Waiting for wind.... AGAIN!

[OldSchool]

Does this image resonate in any way?
Thanks in advance,
Tim

[readingr]

OH boy does this resonate!

I seem either to always sail in too little wind or too much wind; and rain.

Terrific composition - job well done

[Yoyo Szeto]

Hi Tim,
Nice and crisp photo. I like the subject arrangement although I prefer the person on the front. Good composition.
yoyo

[gahspidy]

I like the subject and framing is fine. I agree with Yoyo about having the person infront of the boards, or at least sitting up more in better view. Sky is very bright, at least in the one spot, but is still interesting with the clouds below. This is not bad, just that the subjects are getting a bit lost as they are all laying flat.

[Old Timer]

Nice dramatic image. I have to agree with some others that maybe the subject has taken a subordinate roll because of placement within the frame. This is a photograph that may have benifited from the use of a graduated neutral density filter. That may have allowed you to lighten up the forground and made it a little more prominent while darking and makng the sky even my dramatic. Nice photograph.

[readingr]

No I definately like this the way it is - most photos would have the person in front but the way its composed tells me the person is bored silly waiting for that wind by the distance away from the board and the fact that the person is doing something like reading but your not sure what.

[OldSchool]

Hi all,

Thanks for the good comments. I agree with you that the composition would be stronger if I rearranged the subjects. But in this case, I was more interested in a mood than the subjects... a feeling that many a windsurfer gets when the wind decides to not be windy (just as you are about to hit the water). Further, the thing that attracted me here are the textures. I had the texture of the beach in the foreground which is made of almost entirely perfect skipping stones, and the texture of the spring storm that rolled in (and killed the wind). Does this come through at 640 pixels? I guess my subject here was more trying to get the shore line to tie it all together. My main regret with that shot is that I wish the camera was a couple inches higher such that there was more space between the person and the board.

I have attached another attempt that I rejected because the bridge is not complete. What do you guys think? Gary, I did try the Nikon Capture (their RAW editor) DeeLighting tool to try and pull more detail out of the blown sections here, but I didn't like how it muddled them up. Personally, I'm not very impressed with Nikon's RAW editor.

Finally, the model in these shots is my son (I hope this knowledge doesn't lessen the impact). And, he would do everything in his power to goof up the shot if he knew what I was up to. Posing him is out of the question -- if you know what I mean. I also attached another image of two very important girls in my life. It is one of them that was waiting for the wind to come back afer it decided to go away (which is the risk of gaming spring fronts). Please don't feel obliged to critique the snapshot.

BR,
Tim

p.s. readingr, you obviously have been there done that :^)

pp.s. I hope you all don't mind that I paraded out family photos here......

[gahspidy]

Tim, funny how we think. I think that the two last photos you have just posted are great. Both are sure keepers. The one with your son on the beach is great. The bridge not being shown in full is not important to me at all. The subjects are in clear view and the mood of this image fully comes through. I don't know how anyone else will feel about it, but I'm telling you I feel this last one is the keeper. i like it alot. Both are very good.

[readingr]

Tim,

Both on boards and big yachts - the most frustrating time for a sailor but i'f I'm in the power boat water skiing then perfect weather, its just getting the in the right boat at the right time!!

For the last 2 photos - both are keepers and both are good, as Gary states bridge is unimportant, but I prefer the lower shot because it gives an impression of a greater distance between your son and the board and to me emphasising the boredom.

The bottom shot is excellent I would just crop the trucks on tha far shoreline. You obivously have a family that love the water which is something we have in common.

Roger R.

[OldSchool]

Hey guys,

I got an 8x12 of that 2nd image (closer subjects & half a bridge), and... I agree, the composition looks much better than the first. Thanks for your help on this. I would have stayed with the first image without your critique.

BR,
Tim