I was reminded of this scene last week when Matty Wolin posted an excellent shot he took from about the same place while we were shooting together in March this year. I headed back to see what I hadn’t processed from that morning and discovered this similar shot. Pity you can’t see the thick ice coating the lighthouse.
On another topic, I had an interesting exchange with Jacques Gudé via Twitter yesterday in which we were both bemoaning the lack of honest critique in Flickr and photoblog comments. As a result, I would be greatly obliged if you could let me know what you really think of this (and other) pictures. If you like it, tell me why you like it. If you don’t, leave a comment saying why. It’s great to have loads of people telling you they like an image but without feedback telling you what works and what doesn’t and, probably more importantly, without negative critique, you end up getting stuck in a rut. Tell me when I post a turkey, kick my pictures around a bit – I promise I won’t hold a grudge!
Edit 7/21/11 It seems people like this picture. I’m delighted (and amazed) that it made it to the top of the 500px ”Popular” page for a whole 6 hours this morning!
Interesting post Dave… I’ve been noticing a similar trend reading the comments on my own blog and others and admittedly, I’m guilty of it as well. We talk about helping each other grow in our work but forget to actually help.
Here goes!
I really like this shot, the framing and composition are spot on. The walkway leads you through the frame and takes your eye directly to the brilliant cityscape in the background. The longer exposure helps create a smoothness in the water and clouds that contrasts the sharp edges in the skyline and lighthouse. The purple hue adds a sense of calm to an otherwise busy backdrop. Leaving a bit of empty space between the skyline and the lighthouse helps add a slight feeling of isolation and abandonment.
Curt Fleenor´s last post ..Over The Edge
Awesome shot Dave and thanks for the link. I definitely agree about flickr comments. Looking back at old photos, the comments are all usually one word that is a synonym of “awesome”, or something like “nice bokeh” or “nice composition”.
As photographers, especially an amateur like myself with little to no formal education in photography, we’re not gonna learn without constructive criticism. Some of the most useful comments I have gotten haven been negative. Things like:
-“Your white balance is too warm/cold”
-“Your horizon is centered in the frame. Including more foreground or sky and following the principle of thirds would make for a more dramatic composition.”
-“The lens distortion is to extreme for a portrait. You should be using a tighter lens and shoot from eye level for a portrait like this.”
-“Your focus is off”
etc etc
Unfortunately, these aren’t the comments that you see on flickr, because the truth of the matter is that people comment on your photos hoping you will comment on theirs, which is more likely if you have something positive to say.
Having said all that, this shot is… awesome (haha). Actually, comparing this with mine, I think my white balance may be off as I love the purple color in the sky.
Nice use of the leading line to take you deeper into the Image. I like the composition and the processing.
James Howe´s last post ..Morning at the Harbor
Wow man, just wow. I love this so much. The colors, tones, etc.
If you are asking for constructive criticism…I only have a technical quibble. The blue inside the upper circle of that “tower” (whatever that is) appears lighter than on the outside…so maybe some minor thing in tonemapping or post.
OR, it could just be that way and my eyes are deceiving me.
Mike
Mike Olbinski´s last post ..Steampunk wedding cake topper
I love the colors in this image Dave. The purples in the sky contrast well with the orange lights lining the water. The line of the curve really draws the viewer into the scene, creating a very visually engaging photograph. There’s not much to criticize here, other than the aforementioned blue area that Mike noticed (I didn’t see it until I read his comment), but that’s just nitpicking and easily fixed. A very impressive image to be sure.
David Baker´s last post ..Trinity Cathedral Tower
So jealous! I wish I had the skills, and the patience, to take this kind of shot; instead, I rush, and never look this good….
Dave, I’ll be honest, and I’m not blowing smoke here. I think you have one of the best eyes for photography I’ve seen. On top of that, your processing skills are top notch as well. Even though that sounds like the common Flickr response, it is my opinion. This image very much fits those comments. Everything is good about this image, from the composition to the tones, to the sharpness. I will promise this, I will share anything I see about your images that I don’t like, if I can find anything. I, too, would ask that others treat my images the same way.
Wow – what a great set of comments! Thanks, folks. I’ll answer various things in no particular order:
Curt – Thanks for your breakdown of the composition. It’s nice to think that I got it right in your eyes at least. It’s also odd to me when I look at a picture and analyse it later since when I’m taking it I tend to think along the lines of “if I stick the tripod here, use this lens and zoom in this amount, the result is pleasing” rather than specifically looking for the elements that lead to a good, classical composition 🙂
Matty – Don’t change your colour balance at all! I loved the way you processed the image. It’s colder than this one but I reckon it fits the actual temperature somewhat better. I didn’t add colour to this one but I did tweak what was there to accentuate the difference between the area of sky on the left and the streetlamp glow on the right, though.
Mike – I hadn’t noticed the blue thing but, now that you mention it, I see that I’ve fallen foul of a pretty standard Photomatix problem whenever you tonemap areas with narrow, high contrast lines (you should see the mess it made of one of my Brooklyn Bridge shots!). I’ll see if I can fix that before I post this image elsewhere. Thanks.
Stewart – There wasn’t a lot of patience involved here since I was freezing and impending hypothermia has a way of lessening your interest in spending the time required to do the job properly. The one thing that I did do in this case (thanks to Matty’s urging) was get up stupidly early to catch the sunrise!
Jim – Thanks again for your support and detailed critique of this image!
Dave, love your composition and color.
atmtx´s last post ..San Jose City Hall, Blue Hour – San Jose, California
that is just awesome – superb colours and light. very very good indeed!
Mark Blundell´s last post ..Sheffield – Filter House
Where did you get this shot? Simply breathtaking, lighting in amazing.
Sorry for the delay in replying – your comment got stuck in the spam filter and I only just found it! This was shot from North Avenue Beach Pier. There’s a geotagged version over on Flickr in case that helps.
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