Perce Rock

Ken, You do have a knack for saturated colours. The swell at bottom right gives a sence of motion to the water. Contrasts the rock which we know isn't moving & prevents this scene from being too static. Best, LM

This is my version of this very over-photographed anomalous rock

formation. The one thing that bothers me here is the white in the

lower part of the sky, which I think is the result of the polarizer.

Is it? I can't say how I'd like it to be. I just can't picture what

it is supposed to look like. Thanks for your input.

This is a very striking picture, made even more striking by the sharpening and saturation. Unfortunately, both sharpening and saturation left artifacts that should have been eliminated. The black and white stripes on the horizon, caused by aggressive unsharp mask can be removed by just a few minutes work with marquee, wand and clone tools; and the lord-it's-too-bright blue on the beach rocks can be quickly removed by making a saturation adjustment layer, setting it to blue and less saturation, then using the paint brush to paint in desaturation. The attached alteration took less than five minutes. If I was doing it for real, I would have spent a lot more time on it - maybe fifteen.

That's simply beautiful. How did you get the colors to look so good?

I really like this Kenneth. To be honest, i would have found nothing wrong with it if Michael hadnt said soemthing. Even those things seem very minor. Personally, I like the transition from blue to white onthe horizon. Was the pring this saturated or did you substantially incresae it? Overall, this is fantastic.

 

Tony

I usely like the pictures taken from a low angle. But in this shot I really feel like by doing so you are giving way too much emphasis on the foreground (over half the pic). Moreover, there seems to be gorgeous reflections on the water closer to the rock. I think by stepping forwards a few feet, you could have captured that, and thus have had a more upwards shot and make justice to this glorious sky.

Fantastic colours.

 

I have been looking at this image quite a few times over the last few days. After a few more re-visits, I think I know what I like and what I have problem with this shot.

 

I like the color and lighting of this shot, warm and cold color mix, very dramatic. I don't think the white color above the horizon hurts this image. If anything,I think it adds to this image so that the sky would not be too monotone.

 

I cannot say I am crazy about the composition of this shot. I find that the rock is too big and 'heavy', and way too 'square' in its placement. Personally, I find the foreground is the most pleasing part of this image, although the rock adds drama. Using a wide angle lens to give more emphasis on the foreground and less on the far away rock would probably work better for me. Nevertheless, very nice shot indeed.

At first my eye is drawn to the foreground because of the deep color, then upward to the rock formation and how the sun has "warmed" it. The colors are what give this shot impact. Keeping the composition simple and straight forward works when the color is where the drama is. I like the similar angle of the rock, the waves and the upper shoreline; top left to bottom right. I think Michaels adjustments do improve the image a bit, but personally, I would love to have taken a shot like this. I need to invest in some of this velvia film, it seems to really make a difference in the colors here.

Question:what does unsharpmask do for the image here Michael? Kenneth?

Nice shot. Thought about using the zone technique for better exposure? Two shots with two exposures combined would have made this an outstanding picture. As is, it's only average. Sigh, so close yet so far.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

 

Michael: I agree that this shot is over-sharpened, as with many of my shots. Thanks for your fix. It does look a lot better and I'll watch out for this from now on.

 

Since photo.net shrinks your images for you and they lose some sharpness in the process, I tend to deliberately over-sharpen a bit. This doesn't work in any predictable way and I've ruined many shots. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

Regina: What USM did to this image is that it increased the contrast along the edges so much that everything takes on a bit of a halo - with a bright ridge at the edges. And little specks become really visible. This is, of course, not what I intended to do while sharpening. From now on, I'll be sure to look for these artefacts and reduce them before uploading pictures.

Kenneth: The white horizon is merely accentuated by the polarizer. It can only do so much and as the angle changes, so does the effect. The haze also visibly increases as you are looking through more of it at this angle . I think it's a natural thing and it would look odd if altered or eliminated

Sour grapes make sour wines do they not? I've been rewarded with such definitive praise myself though from a different source.

I would suggest a harder ND Graduated filter to bring the light backgroud and dark foreground into shape. A great shot!

This is really nice . . . thanks for sharing.

I think that the framing of the rock is in great contrast and balance with the sky and the water. I can see that the exposure was carefully done, and perhaps a graduated filter would have helped, but there still leaves the problem of the triple-bounced blue cast (sky to water, water to sky, and both to camera), which was well handled all things considered. The magenta cast seen in he water reflection seems to be more of a bit of IR wavelength echo at work. This is a very challenging shot, and I think that all things considered this was nicely executed.

Very nice!