2nd Beach

Olympic Peninsula
14mm. f22. 1 sec.
PP in ACR, PS, NX2
Any comments appreciated.

You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques.

Dan,

Love the mood here. The color in the sky is beautiful. Given the post-sunset time of day it’s understandable the shadows being so dark; but still, I’m wishing for a little more hint of detail especially considering the main formations occupy a bit of space in the image.

If your intentions are to ever print this, I’d take care of a few things. I didn’t notice until opening the larger view, but there’s a person walking the beach near the left edge between the rock and the seastack. Also a couple of boot prints in the near foreground sand. Easily cleaned up for print.

A great sense of quiet and solitude. I’ve been there only once, but I remember.

Lon

Thanks, Lon,
Pretty wild you mentioned the person which I do not even remember!
I had to look, The photo is dark and was taken in the dark, this was just before nightfall, waiting to take star photos.
Thanks for noticing, this is a couple years ago but I need to look more closely.

1 Like

I’ve admired images of this tidepool in the past and wanted to make this shot. This came out really nice. I have 3 suggestions.

  1. Crop tighter on all sides to make the tidepool more prominent and the rock with the trees ‘bigger’
  2. dodge the tidepool rock a bit to bring out those amazing textures
  3. Clone out the tree reflection in tidepool (fill with content aware)

#1 is the most important because as beautiful as the sky is this, imo, is about the tide pool.

This turned out great, Dan. I love the understated colors and the overall scene is beautiful. No suggestions here, I like it as is.

Dan, my comments are similiar to Igor’s. I think this shot is about the tide pool, because the light in the pool is more interesting than in the sky. I would not crop any from the sides or bottom, but would take a lot off the top, coming down to above the tree tops. I would also dodge the light in the pool a bit too, especially in the highlights/yellow areas.

Hi Dan. I was lucky enough to visit here not long ago. Beautiful spot. As others have stated I think the sky is on point but the rest is a little too dark. This next part is my personal belief but the tide pool doesn’t feel like it adds anything to the shot. I say that because there is not a great reflection of anything if that makes sense? The right side of the frame seems empty but the left is lacking detail. There doesn’t appear to be a singular object that is the focus of the shot. For me, reflections usually only work out in my shots when there is something compelling in the reflection. With the sea stack being so small in your frame it leaves me wanting to see more of it. Did you try other compositions with the pool?

If you crop, I wouldn’t crop any of the left side. The tiny little rock formation helps the balance between the other land masses, adding mass to the left side. I would darken the highlights in the sky just a bit, of course leaving it still brighter than the reflection in the tide pool. For me, it is so bright that it pulls my eye there and the tide pool is then just a second thought. All and all, a lovely photo. Good job.