Mousehole Harbour

[ChrisH]

I have just spent a pleasant few days in Cornwall, staying in the Ship Inn on the harbour wall at Mousehole, a quaint and old fishing village west of Penzance and a very few miles from Landsend.

I have been coming to this part of the world for many years and continually try to improve on my work here. I would be interested in you views of this one, taken mid-morning with the tide at mid point.



Aperture f/5.6 Shutter Speed 1/400 ISO 100

[bambleweeney]

It's a nice image and reminds me of my last visit there ... a loong time ago. Composition is very pleasant but the only thing that 'lets it down' if you like is the lack of light. It's a little flat. Recommend earlier in the morning before breakfast or an hour or so before sunset - some low warm light on those buildings and boats would really kick this into life. Lovely place though that brings back happy memories.
Sorry but you're going to have to go back and wait for the light ... if you can bear a few more days here

[gcowan]

Christopher,

It is a nice piece of work. I like the composition the verticals are vertical and the horizon is horizontal, the exposure is good and it is in focus. I don't think ther is any more you could have done with it, as a document or a record of your visit.

As a picture I think it does need something more. You might get more out of the sky and reflections in the water, with a bit of burning and a brightness and contrast layer with a mask to isolate the sky, or a selective colour layer to darken the blues, or maybe even both. I like it.

The problem really is the light. It might make a really nice B&W image.
Graham

[Katy Noelle]

I agree with the others - the light looks very dull. Can you even just brighten it, at least, in post processing? Since you can produce lovely images (I've seen them!), you, maybe, should possibly think about stretching yourself to get those extra special - wow - images. Why not? Like Graham and Paul have suggested - wait for the something special - mood, light, reflection, etc. - something extraordinary - the thing that makes you catch your breath - to capture - well, sometimes, anyway. Why not? (I hope that you don't mind me saying this - it takes guts for me to, but it's how I'm attempting to challenge myself.)

Chris, I've read a wonderful children's book, "The Mousehole Cat", and this looks so much like the illustrations - is this the same place???? (Hopeful, excited smiley!) (I just went and looked it up - it looks like it is - super!)

[Geoff F]

The main thing to watch here, Christopher, is to ensure that you don't lose anything from that rather delicate sky when you brighten the foreground.

After brightening (I would probably use Curves) I would use an Adjustment Layer with a mask and gently brush over the sky with a low opacity soft brush until the original sky returns. I think that if you work carefully and feather in the brush strokes it will work fine without too much effort.

Sometimes in cases like this, I finish with Unsharp Mask around 30% and 30 pixels to give a little bit of extra pop. But this needs careful use; it doesn't always work and can spoil a photo if applied to the wrong image.

Some people use this method all the time, but I am always a bit reluctant although it can sometimes save a dull flat scene.

This is a good shot so I think it is worth spending just a little bit extra effort on processing to get it absolutely perfect. Just remember, don't overdo the enhancements.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Christopher,

I can only agree with Paul, Graham, Katy and Geoff, it is as good as it probably can be, given the light, excepting any PP enhancements.

Personally, I'd use less % and more radius in reference to Geoff's idea, say 10 - 20% and 60 - 100px to make it pop a bit more, but that would destroy the sky detail, so that would need excluding from the adjustment. In fact I'd be inclined to apply only to the hill and sand, perhaps sparingly to the boats.

btw, I deleted the 'other' thread you accidentally created in the wrong forum.

Cheers,

[ChrisH]

Thank you all for your very valuable comments. Unfortunately the time element and weather made it impossible to achieve better light conditions. I shall be going back though for the August Bank Holiday weekend and will have another crack. I will attempt to edit as suggested and will post the results when completed.

Katy - You are quite correct about the Mousehole Cat written by Antonia Barber. I will post more on this later.

[ChrisH]

Here is my edit, which I believe is an improvement and again thank you for your advice.

[Geoff F]

That works.

[ChrisH]

Thanks Geoff. I have noticed the short piece of horizon is tilting and have straightened it inn the original.