This Island Life

This image is part of a series of preliminary experiments aimed at

incorporating my penchant for motion study and blur into more

conventional landscape images. As such I would be most appreciative of

any impressions and/or suggestions for improvement.

 

The softness of focus as well as the water texture are the result of a

long exposure. With only a .9 ND filter and a polarizer on hand I

had to stop the lens down considerably, thus leading to a fair amount

of diffraction. Even with a heavy rock attached to the tripod, the

strong wind, no doubt, also added some camera shake, further

increasing the softness. Rather than try to disguise this effect, I

chose to work with it in my PP and try to use the softness to

advantage. My hope was to create a soft pastel image evocative of

early morning out on the bay.

Thanks for any feed back.

Gordon, you may have overdone it a bit. The picture looks flat and lifeless.

Jim;

 

I must admit to having some trepidation myself, which is in large part why I posted the image in the hopes of getting some honest feedback. When I tried to give this more pop I liked it less. Perhaps this one will end up more of a sign post along the road than a salvageable photo. I will try again to kick up the contrast and brightness a bit in light of your comment and see what happens. Thanks for taking the time to share your impressions.

I had the opposite reaction. I thought this looked incredibly delicate. A welcome relief to heavily saturated, over the top photos. I really love the rocks, detailed enough to serve as a foil for the supple water. The pastel color is delightful. Sometimes a whisper is more powerful than a shout. You are forced to lean in if you want to get the message.

Jeff;

 

I was trying to explore this approach as an alternative to those very sharp and over-saturated landscapes that are so prevalent.

 

I do wish this one had a tiny bit more life to it, however as soon as I apply any further of my limited PP knowledge to the image I begin to loose highlight and shadow detail and more importantly I drift away from my original intention. I am satisfied with the concept and will continue to pursue this line of experimentation. Sometimes when working on an image, I hit a point where I feel I have nailed it and nothing else is needed, with this one I keep thinking it needs a little something as regards PP but I am at a loss for what that something is. Part of the fun of photography is revisiting images and taking another run at them some time down the road when hopefully new ideas and more knowledge are to be availed. I think this may be one of those situations.

 

As always Jeff, thanks for sharing your opinion. Your consistent support and encouragement are a big part of what keeps me posting on PN.

Gord, I love this as is. But I have a trick that adds a bit of punch. Add a curves adjustment layer, but don't change the curve at all. Change the layer style to "soft light" and then reduce a bit until everything looks nice. It gives just a tiny bit of added definition without altering the photo too much. On this photo, it wouldn't be an improvement, but merely an alternative.

Jeff;

 

Thanks for the tip I will give it a try. I really do need to explore working with layers much more than I have done to date. Maybe when the snow starts swirling and I am indoors more often.