Suggestions on editing photos showing waves crashing, surf, etc.

[rachelfoster]

I've taken some photos of the "surf" on Lake Michigan hitting some rocks.

However, the water is not as dramatic as I want it to be. It's really

rather...blah. I'm looking for general tips on editing such shots...contrast,

levels, etc.

 

Any ideas?

 

This is an example of what I'm trying to work with. It's......blah.

 

<img src="http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x153/annieblues/pnquestion.jpg">

[Charles_Webster]

Changing your point of view so you're not looking down at the surf will help. Use a longer lens and get farther away to compress more breakers into the frame for more drama. Use a slow shutter speed to get a sense of motion. You used a very short shutter and a relatively wide aperture (f/8) try slowing down the shutter and closing the aperture for more depth of field and some motion blur in the water.

 

Frozen water seldom gives a sense of motion the way motion blur does.

 

<Chas>

[rachelfoster]

Ah, I was trying for the frozen effect. The droplets enchant me...but it seems visually they are simply not going to have anything worth going after.

 

I did try to get lower to the water, but those shots are also dull. That may be more evidence that the frozen water thing is just not interesting.

[pmj]

Here's a possible edit.

<p>

I cropped it square to focus attention on the splashing waves. I'm not too thrilled

about the lower right hand corner. Levels: mostly made it darker: 15, 0.82, 255.

Increased saturation a little bit, applied Smart Sharpen. See attachment.

<p>

Charles' suggestion is interesting as well, although the effect will be very different.

<a href="http://www.photo.net/photo/3764408">This photo</a>

illustrates that effect.<div></div>

[rachelfoster]

Thanks Patrick! That's a lot closer to what I was going for. I tried increasing contrast, but didn't hit the right combo.

[rachelfoster]

This one was closest to what I wanted, but it still doesn't get any where near what my mind's eye wanted to see.<div></div>

[bobatkins]

Any closer?<div></div>

[rachelfoster]

Yes, that's getting there (and far better than the out-of-cam shots). Still, it lacks oomph. Any ideas how to redo this?

[lex_photo]

I'm a newbe at this, but maybe shooting a smaller section so there are fewer drops,

and more focus on the drops that are in the frame might draw attention to them instead

of the over all photo? I didn't quiet get it in my try, but the lower right hand corner was

along the lines that I was thinking. I hope this helps - Lex

[rachelfoster]

Nice perspective, Lex!

[DickArnold]

IMHO you have to have something else in the photo besides the wave. A subject of some kind.<div></div>

[DickArnold]

You can count the airborne drops on the 18x24 blowup.

[rjjackson]

hi rachel

 

what focal length are you using? the suggestion offered by charles for a longer lens will allow you to decrease your depth of field. it might be interesting to have an extremely short depth of field where you isolate one narrow plane of the airborne drops and suppress the surrounding environment into a blurry background. so a long lens (200m) with wide open f-stop (small number) and very fast shutter will give you just a small collection of frozen drops suspended in a blurry background. as i see it, with the waves and drops both sharp, they compete for attention. also i like the suggestion for trying to get lower to the ground, with some of the drops going above the horizon.

 

good idea -- keep working at it until you create what you see.

[sandysocks]

Two things are lacking here. Good light and a good wave. I like the frozen approach with a telephoto lens. But good light really makes a difference. I have lots of waves in my portfolio. My advice: become a storm chaser and shoot the waves when the clouds begin to break up.

[tholte]

Like RL says, good light is the most important thing! The light is bad in your images. There is usually nothing you can do to save an image if the light is bad.

[rachelfoster]

Thanks all! Everyone's comments have been very helpful.

[john v.]

I second RL's advice. If you want good pictures of waves, get to the shore when

storms are near. In winter, this usually means before the storm arrives or when the

storm is just leaving. In summer, after thunderstorms have passed can be a good

time, just watch out for lightning. The picture below was taken at the South Haven,

Michigan lighthouse just as a strong early winter storm was approaching. Winds

were already gusting past 30 mph. I nearly froze my fingers off getting pictures, but

it was worth it. If you look carefully, you can also see two Darwin Award contenders

walking out on the pier. They did return safely to the beach. Sorry, no award.

Tragically, others did not fare as well during similar occasions.<div></div>

[rachelfoster]

Yes, if one has the right conditions when taking the shot, it helps immensely. I was more wondering about what editing could do when one doesn't have those conditions (as was the case when I shot this).

[geoff_foale]

As Dick said, you must have something else in the photo to give an indication of scale, like John's excellent photo. Also getting the best angle and looking directly at waves does help. But it is very difficult to get waves to look good in a photo, no matter how dramatic they are.

 

I am a commercial fisherman and often find that photos taken from my boat lack impact. I might be hanging on with one hand and wondering what I am doing here but the resulting image looks like a lovely summer's day.

 

For the best effect try to find that magic time just after the wind stops but the waves and surf are still running high; and not too much moisture in the air to cause distortion. In most locations, that doesn't work out very often.

 

Best shutter speed is variable depending on exactly what the conditions are. Sometimes a slow speed gives good blur effects but other times you are best with higher speeds to get the exact feeling of breaking surf and water droplets in sharp focus.

[sandysocks]

Editing for waves is like editing for anything else. You might try playing with a polarizer to see into the waves, but this effect often does not look natural.

[rachelfoster]

Thanks, all!