Talacre Lights

i can see the tilt in the tower in this angle (and also your photographic progress). this is a bit murky, everything else you've done is so crisp. perhaps it's the colors.

This sunset was far more spectacular than the one I have just photographed, but I didn't have the experience to take full advantage. And I was shooting in Jpegs mode in those days, so I can't go back and start again (though I will have a look through my archives) I didn't have photoshop when I shot this, and used a free bit of software from google called "Picasa".  Whilst that software has improved now, it still did a job and was a nice gentle introduction into processing. The sand in this image looks positively muddy, and thats a direct result of the effects that I used. Of course I could quite easilly remove these early attempts from my portfolio, but I think it's good to look back and see where you've come from, it kind of puts things in perspective. As for the leaning lighthouse, well some people say it is slowly creeping towards the sea, but theres no real evidence to support this.  I think its moved a long time ago and isn't likeley to move any more. Thank you for your interest Dror, much appreciated.

Take Care

Alf

Another great shot. The textures of the water and sand in the foreground mixed witht he subtle black reflection and golden tones set this one up nicely.

However is it just me or is that lighthouse crooked? I see that because of the dune on the left the horizon appears a little crooked (not that it is distracting for me) but the Lighthouse does appear a little off.

Excellent photograph Alf. I stopped here because this is another favorite of mine made all the more impressive by the fact that it was processed with Picasa...a program I only stopped using 2 months ago.

This is one that seems popular, and I really liked it when I first processed it.  But now it looks a bit surreal. So strange how ones perception changes with the passage of time and the aquisition of a bit of knowledge.

The lighthouse itself is in fact crooked as i leans to one side it's even crooked on the TV advertisement for Dulux Paint. Of course these days I could easilly alter the perspective and make it apppear straight, but I don't think I will, it adds a bit of character to the shot : - )

I have just deleted Picasa, I would still use it now and again to browse files conveniently, however I installed it on my new PC and it copied all the back-up files so I had 5 or 6 copies of every photograph, most of them RAW files so you can imagine how much space it took up. Even with 4 TB  of available memory I didn't relish the idea of trawling through all those copies to find what images I want to view.

Sincere thanks for your well considered thoughts and invaluable feeback.

Cheers Joe.

Alf

I don't think it looks surreal, it is a pleasant image with a great mix of range and contrast. The overall warm tone agrees with the scene too.

I have a good friend that is an excellent portrait photographer (professionally) who once commented to me that a model will never be good at judging images of themselves since they are biased by self image and self expectations. The way that we see ourselves and they way others see us can be radically different.

I think the same thing happens with all of our own images (like landscapes). The longer we look at them the greater our bias becomes. We find faults in areas that we feel need improvement and over time begin to criticize the image. This is especially true as we learn more about photography.This is probably what you are experiencing here when you say the photo looks a bit "surreal".

Now that I am back from my philosophical tangent I would say that I would never have stopped using Picasa (for simple little things) if it didn't do that very thing. I have tried to find a setting to stop it from importing pictures and creating backups but alas cannot and like you said with RAW files it becomes quite cumbersome.

You nailed a very important point relating to our own perception of our work and the self criticism that ensues after time.

I have recalled on a few occasions a little story about a print that my wiffe bought some 6 - 7 years ago, before I had ever thought of picking up a camera.

The B & W print of a boat on a shore with sunlight coming from behind a nearby tree, was perhaps one of the best I'd seen, and it still remains in  pride of place above the mantle shelf in our lounge. I admired it very much. Then I took up photography, and after a about 2 years I noticed a fault with the image, after another year I noticed several faults, and after that I became quite critical of it. So much so, that eventually my wife had enough of me prattling on about it and said "You do realise it's the same photograph that you thought was so beautiful when I brought it home, don't you"!  Suffice to say, that altered my thinking in a lot f ways, but I remain my own worst critic, and I think we all do that for the very reasons you indicated.

Cheers Joe and Thanks Again

Alf

Hi Alf-WOW! A strong, strong image, to me would be a powerful poster, it would stop people in their tracks.The image has a feeling of stillness, even the water appears still .Your exposure of the river is excellent & the odd shaped rock shoreline is well lit with interesting detail. You certainly have interesting types of rocks..Definitely a very pleasing & impressive image . Very Best Regards- Ross

Many Thanks for your interest and kind words.

As you can see this was taken at the very start of my camera wielding days.

I am inclined to think I would process it very differently now, but I still like the shapes in the foreground.

The foreground isn't rock as you might imagine, but it is wet sand that has been left in varying shapes by the receding tide. 

 

Thanks again Ross! 

 

Best Regards 

 

Alf