Japanese beaches at sunset

[SMOKEYmtbr]

I lived in japan for a few years because of the military. I had just bought this digi camera and thought some of the colors and rocks look cool. I wish I had a tripod then the pics would be level, I tried to level it using iphoto but it softened it up too much. What do you guys think.

[Seb]

I lived in japan for a few years because of the military. I had just bought this digi camera and thought some of the colors and rocks look cool. I wish I had a tripod then the pics would be level, I tried to level it using iphoto but it softened it up too much. What do you guys think.

I see great potential in these two. I enjoy your clean composition and the pretty colors.
However, I think that there is too much foreground in both pictures. Also, you have some vignetting in the upper right corner of the first picture.

I'd see both of them as panoramic pictures. Here is a quick example.

Seb

[SMOKEYmtbr]

WOW. You're good! I didn't even see that in the upper right hand corner thanks! It does look better in panoramic. Would the pics have been better quality if I used a panoramic setting in the camera from the get go?

[Seb]

WOW. You're good! I didn't even see that in the upper right hand corner thanks! It does look better in panoramic. Would the pics have been better quality if I used a panoramic setting in the camera from the get go?

Thanks!

Actually, I am not sure at all! Honnestly, I have very little experience with small digicams or any point&shot for that matter. My guess is that the panoramic mode would set an aperture of f/8 or so to get good depth of field but that's probably it.

My suggestion would be to use a tripod for optimal sharpness. The light level wasn't really strong on these so your camera must have set a slow shutter speed to catch enough light. Thus, any move of the camera result in a loss of sharpness. By using a tripod, your camera remain steady during the shot. You might also want to use the timer (if you have one) at the same time. Set it to say, 10 sec so there is strictly no chance that the camera move while you press the shutter.

Seb

[GB1]

Pretty beach. I'm sure they have a lot.

The bottom shot has some nice objects and shapes, and color. I'd probably zoom in/crop out the right side a little since it doesnt add much... this would also get the sun out the center, which is a bit too symmetric.

The upper shot ... Hmmm... It's more of a challenge to critique (and shoot I'm sure). There's something very nice and clean about it. But I think there's simple too much negative space in the top and bottom. I like it better as an extreme horizontal cropping... getting rid of some of the beach but a lot of the sky (the sky is pretty unspectacular here, but there's prob not you could do about that except use a polarizer, or come back later). Attached a sample crop.... not the best in the world either but shows how a crop changes the 'feel' of it.

GB

[GB1]

I see great potential in these two. I enjoy your clean composition and the pretty colors.
However, I think that there is too much foreground in both pictures. Also, you have some vignetting in the upper right corner of the first picture.

I'd see both of them as panoramic pictures. Here is a quick example.

Seb

Sorry Seb... I didn't even see your post before I did mine. Didn't mean to steal your idea or anything GB

[SMOKEYmtbr]

Thanks guys I've been toying around with the very limited editing tools that I get with iphoto (I can't believe I'm talking about iphoto around a bunch of pro's LOL!) and cropping it like both you guys suggested really does change the whole feel or mood of the picture. I am glad I posted here because I was going to have those shots printed out for me and now I have some more ideas that will probably yield a more interesting pic. I just have to spend some time trying to figure out how to save the sharp clarity when I mess with it. It seems like it gets fuzzy when I edit it, hmm, more work. Anyways thanks guys!

[jar_e]

Great opening shots and welcome to the boards! The silhouette feel works very well on these shots, and I love the second one. A nice leading composition and nice, soft, colors.

Way to go,

Jared