone wants to know) I currently get to spend about 6 months a year here as my other half is Portuguese, but that might have to change (one way or the other) as it's really starting to impact my work (I'm self employed, and it's just a bit to hard to stay on top of things whist being away for weeks at a time)

I really value your (and indeed all) feedback, I like how you've gone against the grain (so to speak) with #4

Although I felt it was the weakest, my issue was the pose of the walker, she (I think?) could of been less huddled, but I wanted her under the sun for the silhouette and that's the pose I got, I was using a EVF that has quite bad lag, and swapping to the OVF (on a X-Pro1) was just burning my eyes, so I had to make do!

[Shadowman]

Hi Adam,

One good habit is to name your images using the most obvious title; for instance "footprints in the sand", then do a search to see if the theme has been done many times. If you see similarity with the images found and your image then consider doing the subject differently if possible, add a bit of humor to the image or handle the lighting differently; anything that'll make the composition yours. Nice efforts.

[Rebel]

These are nice Adam, I kept thinking of a one legged man in the first one though

[Adzman808]

These are nice Adam, I kept thinking of a one legged man in the first one though

Well full disclosure... the footprints are mine

Thanks very much for looking

[tbob]

The first intrigues me. Certainly worth several attempts.

[IzzieK]

The first one is a good shot though I do not like the top part...my interpretation of the two footsteps at the very edge is like an anticipation or a hesitation of whether you are going to walk in that wet sand...

Second one, I have seen that kind of shot before though not of the same subject and I think I like it...for what it represents.

You can crop the left side to get rid of that object there totally, and though I like the colour very much, I am not really a fan of smooth water.

#4 is nicer one...

I have not read any of the comments of others yet but one of these days I will. Busy two weeks for me...with all these Christmas and New Year preps going on...

[Adzman808]

If you'll pardon the over indulgence...

Here's 3 more from the same 'shoot'


Skater Love by Adam, on Flickr

Too Cold by Adam, on Flickr

Tide Chaser by Adam, on Flickr

Yeah, yeah - crop the cyclist one

[Wavelength]

Very nice sequence... i like most of them..
#1: footprints always touch one's heart only when they are from bare feet; other wise OK
#2: I wanted the shadows of the bolt more sharper in a more even foreground surface....
#3: it is dreamy and beautiful....
#4: Very nice; yet clicking on the next instance, when the feet are separated would be more good...
#6, #7, & #8 of the new set are simply awesome!!! i love them ...

[IzzieK]

These are all good ones too...I particularly prefer the last one and will not ask you to crop anything, OK?