Sunrise at Tea Lakes

[ryder]

I am absolutely a new person here. I have no background in photography. Last month a friend got me started when I was on vacation in Florida. He took me to the beach for sunrise and talked me through a few things with my Nikon Coolpix L16 point and shoot camera on a tripod. I had some success, so I tried to do sunrise back home in Missouri at a lake I often visit. I took about fifty shots in a twenty minute time frame and got about ten that were worth printing as 8x10s. This is the most dramatic, but others are just as good.

My question is about composition. Are the lines good? Does it have a good focus to catch the eye? What can I do to compose a better picture? The exif info is: f/2.8, exposure time 1/60 sec., ISO-80, Exposure bias 0 step, focal length 6mm 35mm focal length 35.

[windrider86]

For me the composition is off. The tree and the bench are competing with one another. I would think getting the shot from another angle, perhaps behind the bench more so it would seem like it was looking out of the water and at the sunset.

[ryder]

I think this new crop fixes that problem. Better??

[techwuttke]

I would have to agree the crop doesn't seem right. Everything seems to be centered. I cropped out most of the left side and added some fill light. Everything is now centered around the rule of thirds. What do you think?

[ryder]

While it cuts off some of the sky drama, it really brings up the fog rising off of the water. That was probably part of my problem in that I was trying to split my focus on the two subjects and did not do either the fog or the sky justice. Thanks.