Garie Part of a Beach Series

[gcowan]

Hi,

I have started a project of a series of local beaches. This is Garrie, a beach in the Royal National Park. This was shot on a bush walk from Garrie to the Curra Moors. It was shot hand held from a climb half way up a headland.
I am also practicing PP of landscapes using an on line course. This has been done using Photoshop from a DNG file on my un-calibrated laptop.

The camera Leica M9, 50mm f1.4 Sumilux, f6.7, 1/180th sec, ISO160. Manual exposure based on preserving detail in the clouds.

Garrie Beach..




Garrie Beach Fisherman




Canon EOS1Ds Mk3 EF 300mm f4 IS USM at f22 1/200 ISO 400



Graham

[Donald]

I would argue, but I can see that others would not be persuaded, to crop a bit from the bottom in the first one. I wonder if it needs so much of those trees in it? Going to something like a 2:1 or 16:9 ratio would offer up a pretty strong image.

I think the lighting in it is wonderful. There's just a nice feel to it. Again, arguable, a little bit heavy on the vignette, but that's a a matter of personal taste.

I think the second one is a cracker. Brilliant composition. Captures the moment perfectly (those two folk in the background are in just the right place). The water, particularly down at the bottom right, is just in the right place. The vignette works for me. Only suggestion - Clone out that board thing just above the sand on the far side. Yep - I really like that one.

[Geoff F]

Well I agree with you, Donald. My first impression, before reading your reply, was that there is too much dark foliage at the bottom of #1. Don't reduce too much though.

But as an alternative, I wonder if cropping the same amount from the left side would enable retention of the existing image size. But it depends on what Graham wants with regard to size ratio.

[rpcrowe]

I really like both images but, would like to see a slight crop on each.

In the first image, I would suggest a slight left crop at the peak of the hill, before the vegetation starts going downhill. The bottom crop might be about where the dark foliage meets the brighter green foliage.

On the second shot, I would suggest cropping the bottom slightly to eliminate the portion of surf that enters the frame. This allows the curvature of the main body of water to become a leading line to both the fisherman and the strollers. I also think that a crop of a bit at the top would not hurt.

But my suggestions are really a bit picky. These images show the capability of longer lenses in landscape work. The compression of distance really adds to the quality...

BTW: I thought that all Aussie surf fishermen used Alvey reels rather than open faced spinning reels like this guy is using. The Alveys are really great. I purchased a couple from a Perth fishing tackle dealer when the U.S. Dollar was stronger against the Aussie Dollar.

[RockNGoalStar]

I just love the clouds in the first image. I took it into Photoshop and played around with it. I definitely agree with cropping the lower 15 - 20% of the image and also felt that you could boost the contrast somewhat.

I then got really carried away and made those clouds look uber moody and aggressive, but then went a bit too far (as I usually do in PP).

Can't really offer anything constructive on the second image as I really like it. I'd perhaps crop a small amount off the top and definitely clone out the sign on the RHS.

Thanks for posting

[Fit]

I like the second, especially the hues, lighting and depth overall.

[gcowan]

Thank you for your comments gentlemen.

Donald,
I am not a fan of the vignette either but I am keeping an open mind at the moment.
The first image is quite lightly vignetted, hardly at all in fact. The light formed a natural vignette effect which I heightened by brightening the centre. I also boosted the sky by desaturating the blue out of the clouds. On the other hand the second image is heavily vignetted but manually applied with about 3 curves layers and masking. This is part of the technique I have been learning from Peter Eastway. It gives an image which is strong but quite different to my normal vision. The advantage is that it helps you to focus on the subject of the image.
On cropping:

I agree that the crop suggested by Richard and Donald on the first image strengthens the image and I will probably do that.
The second image becomes a different image with the near wave cropped out and I am not entirely convinced that it is better.
I thought about the sign but decided to leave it in. Maybe I will get rid of it.

Richard
Unfortunately I know nothing about fishing reels and have never caught an edible fish, so I can't comment. Are those Alvey reels you talk about the big open reels many people use? I had an interesting run in with one once when I was surfing. I was in the shore break and felt something running across my wetsuit. When I looked down I saw it was a fishing line connected at one end to one of those reels and at the other end to a very large hook coming towards me. I was able to flick it over my head.

Graham