Fogged In

[Xia_Ke]

Been wanting to get out to take some pictures for a few days now but, the weather has been horrible. When I was getting out of work today, there was a lull in the rain or I should say it had died to a drizzle. Good enough for me. Grabbed the camera and ran out to take some pics. Did my best to make the best of the situation. Here's a few I liked. So what do you think?

[gahspidy]

These are all fine, but the second one really takes it for me. The couple sitting there on the bench in the rain, umbrellas over their heads, is a great scene. I like the stark contrast of the umbrella against the light gray sky. I might try a crop from the top to bring the horizon up out of center, and then a small crop from the left. Also bringing the couple in closer.
All of these, especially the third one can use a bit more tone and detail in the darker areas.
Slightly too contrasty.
Good shots, Aaron

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Gary! Played around with them a bit. I also posted the one of the couple on the bench in another forum for critique. I liked the cropping suggestion I received there. Cropped it up from the bottom to give a little more "vastness" to the ocean. What do you think? Or should I try it differently?

Thanks as always
Aaron

PS- I know, I know, I love the contrast... I can't help it

[Frog]

Its just an opinion but I think you might have cloned a bit too much on that one of the couple on the bench.
Its my fav of the 3 too. One thing that keeps bugging me though is those curved weeds sprouting our of them.
Gray is photogenic and you caught some good ones here.

[Xia_Ke]

Cloned too much? No cloning on any of these. Though as always I'm sure I'm guilty of over adjusting all of my levels...LOL The one of the couple on the bench was cropped a bit from the bottom and I did some color levels adjustments to play with the b&w contrasting. You think I should try cloning out some of that bush? Hate to do any cloning other than dust spots etc but, that one branch to the right of the umbrellas kind of bugs me too

[swmdrayfan]

Xia, what I like about these is the mood. You've caught the essence of the day.

[Xia_Ke]

Thank you very much for the kind words John

[gahspidy]

Aaron, i would tweak the contrast somewhere in between the originals and the edited. Looks better though. also, I think cropping the second picture from the top, not bottom, is the way to go. And not too much. Also a bit from the left side. Removing the bottom gets the couple too close to the frame and loses the much needed fg. I noticed you also boosted the contrast in that one. . .I would at least leave that aspect alone for that pic.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Gary. So many cropping possibilities with this shot. Each adding it's own touch of character. Is this what you had in mind for the crop? Definitely a nice touch of intimacy to the shot.

[Frog]

Sorry! I meant cropped.
Been having a lot of word trouble lately......sigh.

[engineer]

I am not sure about the first photo, the couple on the bench is nice too but does not grap my view for very long. I like the third one very much and only in the original post. The edit makes the weather look less horrible, as if the sun is coming out already...
I like the contrast between the walking man, who gives a lot of dynamic to the photo, and the people who stand. My view got first caught by the walking man and went right to the group of people. This goes well with the geometry of the dark rock area. Well done in my opinion.

[gahspidy]

Thats what I had in mind. Looks good, but looking back at both I think either one could work.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks Gary You always manage to help me see my own work in a different light. Your help has been and always will be much appreciated.

[KyRain]

I love the fact you used a gray, rainy day to shoot a beach photo. The umbrella couple is my fav as well. Well done.

[Xia_Ke]

Thanks KyRain. I'm glad you liked them