Under the pier

[bindows]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the forums and to dslr photography. I've always loved to take pictures with a point and shoot digital camera, but the dslr has opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Anyways, here is a picture I took at a friend's wedding. I know the backlighting is bad, but was wondering about the composition and seeking advice on how to the overall image better.

Thank you.

[jkriminger]

I would crop out the surfer and all that bad lighting..come down some from the top and take some off from the bottom. Is the the photog important? Maybe even a tighter crop around the couple keeping the tunnel?...do you mind an example crop?

[Xia_Ke]

Hi bindows, welcome to PR! I was playing around with this shot a bit in editing and Rod pretty much read my mind. I have an example as well, if you are interested in seeing anyone else's takes on this shot. Hope you enjoy your time here at PR and I look forward to your future shots.

Happy Shooting,
Aaron

[bindows]

Sure thing, I'm always up for suggestions and advice! The reason I had the surfer AND photographer in the shot was because I thought it would capture the "wedding at the beach." I guess it is kind of random.

[Xia_Ke]

In this case, I think the pier pretty well conveys that it is at the beach. Here's my crop. I also did some slight levels adjustments.

[AgingEyes]

Sure thing, I'm always up for suggestions and advice! The reason I had the surfer AND photographer in the shot was because I thought it would capture the "wedding at the beach." I guess it is kind of random.

I think you could leave him there then. After all, we didn't know what you wanted to tell us in the first place. It's a different photo if you crop off the surfer or the photographer. Here it appears the content is more important than the visual impact to the viewers, I think. One way to deal with the surfer, especially one with a red surfing board, is to blur it then de-saturate the color a bit. This way, it doesn't compete much with the main subject of interest in your photo.

One thing I did notice is that the focus seems off.

[jkriminger]

...anyway, its always good to get different perspectives.

[bindows]

Thanks for the replies and perspectives. I'm guessing that the picture looks grainy because I saved it as a small file (50kb). I'm still learning the camera aspect so it'll be a while before I take on the editing portion. Anyhow, it is a lot of fun.

[gahspidy]

I like your version with just the photog in there. There is a story going on and the context as AE speaks of works really well. It does look good with just the couple, but that turns it into a different image and also the crop for that is rather extreme. The photog and the couple make a great image.
Nicely seen and captured.

[Overbeyond]

The original for me because I like the inclusion of the disinterested surfer. Difficult working conditions here but I think you have got a good shot from it.

[Frog]

Each has its merits but I too am for the original. The surfer, the blown sky, the photog, everything adds to the total and does not take away in my opinion.

[jgredline]

I love the original. That surfer dude in the pic is awesome...
What beach / pier is that?

[Xia_Ke]

Congrats on the Featured Photo! :thumbsup:

[bindows]

Thanks everyone. That was the Manhattan Beach Pier, California.

[photo-mom]

photo-mom likes it - photo-mom likes photos with picture-takers in them, but then she is the mom of a photographer! . . . . - making the red a little less red seems like a good idea, but there is the look of wandering through life (for the surfer) . . . he is unconcerned with marriages, photographers, whatever, living in the moment . . . and the look of starting out, imagining there is a future, hopefulness (for our foolish couple) . . and then the 'frame' of the photographer's viewing . . . as a picture . . . an abstraction - i love the juxtaposition . . . p-m

[Herriot]

Congratulations on the sticky and welcome to the forum, it is an interesting location to choose for your wedding photographs but the overall result is striking and I think that you did well with this so am looking forward to seeing more from you in the future.

[Alison]

I prefer the crop with the photographer in. The composition is wonderful.
I LOVE the fact that you captured the photographer. That's something I often miss! Great job!
Congrats on the sticky and featured photo :thumbsup: