The Foolhardy and the Sea

[Adzman808]

The Foolhardy and the Sea by Adam Bonn, on Flickr

I'm thinking this might be my 2016:52#4....

Perhaps I should check the local news first to see that there's no story about some moronic 'emo' teenager washed out to sea**

I had to eff about a lot more than I normally do in PP to get it so that you could see the spray, but not block up the shadows!

I even remembered that not everything needs to be shot at F1.4 too (in fact I'd been wondering what that clickity ring with the numbers on is for on my 35mm lens for a while, someone will be telling me that I have other lenses and that they're interchangeable next !!!! )

I only took this today, so I should probably sleep on it....

....Sometimes I think photographs are a bit like one night stands... they kinda look worse than you remember in the morning and you kinda wanna just ring them a cab.... THAT WAS A JOKE

As ever constructive crit encouraged... and yes I did think B&W, but IMO it looked a bit flat and contrived (YMMV)

**If she was taking a picture, she got a better one than I did!

[Shadowman]

Nice capture, I probably would have risked taking another at a lower angle.

[Geoff F]

Do you pay for the cab!

Some nice sharply focused bright surf here. The only little items which I would probably change is what I take to be distant sails. For me, they just add distraction and tend to spoil the natural loneliness of the distant seascape.

[Wavelength]

Excellent image

[bnnrcn]

Nice image Adam I would crop about half of the sky in order to put the emphasis more on the waves and the lady.

[Adzman808]

Do you pay for the cab!

Some nice sharply focused bright surf here. The only little items which I would probably change is what I take to be distant sails. For me, they just add distraction and tend to spoil the natural loneliness of the distant seascape.

Thanks again Geoff,

Original image updated!

Your sharp eyes are doing wonders for my confidence with cloning

[Adzman808]

Nice capture, I probably would have risked taking another at a lower angle.

Thanks John,

It's a fair comment

I was not on the same path as she was, I don't mean spiritually, I mean literally I would have had to walk round, then down across the beach, then back up to where she was

Knowing my luck she'd be gone by the time I got there (erm because she was bored, not washed away!!)

Plus we had our 3yr old with us and I didn't want her to try and follow...

[Adzman808]

Nice image Adam I would crop about half of the sky in order to put the emphasis more on the waves and the lady.

Thanks very much Binnur,

It's already cropped a lot! But perhaps could take some more... I tried to keep the sky to only 1/3rd of the image and I was 'worried' that cropping further and keeping something resembling a normal aspect ratio would lose too much off the right... But I might try out your suggestion and see how it looks!

[Geoff F]

Thanks again Geoff,

Original image updated!

Your sharp eyes are doing wonders for my confidence with cloning

I always look very closely and critically at my own shots, Adam, which is why over half of them immediately get deleted; so I tend to examine other people's efforts just as harshly.

Cloning, with various devices, is certainly one of those practices which gets easier with experience - except for then being willing to tackle those really tricky edits.

The edit looks excellent to me. I did wonder about a crop from the sky and right side but thought the sky increased the expanse of emptiness in front of the figure. You could possibly try a very small crop along those lines though.

Capturing what is immediately in front of you at the time before considering other angles is certainly a wise precaution; then, as you mentioned, if your main subject moves while you are looking for better positions at least something is in the camera. I always do the same thing with wildlife scenes.

[IzzieK]

Adam this is a nice shot. I will go with Binnur's suggestion about the crop. That's a first thought. The sails were gone when I got in so I think this is neater without any distraction at all but the lady and the surf.