Lighthouse

[jmdowns2]

I'm still new to photography and would like some feedback on this shot. Specially composition and on what I could do to improve it. I think the branch on the upper right is distracting but would like to get other feedback.



Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/400)
Aperture f/5.0
Focal Length 50 mm
ISO Speed 100

[Reed]

You can take this with a grain of salt as I am new also but to me the most distracting part is the lower third. I think a crop just above the tree trunks would work better.

Maybe like this:

[Sterling]

Have you over-sharpened this shot? Everything seems to have a white outline.

[jmdowns2]

The white outline is actually an artifact of my poor post processing skills. In the original image the sky was washed out so I tried to use a layer mask to darken just the sky. I think the problem was that my select was a pixel or two too small, so a little bit of the old washed out sky is still visible in some places.

Thanks for the input.

[carlepstein]

I agree with you on the branch not needing to be there. It does show good depth of field but clutters the shot. Sometimes the best angles are not available but it may have been nice to see the shot from further to the right so you could see more of the white of the light house above and below the tree line. You already stated the post processing issues ie the sky is not really that color blue. I do that sometimes too but am learning to make smaller corrections in post processing with a more subtle result. Shadows look great and it is a nice clear shot.

Carl