Reflections of Maui

[NJLadyInCA]

Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 28 mm
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Bias 0 EV


I'd like to know what everyone thinks of the lighting in this shot. Is is too dark? Interestingly, what appears to be a small dark fleck in this size is actually the reflection of a helicopter overhead!

Be kind...this is my first request for critique!
Thank you for your input!

[SwissJon]

Hi Shiela and welcome (Your name was in the Exif data)

You need to post Exif data with your posting.. I've done it for you, but please make sure you do that in future.


Camera Canon EOS 7D
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/13.0
Focal Length 28 mm
ISO Speed 640
Exposure Bias 0 EV

I like the lighting, I think it emphasises what you were hoping it would.

However I've several things that I would change in the composition:

First, I'd have shot in Portrait.. You've got a lot of superfluous things to the left and right, and you've cut off the top of the window, which detracts from the picture. My eye keeps bumping up against the top of the frame.

Second, the two blocks at the front of the picture very much detract from the photo, they're out of focus and they're blocking the view.

If you get the chance to take this photo again, you should move much closer to the water, so that your camera can't see anything except the water, and shoot with the camera held in portrait mode, so that you get the full height of the frame and reflection.. Leave a little bit of black border top and bottom (in the reflection) and you'll have a much more interesting photograph.

[dlambert]

I agree w/ Jon. You might have some luck playing around with various crops, though. Try some different looks without any background framing the water, or maybe just a little background framing the water, etc. You might even be able to use a dodge & burn layer to brighten the background without blowing out the outside stuff. This is a really difficult shot because you're exposing for either the outside or the inside, so one of them isn't going to be quite right.

An HDR photo might help w/ the exposure levels, but if you used three separate exposures, I'd think that the ripples in the pool wouldn't line up quite right when you tried to merge the photos. Maybe doing an HDR from a single photo, or using something like Topaz Adjust (both would be best starting with a RAW capture).

[NJLadyInCA]

Thank you both for your input! I will work on it and next time will be sure to add the EFIX data below the post rather than attaching it!

Sheila