Just as the sun made its appearance, the people on the beach dispersed and so I backed up a little and raised the tripod to show the beach itself. I also walked to a slightly different position and almost trod on a dead seagull.
Now we’ve got sun-kissed grass and sand and I found a handy log to include as a leading line. It helps balance the image as well as illustrating the shoreline. Maybe I should have found a way to include the dead gull, LOL. Now THAT’S atmospheric! A local told me that the resident Peregrine falcons get their share of gulls in another part of the harbor.
Specific Feedback Requested
Any comments, suggestions or impressions are welcome.
Technical Details
Is this a composite: No
Lumix G9
Lumix G Varios 12-35mm f/2.8 lens @ 19mm (38mm equiv.)
f/16 | 1/25 sec | ISO 200
Tripod & polarizer - this is a 3-image blend taken together but exposed for the highlights a bit.
Lr for HDR merge and general adjustments to white balance, white and black points, sharpening & nr. A crop to … I think this is 3:2 and some judicious use of the local adjustment brush to manage shadows. I think I also brought it into Ps to remove dust spots in the sky and some clone stamping to reduce an eye magnet.
This is a very appealing image, Kristen. In large part because of the care you took in composition. Lots of fine diagonals and triangles. Really cool use of the soft warm light and its direction. That warm light really lights up the red of the building. I took applied a Brightness/Contrast layer to the bright red and lowered brightness and increased contrast a bit for a little different effect. Seems to be more in balance with the glow on the sand with that tinkering.
Go ahead and post it…I’d love to see. I considered toning down the red, but decided to leave it on balance, but you used a different technique to do it so I bet the results are different.
Aww, thanks Mario. It was a great morning to be out there, dead seagull and all.
It’s interesting to wrap my mind around “trod on dead seagull” and “sun-kissed grass and sand” all in one description.
But the best part is knowing that you worked to include elements that aided in fashioning a solid image. It’s a part of the creative process that many just getting started will be wise to follow.
My only change would be to remove the tower from the building. I realize that it’s probably essential for the functioning, but for this image, it’s a distraction.
Kris, this is beautiful. I particularly like the curve of the beach and how it’s reflected in the shape of the cloud. The texture and light of the sand and grass is also very nice. All in all a beautiful image. Glad you said almost trod on the dead gull!
The red is a little less splashy, @Dick_Knudson - thanks for posting that. I have a 3rd shot that I’ve taken down the red in and I quite like it. Will post it shortly.
Gee, my swelled head! LOL. It’s really mostly instinct with me now. And keeping my eyes open. Oh and moving around a scene. All those things come into play when I’m putting something together, especially when the light is this fleeting. Years ago I might not have had the where-with-all to do it. Seat time as my driving instructors always called it. It just comes down to seat time.
Yeah…the tower. It’s a functional part of the building only modern and so not quite picturesque to our sensibilities. I wonder if in a few hundred years cell towers will be ‘quaint’.
Thanks, @Craig_Moreau - I got lucky when a few of the people sitting there left and I could get a more sweeping view of the place. Seems many just watch the sun come up then leave for coffee or whatever. Handy for our workshop peeps though. The gull was pretty well desiccated and the grass all around it matted so it was hard to miss once you got up close. Feel like it needed a stenciled “NO STEP” on its wing.
When searching for wildflowers to photograph, I will often set everything down and walk the immediate area. No camera, just eyes, and sometimes doing the Hollywood director two-handed finger-thumb frame. It’s emancipating. Part of the ritual is finding a spot to sit, listen, scan, and think about what I want to create and the best place or best subject to use.
Then, pick up the camera, if it is still there … (This applies to places I know I’m alone and the equipment is safe.) … and start the process all over again, looking through the viewfinder.
The tower on the lighthouse is a weather station. There is a wind-cup anemometer on top.
Wonderful composition and going to the trouble to explore the possibilities. You could think of it as “feet time.”
The sky was different but still wonderful! To me it feels a bit crowded on the top, and on the right, with the water just touching the edge of the frame.
