single photos Approaching Storm

This is one of my favourite images, but others have not been

particularly impressed. What is lacking?

What's missing? In a word, visual contrast. This would have been an excellent place to use a graduated filter to make either the sky or the water a somewhat different color. The long exposure is what lets you get everything in the shot but the motion-blurred water makes it hard to figure out what exactly it is, what is going on, and so forth. I think it's attractive and has a lot of potential but the lack of visual contrast dooms this one to the "Almost Made It" folder.

I think this is an image that needs to be seen quite large to appreciate it; so the version that you have uploaded is possibly too small, even when viewed at "Large" size.

 

I like the moodiness of the image: the menace in the clouds and the dream-like quality of the sea created by the long exposure.

 

Except for the line of bright sky at the horizon (which makes the image) and two dark rocks, there is almost no tonal or color variation or detail on which the eye can linger. While this contributes to the mood, it is perhaps makes the image seem too murky.

 

As Amy says, if you increased the contrast and sharpened the image it would be more accessible, although this might detract from the mood you are trying to create. I took the liberty of doing this on what you uploaded and simulated the effected of a graduated ND filter, and have attached it. To my eye, it is a little better and retains the mood I think you were trying to achieve.

I think it just needs something more domineering in the foreground. Perhaps something to lead me to the light. It could be a hint of light refracting from the water, a slight wave or you could hit the rock with a diffused blast from your flash.