Silk on the rocks

[arsas]

OK I will go first.
I took these a month or so ago, at Hill 60 in Port Kembla. These are a series as the wave washes up and into the rock pool in front of me. The last one I opened the shutter as the water was draining back out which is why it has such a silky effect.

[ScottH]

1) probably best to stick to one pic at a time in this thread. Could be too hard to PITP on 4 images.
2) I think the colour of the sky is a bit bland. (An issue I always have) - Apparently an ND grad will help.
3) The look of the water/rocks seems to improve as you go through the pics. 4 is awesomely dreamy.
4) #3 is a bit too white in the foreground water. Just my personal preference
5) it's getting hard to find anything else. Composition looks good. they're straight. Colour of water and land looks good.
6) Thanks for being first!!!

PS: I just read the forum rules, and I'm supposed to offer suggestions how to fix the things I don't like. I 've added one suggestion, not sure about the others.

[arsas]

1) probably best to stick to one pic at a time in this thread. Could be too hard to PITP on 4 images.
2) I think the colour of the sky is a bit bland. (An issue I always have)
3) The look of the water/rocks seems to improve as you go through the pics. 4 is awesomely dreamy.
4) #3 is a bit too white in the foreground water. Just my personal preference
5) it's getting hard to find anything else. Composition looks good. they're straight. Colour of water and land looks good.
6) Thanks for being first!!!

Scott,

Thanks for the CC. I agree probably not the best to have 4 images, but they kind of go together.
Agree about the sky, it was one of those days when the sky was just plan old bland and it was cold and windy.
I have had the same comment about #3 but then alot people love the motion of the water rushing over the rocks, like you said it is all personal preference.
#4 is my Favourite but then sometimes i look at it and wonder if its too much, I think it is one of things of how you feel at the time.

[antsan]

Try making a selection of just the sky, and creat a adjustment layer (maybe curves or even vibrance..) and jsut push the sliders around to see if you can get it to pop out a bit more.
i like the silk effect alot, and the rocks give a nice contrast just the sky lets it down a tad.
cheers.. and thanks for going first.

[E05]

Lovely photo and well composed, i personally like the water motion between #2 and #3.

A couple of things which may or may not help lift this seascape;
-Exposure on clouds and sky to the right top side needs to be balanced to the rest of the scene, perhaps its due to lens vignetting?
-the light looks a little flat and contrast may help lift this a tad, perhaps it that the image is uncalibrated?

[timmo]

mate... i think these are all good shots in their own rights. Composition is strong, they are sharp and detailed.
all the boxes get ticked for me, but I feel like like Goldilocks, " this one is too hot, this one is too cold, this one is just right.
and "just right" for my eye is number three. The last is too much( again to my tastes, others may differ).

with the sky the others have mentioned, doesn't really seem to bother me, yet I think you have fallen victim to lots of
cloud movement during the exposure, not sure how that can be corrected, but IMHO it is not a deal breaker by any stretch.
cheers
tim

[antsan]

I thought i would try to have a little play with this shot (the last one) and her's my result. I used a graduated filter from the bottom, to tone down the silky water a bit. I then worked with dodge and burn tools on some of the rocks and cliffs.
i big curves adjustment, and then i selected the sky and did another.
What do you think?
edit is second of the too. i included the original for comparison,

Haha, i'm no expert and i'm sure to some peoples eyes my edit is worse!

Ant

[Cookster670]

To me there isn't enough contrast and it's a dark photo.

here is what looks good to me colour blind eyes.

I've brightened it, added contrast and then some saturation. Also played with an grad filter for the sky...but might have made it worse

[caralan]

Yes, probably best to just pick one photo - but which one?

I lean towards #2 and #3 as nice compromises - but #4 has a surreal feel I don't mind, and Ant's rework has reduced that effect a bit, which I don't mind either.

I also think they are a bit flat - but isn't that the nature of the light at the time?

I'm vacillating - which is not much help - sorry - I'm not very good at this.

However, I do think Cookster's rework is a bit too much, sorry - but I can see where he is coming from.

Good on you for posting and letting us have an opinion anyway.

Post some bad photos next time to give us something to sink our teeth into

Cheers

[Cookster670]

Hey Alan..no apologies necessary. I do have a tendency to over saturate and get WB wrong because of my red-green defficiency colour blindness. I really should put that in my signiature as i'm always have to explain my self :-)

It looks good to me, but perhaps that's because I need to make them more vivid to see what you would see with less saturation.

[arsas]

Thanks for all the great comments.

I should of named this thread what i called it the first time i posted on a forum "Cold Afternoon Fishing" as this then sets the mood and feel of the shots.

I agree with the comments on the clouds and sky, and trust me i had to do a fair bit to get them to where they are now. Due to the long exposures i was pushing the point and the skys were nearly blown out.
The uneveness in the sky i cant explain other than it was a cold windy day with the sun behind me popping in and out between different clouds and there was alot of smog blowing around.
I agree that they need a bit more punch and colour but i tend to under do my PP and see what the general feel is. I find it better to add later rather than try and take away.

Well not bad for the the first PITP.
As others have said in the thread that made this section happen "You are usually your own worst critic" and pretty much most of what people have brought up is what I had been thinking myself and needed doing with these photos. Its good to know that you are on the same page as others.

[Maz]

Hi arsas,

A nice series of shots here. I really like #2. #1 for me is not showing the motion of the water, and in #3 and #4, I think there is too much (esp#4). I hope you don't mind, but I have taken the liberty of using #2 and making some adjustments to it. What I primarily saw was:

1. Rocks were too dark
2. Sky was too desaturated
3. Colours in the ocean could have been made more dramatic
4. Image required an overall contrast and vibrance boost

Here is my version.