Boats on Horizon

[Athas_orm]

Okay,

Heres a shot I took last night. I had to take at ISO 400 and even at that at 30 seconds it was under exposed. I've had do quite a bit of PP to get to the point where I was happy with it.

I'd love a critique on this does the composition work? Is it over processed etc. I'd also like to know in general if you photographers think its a decient shot or not?



I always forget the EXIF

Camera: Canon EOS 1000D
Exposure: 30
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 50 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: On, Fired
Exposure Program: Aperture-priority AE
Date and Time (Original): 2010:03:28 00:11:36

Thanks,

Wes

[bearcat]

Hi, I'm pretty new, but i don't know why you would want to use a 400 iso,Your flash fired so the front of the picture is going to get exposed anyway and than the long exposer for the rest should have brought out the rest of the picture and be a little less exposed, also the lights in the background would be overexposed anyways because there so bright.I really like this shot and i'm going to try the same effects in the furture.

[EMansfield]

The rocks at the shore appear very dominating/prominent here and if your main subject are the boats at horizon, it's kind of hard to discern that at first look. The horizon also looks a tiny bit tilted.

Cheers!

Eric Mansfield

[Surprised]

I'm a hapless newbie here so please take my comments with a pinch of salt... but my first thought on seeing this picture was to wonder what the lights actually were. Not living anywhere near the sea I thought at first the right-hand light might be a lighthouse or something... it's a shame there's nothing obviously boat-ish about them to help define what they are.

Maybe that's just me, though...

[Athas_orm]

Originally Posted by bearcat

Hi, I'm pretty new, but i don't know why you would want to use a 400 iso,Your flash fired so the front of the picture is going to get exposed anyway and than the long exposer for the rest should have brought out the rest of the picture and be a little less exposed, also the lights in the background would be overexposed anyways because there so bright.I really like this shot and i'm going to try the same effects in the furture.

Actually It was under exposed at ISO 400. I was amazed how little difference the flash made.(I took several without flash). Basically the flash just captured the wave. If I went for ISO 100 or 200 the sea was just black.

Originally Posted by EMansfield

The rocks at the shore appear very dominating/prominent here and if your main subject are the boats at horizon, it's kind of hard to discern that at first look. The horizon also looks a tiny bit tilted.

Cheers!

Eric Mansfield

Okay thats a great point. I was trying to keep some foreground interest. However yes it is over dominant. I'll try to get something again when I get let off my leash. . I straightened the horizon so I'm surprised its tilted.

Originally Posted by Surprised

I'm a hapless newbie here so please take my comments with a pinch of salt... but my first thought on seeing this picture was to wonder what the lights actually were. Not living anywhere near the sea I thought at first the right-hand light might be a lighthouse or something... it's a shame there's nothing obviously boat-ish about them to help define what they are.

Maybe that's just me, though...

Fair point. I too was disappointed with the way the lights swamped the actual boats. I think the one with the whiter lights looks a little more boat-ish but its difficult. If I had shot at a wider apparture It may have come out better but.. then I would lose focus on the rocks.

Its tricky I don't know how to capture foreground and background in such a shot. It may have just been better to use the telephoto lens and forget about the foreground?

[tan2sie6]

Great one if u ask me....real good with the boats kights...considering ur lightining.

[Federico Presti]

well... looking at your exif I can't help wondering why you had you aperture setting at f/11... maybe you just wanted to get everything in focus... but I think you should have tried using f/8 or f/5.6... then you could have had a lower ISO speed...

[Athas_orm]

Originally Posted by tan2sie6

Great one if u ask me....real good with the boats kights...considering ur lightining.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Federico Presti

well... looking at your exif I can't help wondering why you had you aperture setting at f/11... maybe you just wanted to get everything in focus... but I think you should have tried using f/8 or f/5.6... then you could have had a lower ISO speed...

I was trying to keep everything in focus yes. Not sure if it was worth it now as you can't see the boats anyway.