Lastlight overlooking marina.

[ovie]

Hey guys,

This is my first post here I hope it ticks all the boxes.

I'm curious to see how you guys feel about the busy bottom part of the photo next to the nothingness of the sky. Do you think its balanced? I love getting out and trying to capture the last bit of light, but before I get too carried away I thought I should get some feedback on my composition.

Well thanks in advanced.

Ben



EXIF:
Canon 7D - Tokina 11-16mm
F10
ISO 160
12mm
30sec
Flash did not fire

[Krusty79]

Welcome to DPS. You have a nice gradient in the sky, but there is nothing overly compelling about it. However, your foreground has a lot of interesting details. So, I find myself wanting to see more foreground and less sky.

[milosh]

Hello and welcome,

the lower part of your photo is busy, but again, I think of it as the only credible subject in the photo. That said, although the colour of the sky and the gradient in it is beautiful, I find too much negative space in the sky. Negative space can act as an attention magnet if it's not balanced properly, and it can draw attention away from your main subject. Since you used a wide angle lens, the only way not to include too much of sky or foreground (which lacks detail and interest in your photo) is to crop and make it a panorama style shot. That way you would keep the interesting sky gradient and the wide field of view at the same time. Also, your horizon (water line) is leaning to left, making it look unnatural. You should rotate it and watch out for it next time!

[ovie]

Thank you both very much for the feedback! I have ended up cropping some of the sky out and I'm very happy with the results.

Ben

[MeAgain]

I have no advice. I just love the shot.

[ovie]

Thanks MeAgain,

I thought I would upload the new image now that I have straightened it and cropped it down to a panoramic style shot.

Last light over marina

[Doug Sundseth]

I like your new version quite a bit. Nice job.

[Phillydog1958]

The revision looks great.

[mwanafunzi]

The second edit is much better.

I will add that when you do out next time, try and get a bit more detail from the greenery.

[EOBeav]

Another thought: As landscape photogs, we want to shoot wide and take in as much as possible. While that's useful in many instances, here I think that's working against you. I see you're at 12mm. What do you have in your arsenal of lenses that can zoom in on that marina? To me, that's a fairly compelling subject, especially under these kinds of lights. I think that it would be possible to make that your subject and still get enough of the awesomeness in that sky.

I'm not saying your approach is good or bad, I'm just throwing out a different idea. Thanks for posting.