Pt Lonsdale Pier, Vic, Australia

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to give me some feedback on this image.

This is sunrise at Pt Lonsdale Pier in Victoria, Australia.

Hi Dana,

Thanks for sharing. So there are some interesting things going on here. First I really like the color gradation from blue to yellow to pink, The starry highlights on the lamp posts are nice. I like the symmetry both vertically and horizontally. Your depth of field is very nice from fore to background. It's either evening or morning, so you've used a slightly longer exposure, good decision. How can you improve it? Overall the colors seem a bit muted, especially for the pier, maybe either darken or bring up the contrast on the lower half (but don't overblow the sky). The left side (this may be a limitation of the jpeg) the yellow is looking a bit too harsh, i think there's some tonality loss there due to gamut limits. The ocean is a bit "meh" for drama. Maybe next time try a much longer exposure to get kind of a milky look to it. Technically the image is good. However, and this is not meant to be an insult, the subject is a bit cliche. We've all done it, so i'm not casting any stones. I just did a google for Pt. Lonsdale Pier and found several similar vantage points and compositions. Maybe try to find a unique perspective. I think the real subject here is the colorful sky rather than the pier, a pano from the end of the pier may have been better subject wise.

--PatrickD

Hi Dana, I like a lot the colors and the lights of this shot and also the composition of the image is good. Congrats. Massimo

Dana,

Nothing to improve, it is a very nice shot. Congratulations.

@Daniel

Not saying that Dana's image is bad, but stating "Nothing to improve, it is a very nice shot" does her and everyone else a disservice. I would say that, maybe as many as .0000000000001% of all images have "nothing to improve." Your comment has wasted everyone's time and has not added to the discourse.

Patrick - First, thanks for the CC, I really appreciate it!  Composition is usually the weak spot of my shots!  As for the color, this was taken as a RAW file, the 'intense' yellow happened when I processed this.  It was done in LR5, mostly when I removed the highlights, turned down to -78 (I usually go all the way to -100, but that made the yellow way too crazy).  I am not sure how I feel about the yellow, I like the intensity, I dislike the unnaturalness of it, but when I have put this photo out in other forums most of the feedback I get is that they love the 'look' of the color.  

Patrick - I stand corrected, the original is not RAW - I had my infant son strapped to me that cold, winter, morning and I must not have checked my file setting before shooting as the original is a jpeg. 

Everything works perfectly in this shot! Great light and DOF, composition, tone... everything!