Rocks

[GB1]

In Santa Barbara.

Comments?

Gb

[LeeIs]

I think the composition works for me. The contrastiiness of it doesn't bother me either. only critique from me is the greyness of the skies. I liked your other shot more because of the colour in the skies. This one does definitely have potential if you bring out the nice oranges in the sky and lessen the greys.

[SkipT]

Great composition, great sky line. It could be a little lighter but other then that great shot!

[armando_m]

GB,
composition is great, nice scene, seems dark and sort of flat

I understand we have very different processing styles, but I gave it a try

pushed highlights so it filled the histogram
pulled shadows a bit
increased orange saturation

[GB1]

Armando - Much improved. The more I looked at mine, the less I liked it, as it looked artificially dark. Yours seems to work a lot better (though you need to sharpen after you resize).

Liban - Thanks. I was going on memory when I processed it, and the colors were sort of subtle that evening. But I really prefer Armando's edit, so maybe a slight change of reality is OK if it makes the creation better.

Regarding composition, to me, there's only one way to arrange the scene in shots of the shore, but I'm finding it a little stagnating doing the same comp over and over. Ideas for something different...?

Skip, thanks, and yeah, I also feel it's too dark, and also looks a little fake like that too, like I just pulled down the exposure slider in post processing. Hmm, maybe I did, as like sunsets, actual 'after sunset' scenes are a little more strongly lit on the sun side of the scene than this one.

Btw - no one commented on all the seaweed in the bottom left, so I guess it isn't too ugly.

[jesilangdale]

I actually somewhat like the darkness in this photograph... it reminds me of a storm heading in... I would only really have lightened it perhaps with just a tad bit more contrast, other than that, adding more orange, etc, I don't see any need. Sometimes the flat and muted tones can really bring a mood to a photograph. This is absolutely beautiful, especially the way the water looks, mixed with foam.

[GB1]

Thanks jesilangdale, I agree that the darker image has a little more mood here. I think this is why I processed it dark to begin with. I think my issue with it is that it's a little flat looking.

Unfortunately, what I've found with my Nikon is that its meter automatically tries to compensate for a darkish scene - such as dusk - with more exposure, making the scene lighter and destroying the mood.

Welcome to the forums by the way. Seattle huh? - you should have plenty of moody photographs to post, so hope to see some soon.

Gb

[jesilangdale]

Thanks jesilangdale, I agree that the darker image has a little more mood here. I think this is why I processed it dark to begin with. I think my issue with it is that it's a little flat looking.

Unfortunately, what I've found with my Nikon is that its meter automatically tries to compensate for a darkish scene - such as dusk - with more exposure, making the scene lighter and destroying the mood.

Welcome to the forums by the way. Seattle huh? - you should have plenty of moody photographs to post, so hope to see some soon.

Gb

Haha definitely moody here. Yeah I hope to make this a more regular thing, I always look forward to hearing what people think of my work realistically.

[armando_m]

...

Regarding composition, to me, there's only one way to arrange the scene in shots of the shore, but I'm finding it a little stagnating doing the same comp over and over. Ideas for something different...?

Btw - no one commented on all the seaweed in the bottom left, so I guess it isn't too ugly.

Compositon seems ok to me , maybe try a different focal length, wider or longer

Seaweed is certainly fine with me, adds texture, makes it more interesting to see, i guess you're thinking it is not nice if you step on it, but for photos it is ok