River runs from it

[OldSchool]

Hi all,

I recently spent some time tide pooling. Out of the many shots, this is one that I feel may have potential. What is your take on it... just your average beach shot -- or something more?
Many thanks,
Tim

[Dzerzhinski46]

Dear Tim,

Certainly not your typical beach shot. It has nice lead in lines, the stream leading the eyes to the rock in the upper portion of the photo. The thing that is nibbling at me is that I would have gone for a lower angle, so as to make the rock more prominent, and gotten closer. But then again, you aren't me . I am a little divided about this one. The lead in lines are nice and well done, but I would like to have seen more of the neat crusty thingamajigs on the rock. But it has a quiet, thoughtful feel about it which makes it pleasing to look at. There seem to be all sorts of tidbits in the photo that pop out as I keep looking at it. I guess intriguing is the word I would use. I would like it closer, but it is neat as is. Good job.

Drew

[jar_e]

I like it. Not cliche at all and a nice strong composition. The one part that is lacking for me is the color. I feel alot more saturation is needed or to maybe even make it black and white and adjust the contrast. It's feeling a tad bland to me, but I think with some color adjustment you could get an even better shot.

Nice eye,

Jared

[uvasid]

Tim-
Something nibbles me about this photo as well -- my impression is that you have two awesome beach subjects here, the water flowing in the foreground and the colorful and contrasty rock dominating the back of the picture.
I feel that one of them should be the dominating subject, either a low angle shot as Dzerzhinski46 suggested and then either a shallow DOF and the water in focus or some angle to make the rock the focal point. This is not to say I don't like the picture, I just want to throw some ideas out there for you to chew on.

[mdmc]

Tim,
The rock looks like a pig to me. Great find.
The fg is boring to me, and it takes up 2/3 of the pic. Meanwhile my attention is drawn to the rock and the rocks and foilage beond.
my thoughts are that if you could have moved back far enough to keep the same amount of fg and get more of the bg. in other words make the fg 1/3 and the bg 2/3.
Would love to see more of this location.
Mark.
Q, What is tide pooling?

[PlantedTao]

Good eye on this...I really like the lines and how they lead you to the rock. The colors are nice and the stream gives it a very nice tranquil feel.
The composition works for me, but I have to agree 100% with Drew and say this photo would have been stronger with a lower angle. This would have allowed you to exaggerate the stream, which would of given you longer lines to the rock. I think your dof is good and maybe the saturation could be boosted a bit...but overall a very nice pic of the NW coast.
Lets see more.
Cheers

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi,
The pic has a lot of interesting elements: rock texture, line and circle, water ripple, and prints on sand. I feel a B&W version would convey another feeling. Nice shot!
yoyo

[OldSchool]

Thanks for the great critiques all. I'll keep them in mind next time I meet a similar subject.

One challenge I had that day (besides flat light) was finding shots w/o people in them. There are two more shots of this series that I'll try and get out before I leave on holiday this Friday.

Best regards,
Tim

p.s. I think this one suffers a little from the 640 pixel limit -- especially the rock. It presents with more interesting detail in the enlargement.

[OldSchool]

Unfortunately, the sky was overcast (flat light). So, the colors of these guys just couldn't be captured that day. I'll be back....
T

[jar_e]

The new one is great. On a nicely lit day, you could get some great colors. I think this has a huge potential as a shot and possibly even a series with beach life.

Well done,

Jared