San Diego private dock

toybreaker71

I lurk through these forums a lot and am amazed at all the great shots. Some day I will be there and the first step is to ask what I am doing wrong
So some rare black jelly fish are washing up on shore here and while snapping pics of them I had this opportunity.
Please C&C

toybreaker71

Version 2

karlabbott

The first question I asked on this is one that I fall guilty of not answering myself from time to time -- What is the subject of this image? Is it the dock? Is it the boats? Neither one strikes me as the definitive subject.

Also, for having that much sky and no subject identified, the sky is quite bland.

You have definitely identified that the dock has the qualities of excellent leading lines. That said, the dock leads you to the middle of the boats which are mostly blocked by the dock. That just confuses my eyes because then I don't know what to look at.

I'd also be willing to bet that you didn't take this in the first hour of light in the morning or the last hour of light in the evening when you would have had excellent light and the chance for the sky to be more interesting. (Open Shade works well too, but then you can't usually include the sky.)

That's my .02 -- take it with a grain of salt for what it's worth. Feel free to ask more questions. A different time, standing within 3 feet or so of where you were with a different angle, and this shot could be really great. I think you have a lot of potential with the elements that you used in the composition.