Coastal Washington - C&C please

double_entendre

I think I need to start taking my photography and post-processing much more seriously.

Just got back from a week in Washington with my wife and took a lot of photos, very few of which I'm particularly happy with--like this. I want to like it, but I'm not sure. The beach we were at (Rialto) was very stark and beautiful. A very overcast, marine layer day, but I like that.

Any thoughts/comments/criticisms?

Stumblebum

Its fantastic! I want to see more from this trip!

double_entendre

Stumblebum wrote: »

Its fantastic! I want to see more from this trip!

Flattery. Thank you.

My wife thinks the root mass needs to be darker. Maybe play around a bit and see what I can do.

We had an amazing time. After golfing with buddies (144 holes in 5 days), my wife flew up and we spent a few days at a B&B on the Olympic Peninsula and then went to Mount Rainier for a few days. We love it up there.

denisegoldberg

double_entendre wrote: »

My wife thinks the root mass needs to be darker. Maybe play around a bit and see what I can do.

This is very interesting.

I don't think it needs to be darker, but I'd like to see it from further away. This shot feels cramped to me.

--- Denise

black mamba

I'm with your wife about toning down the root mass. It looks unnaturally bright for a fairly sullen day. To my eye, the picture is out of balance to the right .... all the major elements of interest are bunched in that area. An issue of composition. A shift in positional perspective probably could have helped that.

I, too, would like to see more of your shots.

Tom

double_entendre

Tom & Denise, thank you very much for your thoughts. Interesting thought on the composition. I may fiddle with cropping and see what happens as I can't go back easily.

Lots more photos and maybe a few that aren't rubbish. I made the epic mistake of not bringing my tripod and that shows in a lot of the pics. VR can only do so much.

More to come, though. Very much appreciate the kind words and critique.

roaddog52

A really nice capture of the beach at Rialto.

These roots and logs are a bit hot, maybe 1/2 stop, but having hiked this beach many times I know how bleached these logs can be.

Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

Phil

Cygnus Studios

This image doesn't really tell me the story of the coastline. As Denise mentioned, it feels cramped. It isn't obvious what you want to say by this particular shot. Is it that the beach is full of petrified trees, or that is it covered in fog, or that it could be serine or spooky or lonely.

Sure you could punch up the contrast between the shadows and highlights to bring out more details or maybe crop it slightly different, but I'm not sure that any amount of editing will make the story of the image any clearer.

Think about the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words".

When you look at this image, does it tell you the story?

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad image. There is certainly something interesting about it, just makes me wonder more about what could have been.

double_entendre

Cygnus Studios wrote: »

This image doesn't really tell me the story of the coastline. As Denise mentioned, it feels cramped. It isn't obvious what you want to say by this particular shot. Is it that the beach is full of petrified trees, or that is it covered in fog, or that it could be serine or spooky or lonely.

Sure you could punch up the contrast between the shadows and highlights to bring out more details or maybe crop it slightly different, but I'm not sure that any amount of editing will make the story of the image any clearer.

Think about the old saying "A picture is worth a thousand words".

When you look at this image, does it tell you the story?

Don't get me wrong, it is not a bad image. There is certainly something interesting about it, just makes me wonder more about what could have been.

That's an interesting comment and thought.

I think a lot of it is just that the scene there is totally unlike SoCal where I've lived since the 1970's. Bleached trees on the coastline? Hell no. Trees on the coastline at all is almost a hell no. (I should make a trip to San Diego to take pictures of the Torrey Pines at the state park there.) I loved the seeming desolation, the bleached trees laying against the shore and the living trees in the background. That was why I had NX-D convert it to B&W. Kinda drew it out more. But the drama and starkness of the bleached, dead trees on the coastline with live, but battered, trees in the background appealed to me.

Maybe part of the answer is that the story is personal, but a lot of the time it is and that's a cop out anyway, eh? What resonates for one doesn't for others. I can absolutely see where you and Denise are coming from. The object of interest is totally on the right side. If I crop it in close, I get the tree and now it's really cramped. If I back away, I lose the intricacy of the root mass. Interesting question. Wish I had a few versions of this. Is the below version better? Worse? Just different? I'm not sure I like it as much, personally. I definitely didn't want the ocean in the picture.

Too bad I didn't have a full day or few days up there to poke around and take pictures.

roaddog52 wrote: »

A really nice capture of the beach at Rialto.

These roots and logs are a bit hot, maybe 1/2 stop, but having hiked this beach many times I know how bleached these logs can be.

Looking forward to seeing more from your trip.

Phil

Yup, I think you're right. I'd already had NX-D kick it a half stop, so this version is a full stop.

I did love the beaches at Rialto, but that's been my experience all the way up the PNW coast. We've only been as far north as Comox, but we love it up there. In 4-5 years, my wife's company may open an office in the suburbs of Seattle. That'll be really hard to take a pass on, though I've no idea what I'd do for a living up there. (I'm in real estate--my livelihood is tied to geography.) I think maybe next semester I might sign up for a couple courses at the local community college. No doubt I'll learn something. It's been 35 years since I took a photography class.

Thank you again to all for the time, thoughts and critique. I appreciate it.

double_entendre

Feels dark to me. Need to tinker more.

Cygnus Studios

I think that the crop of the 1st image is much more interesting.

Now this new image (for me) is more compelling. Yes it needs some tweaking in the editing, but the composition and subject is just better in my opinion. It feels lonely and relaxing at the same time. I can see the story in this image.