Solitude on the Dock

[Jaedon]

Made my first attempt at long exposure shots late in the evening/twilight on Thursday night. The wife wanted a few minutes alone after putting the kids to bed so I snuck down after her and set up the tripod and took this shot.

[Anbesol]

hmmm... interesting idea, and composition. I think the subject might be a bit vague for my liking, and i think theres a bit more sillhouetting then i tend to like. maybe a tighter framing might help.

*edit - actually you know what might be really cool is a vertical orientation! cropping out the dark detail on both sides, keeping the 4:3 (or prefferably even 3:2) aspect ratio and just switching the orientation, keeping the person almost centered but slightly to the right.

[echoback]

this is a gorgeous shot IMO. i think i'm gonna have to disagree with anbesol on this one lol, because one of the things that makes this shot for me is the blurry reflection of the trees in the water. it gives it a really serene, peaceful feeling. i feel as though if you did a vertical shot, you'd loose some of that. I love the sillhouette as well, and the deep blue colors are fantastic. the only thing i would try is to lighten up the right side just a tad and maybe crop a bit off that side. also, from my perspective, it looks slightly tilted down to the right, maybe try to level it out a tad.

[Jaedon]

Thanx Anbesol

I kinda wondered if the panorama would take away from the subject but with this being my first attempt at the shot I like the way it all worked together.

How does this crop work for you?

[OBie]

I see it as a little tilted to the left.

If I was to crop, I'd keep the same ratio as the original, just go in a little tighter. Get rid of 1/2" to 1" on each side, eliminating the negative space around the outside.

Love the colors.

[Overbeyond]

What bothers me most about this shot is the uninteresting, stationary position of the person, as if he/she was told to stand there. It looks almost unlike a real person actually. Maybe had he/she being doing something (presence of a fishing rod perhaps) then the lifelessness would disappear. The boat on the left (out of water) would be more suitably placed in the water. Also a little tilted.
It's definitely got mood though.
Tom

[coachgns]

I happen to like this picture alot.
While I think the figure could have been placed a bit better, the brilliance of the colors & the reflections grab me & make it a shot I enjoy looking at.

[Anbesol]

yes im a bigger fan of the crop! maybe put a little bit back on the sides ;), maybe keeping the 4:3 aspect would be better after all.

[Jaedon]

I notice a lot of things said were about the objects in teh picture. When setting up for a shot like this had it been a planned shot (yes I was planning the experiment but not this shot in particular) you can't really change the things that are there. I saw my wife enjoying amoment of silence after chasing 2 kids around all day and took the shot. If she had been fishing then there would've been a rod in teh shot.. but since this is an as it happened shot you have to take that into account.

Personally what I like about it is the serenety, the colors, and the moment. I like both the original as well as the crop suggested by Anbesol. The tilt I corrected for in the original shot but forgot to fix in the crop (my bad) but over all I appreciate the criticism both constructive as well as artistic.

Thats why I love this site. I don't just get the sugar coated responses I get from the only other people that see my stuff (family) who don't want to say anything bad to discourage me.

Thanx everyone for your comments.

Jay

[Greg McCary]

I like the cropped one better. I have chased kids around all day too. Hug your wife and take her out to eat....

[LeeIs]

I really like the original shot Jaedon. The crop not so much.

To me the original had a great mood to it. Lovely sunset with a person reflecting in thought. I also liked how the silhouette of the figure was against some of the well lit areas of the photo. That adds emphasis. I wish the bottom was cropped out a tiny bit. Maybe up to where the boat on the right begins.

Overall a very effective photo IMO. It reminds me of those "message" photographs. Like the ones that sell posters with catch lines like "Success:.... ..." etc.

good job.