Sitting on the Dock of the Bay....

[xxpinballxx]

Here is a shot from the bay in S.F. i was eating at this great restaurant that had a outside sitting area. Caught this sailboat going by and took a few shots....
the sky was really boring and as for the shot its pretty boring too. What Im looking for is some ideas on the shot itself and composition. What could I have done to make this drab shot a better one without photoshop.


I have reworked it a couple different ways which you can see at my flickr site.

[phlyersphan]

All of my initial thoughts involved tweaking hues and coloring in Photoshop, but since you asked for non-Photoshop ideas... I'm stuck! The sky didn't give you much to work with. Was there anything at the restaurant that you could have used as interesting foreground framing? That's about all I can think of, since you can really change the wide expanse of the ocean!

[clockdoc]

Depending on the amount of diffused light, a polarizing filter mah have helped darken the water a bit as well as the sky. You have a lot of water in proportion to the single boat. The direction of the boat also helps to move the viewer out of the right side of the frame more quickly. Try flipping it to see if there is a visual difference. You get an A+ for having your camera with you at the restaurant! 8-)

[xxpinballxx]

it goes with me everywhere now that i got the Slingshot 100. its comfortable to carry so why not? Plus it only takes a second to pull it out and shoot away.
I think im gonna try and process it a bit more towards a natural shot.