Christian Photographers Community

Hello all.  

I was out at the beach for the sunrise for the past few mornings.  Got up real early at 5 am on both days to try to see what I could capture.  All of my shots till now were in my studio with professional lighting other then the Girl on the beach with the horse.  This shot I am posting here offers a decent blend of composition and perspective.  The Rocks are only about Ten feet high while the waves were 5-7 feet high.  With a perspective shift I was able to make the rocks and waves appear larger then that even though I was shooting from above.  This was a fun shot to work with.  It was shot at the House of Refuge in Stuart Florida.  Cropped, resized, auto color balance and auto contrast was applied in Paint Shop Pro.  Unsharp mask at Radius 1.00 Strength 100 and Clipping at 1.00  Text was added of course.

 

Have a wonderful day
All Critiques are welcome.  This is my first real day outside.  I know I blew the water out.  

But it is Ok.

Bless all

John Lambiase

John
Great Shot!

Your work on the composition and perspective worked, I was a surprised to hear that the waves and rocks are as small as you conveyed, looks much bigger.
ByGrace  

John, This is a wonderful photo.  I like your perspective.  The ways look much larger then 7 foot.  No critique here.  

I don't know anything about perspective but to my eyes, it is great.  Lovely action shot!!!  Really shows the power of water.

Quote from: Etta Sue on September 14, 2003, 11:01:26 PM
I don't know anything about perspective but to my eyes, it is great.  Lovely action shot!!!  Really shows the power of water.

I'll second that.  I thought the rocks and the waves were higher, and thought too, how powerful the waves look.

I'm not much at giving critiques I will say however that you did a great job with your tweeking of the rocks and waves. Very powerful work there John.

John, it was good to see all of the PSP settings that you used.  I've worked a bit with the "unsharp" mask but was never too happy with it.  I may try it some more.

I just love this photo.

Great photo!

JOHN  THIS PHOTO IS WONDERFULL
GOOD WORK
GOD BLESS YOU JOHN
LOVE RIA

I love the illusion that the rocks and waves are big here.  I have tried all day to picture someone standing there, to get the scale in my head, but they still look tiny.  So much for my imagination.

I'm surprised that that light is sunrise.  I would have expected later in the morning, or almost noon, judging by the "harshness" (not necessarily a bad thing) and the lack of shadows.  I do believe a lack of shadow is good here because it helps to emphasize the detail in the rocks.

The water is a bit blown out, like you say.  BUT, it was not the first thing I noticed about the picture.  I may not have noticed it if you hadn't pointed it out.  I don't know what your settings were, but if you could have used a higher aperture number (like one stop) that might have adjusted your exposure enough to keep it from blowing out.  Also, that would have made your depth of field greater, and the detail on the rocks may have been more.  If you didn't have a higher aperture number, maybe putting a neutral density filter, or polarizer on could have helped.  

Compositionally, it is an excellent photograph.  I like the "play" between the water and the rocks, and the contrast between the two.  I also like the way the rocks lead the eyes into and across the picture.  The one teeny-tiny-itty-bitty thing I would try to fix is the narrow band of horizon at the top.  Either more of it, or eliminate it, to me would make it seem more balanced.

That all said, I do think it is an excellent shot, and if you had not posted in this forum, specifically requesting feedback, I would have never "picked" so.  Taking shots outside where you have no control (or very little) over the light is tricky, but can definitely be rewarding, as this shot shows.  

Great work.

karma, I would love to be as good as you with the critiques.  I look at a photo and have a hard time seeing faults unless they jump right out at me and slap me in the face.  Good job!

What does the term "blown out" mean as used here in reference to the water?  That's a new term for me.  Of course, most of them are new right now.  Heh......I'm learning.

Quote from: Nita on October 11, 2003, 04:38:54 AM
What does the term "blown out" mean as used here in reference to the water?  That's a new term for me.  Of course, most of them are new right now.  Heh......I'm learning.

What's she's basically referring to is a condition where small sections of a large area of white are overexposed.  This means that instead of real "details" you see small blurbs of pure bright white in an area that would not truly be solid white.  

"Blown out" basically means slightly overexposed, but usually only in one area, not in the entire picture.  It's the same effect you get when you take a picture of the sun after you set your exposure for a tree.

That may be more confusing, but I hope it helps.

No, not confusing at all.  I actually understand that.  ok.....that's #1.  Now I can look for #2 in photo terms.

Oh, I remember.  I feel stupid.....but what does SLR...(or is it SRL?) mean?  I've been reading about that in new cameras but can't find out what it means doing the search thing.  I'd appreciate you whispering it, so no one else will know that I don't know.  You know?

Single Lens Reflex, Nita.

Nita, those new single lens reflex digital cameras look and sound wonderful, but they're very expensive.  As I look at the descriptions it seems to me the basic cost of around $1,000 or so is just for the camera body and each lens is additional.  

Quote from: Nita on October 14, 2003, 07:22:07 PM
No, not confusing at all.  I actually understand that.  ok.....that's #1.  Now I can look for #2 in photo terms.

Oh, I remember.  I feel stupid.....but what does SLR...(or is it SRL?) mean?  I've been reading about that in new cameras but can't find out what it means doing the search thing.  I'd appreciate you whispering it, so no one else will know that I don't know.  You know?

Check out this site. It gives an excellent diagram that shows how an SLR allows you to see EXACTLY what the film sees. (Whereas point and shoot cameras with a viewfinder are slightly offset...so you don't get exactly what you see in your viewfinder).


http://webcomposer.pace.edu/ds04506p/CISphoto/photopage3.html


This one might be even better:


http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/SLRs