Lighthouse on Lake Michigan

[dstinch56]

Newbie at photography. Just wanted some feed back on this shot.

[epmi314]

Give us your first name so we can get to know you. I live in Michigan and know a few of these many lighthouses but not this one. I would say there is a little too much going on here. The lighthouse is really the best object in this shot and I would have optioned for a shot of the jetty and lighthouse and omitted the grass and man made thingies in the mid-ground. The color of the water is amazing though the sky doesn't offer much contrast.

[jupiterlush]

I love lighthouses, it's one of the most photogenic man made structures and I was expecting to see an up close photo of it in any angle. Perhaps if you could have just walk over those tall grasses and those stones which looks like higher than the subject then maybe we can get a good picture of it.

[Shadowman]

Give us your first name so we can get to know you. I live in Michigan and know a few of these many lighthouses but not this one. I would say there is a little too much going on here. The lighthouse is really the best object in this shot and I would have optioned for a shot of the jetty and lighthouse and omitted the grass and man made thingies in the mid-ground. The color of the water is amazing though the sky doesn't offer much contrast.

I think it's the title that distracts us, we are in search of the lighthouse and we see so little of one, perhaps if you changed the title (to in seach of...) and time of day it would have a different significance.

[Rob Douglas]

Welcome, and as stated, please add your name to your profile. We Feel a better connection to an actual name rather than a screen name. With that out of the way...
I like the artistic idea behind the shot but ass stated the title is a little misleading. Maybe a little higher on the POV shooting over the reeds and having them lower in the framing of the shot as to not take over the foreground. Now having said that the focus should be on the lighthouse and have the reeds in the foreground softly focused to put the emphasis on the titled subject "the lighthouse" I would crop a bit off the bottom and right side and try to bring up some of the details in the sky. It is a bit washed out. With the right adjustments this image still has a chance to be pretty powerful.

[dstinch56]

Thanks for the comments. The reason I took it from this vantage point was the fact the two stalks of weeds gave the lighthouse a natural frame. My first name is David. This is the lighthouse located in Michigan City, IN.

[Geoff F]

I think this might work better, David, if you cropped a little from the right side and top so that dominant stone structure 'moves' a little further to the right and leaves the lighthouse roughly central.

Otherwise, exposure/focus etc are good.

[dstinch56]

Here is the cropped version I forgot I had.
Thank you for all the great comments! I love taking photographs for fun and was wondering what other people think.

[Harpo]

The second one is more like it… being cropped, theres more noise in it… I would go back if you can and retake it from this vantage point. (bring scissors to trim the grass if needed to!) You could also make the case that the grass is taking too much away from the Lighthouse and if it was just the pillars with lower grass, the lake would be more visible and the lighthouse more prominent. Just my 2 cents.

I recently took the ferry across to WI from Muskegon and purposely stopped for a Lighthouse pic. You got lots to take advantage of!

[Geoff F]

For me, David, your second crop is too tight. It loses an interesting sky and makes those concrete lumps too dominant. While it shows the lighthouse in greater detail it misses the context of the overall scene.

I was thinking more of something along the lines of this.