Tree and boats

[GrahamH]

Okay, titles getting worse.
Not too often I venture into monochrome.
Also inspired by the use of negative space as amply demonstrated by another member.
Graham
(trying to expand his eye)

[FootLoose]

I think that works pretty well, Graham. I like the way the line of canoes form a triangle with the jetty. The only thing that bothers me is the horizon: is it crooked or is that lens distortion?

[Shadowman]

Well there is a sense of abandonment in the image. Nice image.

[Mike Buckley]

You tell the story very nicely. This scene offers a lot of opportunities, so I hope you work it over and over again.

The sky has some unusual patterns in it almost like banding that I wonder if they have been produced by your post-processing.

[Karm Redland]

Graham, interesting image. I would cut off a bit of the sky. Also, your sky has a bit of noise.

karm

[jeeperman]

Graham, I agree with a bit of a crop off the top. It helps bring the subject to the eye as a little more prominant. As it is, a nice image but the boats don't quite stand out quite enough to me. Cropping the top helps that I think. Which I understand goes against what you were going for with the negetive space. So maybe just a bit of work around the boats to get a hair more seperation from the sand. I am not talking drastic change just slight adjustments.

Nice image.

[GrahamH]

Hi all, thanks for the comments.
Greg - Horizon was a smidgeon off, now corrected. However, looking at the picture, it has a lot more weight to the right than the left, and that may be causing an imbalance - and I would agree with that. If the clouds were left, perhaps that would balance better. But the tree, the jetty, the sun shade thingy, the line of the kayaks as well as the clouds all go to the same point, hence the imbalance. I need to try again.
Mike - banding. There is haze bottom left as well as having the sun pretty high to left. Both together can cause the change from light to dark. Again, something else to look for. Smaller and smaller details, but improves the pic. Ta.
Karm - there were some dust spots which I have cleared up, any noise is inherent in the original as well, and checking the downsized against the original shows the smaller version has a little more prominent noise in it.
+Paul - cropped. Better?
Paul - I've increased the contrast of the shadows around the kayaks (as well as the tree while I was there). I hope that helps the delineation.

Thanks again all,
Graham
Modified version

[jeeperman]

Yes and yes. I do like both of the subtle changes, but that is me. How do you like the changes?

[pasusan]

I do like the second one better - great subject for B&W!

[GrahamH]

Hi Paul,
Definitely needs something to the left, but I like a bit better than the first post.
Graham

[Andrew76]

Graham, can I play Devil's Advocate? I prefer your original concept. I like the negative space - but of course, it's personal. I'm also a pretty big fan of the "another member's" work, which I think you've emulated quite well. If it were mine, I wouldn't change the crop, what I would do, is try to bring back some blacks, and even stretch the whites to the right a little to. It would help increase the contrast, and tonal range.

Nice shot.