Sunrise at the Ocean

[bigdog91]

Took this on Friday morning. I have been working on exposure and composition (just really started truly working on technique in November). I always think after I finish that, Oh I should have tried this angle. Any advice would be appreciated. Do you think if the camera was closer to the ground would it help give the photo more depth?

Thanks,
John


IMG_2713 -2 by Big Dog 91, on Flickr

[Polar01]

John: very nice capture, love the colour that you got in the sky that is a hard thing to get. For me the one think I might do is to lighten the beach a little, just a slight bit starting in the LLHC of the image. You will notice that the right hand corner is a little brighter than the right hand corner the reason is my eye keeps wanting to come back to that area not the horizon where the sun is in the middle of the photo. It could just be me, however if it was my image I would hope I could have done as well as you have.

Cheers:

Allan

[dje]

Hi John

It looks pretty good to me too - lovely warm colours and a nice glisten on the water. I'm not sure that shooting from a lower angle would have made a lot of difference but I would suggest you try cropping off the bottom of the image from where the "dry" sand meets the left hand edge. I had a quick look at that and IMO it gives it more depth. Of course in the end it's up to you what you prefer. I'd also add a bit of sharpening.

Dave

[Donald]

Noted the comments of the other guys above and don't disagree with any of that.

The first thing that hit me upon opening it was, what I think, is the need for sharpening on the pier.

Don't know how you are in terms of post-processing skills, John and whether selective sharpening is something you're comfortable with; i.e. causing just selected parts of the image to be sharpened and not others. I'd suggest you don't need to touch anything else, but that the edges on the pier platform and on the legs need to be sharpened.

However, you may need to undo what you've already done sharpening-wise around that area and take a more gradualist approach to the task because, as you can see if you look at the legs, you've got some 'haloing', particularly where the dark legs are against the bright sky.

But, I think it's worth spending time on it, because you've got yourself a keeper there. Well done.

[Bobobird]

It is a lovely shot no doubt about it.

@ Donald - you have fantastic eyes to be able to see that in such a small pic. I looked at every inch of it and still do not see anything!

[Donald]

It is a lovely shot no doubt about it.

@ Donald - you have fantastic eyes to be able to see that in such a small pic. I looked at every inch of it and still do not see anything!

As an example, go the 4th pier leg from the left. Look at the right hand side of the top half (the bit against the sky). You can see a very thin lighter strip running up the side of the leg. That's the halo. Now look at all the other legs.

[Bobobird]

Now I see it, but still wow eyes.

[Designer]

HI, John. Your exposure and composition are very good here. There is a problem however, with the overall lack of sharpness. Please tell us more about the exposure, including the type of equipment used, etc.

[bigdog91]

Thank you to everyone for the comments. I use a Cannon 60D and a 18-135 IS lens. Donald, I did sharpen the photo but is was the whole photo. I do not know how to do selective sharpening but hey I love to read and learn so I will try that. Dave and Allen, thanks for the ideas. I will work on it and re-post as soon as possible, my work schedule is a rough one Monday through Thursday starting at 3:00am until 5:30pm.

One thing I just thought of and have read different opinions on is that I had the camera on a tripod but forgot to turn off the IS. Will this cause some of the sharpness issues?

Thanks again to everyone. I am so happy I found this site.