My Very Own Tropical Island

[ShaneS]

I wish...but a girl has to dream!

Below is a shot of some islets off of Waimanalo Beach where I am having a hard time deciding between two crops.

Here is the big sky version:



And the panoramic version:



I'm torn and I would love to get your opinion on that and and other C&C you have to offer on the image.

If you would like to view a tighter shot of the islets and some other shots from my outing please take a look at the thread titled Hawaii Landscapes & Changing Weather.

Thanks!

[Hui Song]

#2 is for me.

If you want to use #1, IMO, you can add more clarity for those cloud.

[FootLoose]

I love the 2nd too, Shane, but the 1st is also a good picture -- its just different. I would try darkening the sand in the foreground slightly and then work on the light in the clouds to bring out more drama. I think that is the difference between the two crops. The second is about the layers of colour and the sense of space, whereas the first is more about the sky.

[deetheturk]

Hi Shane,#2 for me also,i'm no expert but if you are following the rule of thirds,#2 is more like it, where #1 the horizon is nearly smack in the middle,hope this helps

David

[bnnrcn]

Shane,I have looked at your other thread (Hawaii...) and liked the photos very much Your photo in this thread is very nice too.I like the clouds very much in the original one and although everybody says #2, I would prefer #1 but I would crop it from the top just a little in order to get the horizon right in the middle.I know that it breaks the 1/3 rule but this is what I feel about this shot

[Mike Buckley]

Terrific image!

Definitely the first one for me because it shows the expansiveness of the scene and the isolation of the island. I have no idea why people don't like the horizon in the center, especially in an image such as this one where the tones on both sides of the horizon are so similar; the placement of this horizon works really well for me. I also would not add more drama to the sky or sand because this scene is not about drama; it's about peacefulness. The pastel tones throughout the entire image including the sky work really well.

[Shadowman]

The angle of the surf helps add energy to both.

[Brownbear]

Hi Shane,

Both images are gorgeous! I prefer the first image because it places me in the overall scene, and the clouds are beautiful. I love the soft colours and the lines (bands) created by the sand, water and ripples. With respect to lines I don't see any leading lines but my eyes are drawn to the island, and I suppose that is because of the clouds and bands of the shoreline that lead my eye there?

PS I watched Scott Kelby's crush the composition. It was nice to see in action how he goes about creating a composition, and thinking about looking for patterns is new to me. Thank you for sharing.

[ShaneS]

Thanks everyone for the helpful insights into these images. For those that wanted more drama in the clouds in the first image I did try that approach as well as adding more overall contrast and even a touch more saturation in various combinations. The end result looked too much like an image that you would find in a travel brochure so I opted for this version that, for me, was more true to reality.

I do lean a bit toward the 'big sky' version and the horizon is only slight off center vertically. If I opt for symmetry in this image I will go back end ensure that is is exactly centered and will consider a slight crop from the top as Binnur suggested. This seems to create a composition with essentially two triangles in my mind. A triangle created by the sand and edge of the surf that lead your eye towards the islet and then a triangle that extends from the island up into the clouds and down towards the ocean side of the whitewash widening to the right. This widening to the right leaves the viewer to imagine themselves on the island looking out over the ocean to day dream

The panoramic version will be used to fill a re-purposed frame that a friend requested an image for...I may play a bit more with the clouds in that image as a bit more structure might work well there. The frame is not a standard size so I might have to play with the crop on that one to make it fit.

Thanks again for taking the time to comment.

Christina I am glad you got something out of the Kelby video