The Journey

[tvoelcker]

Looking back at this picture, I suppose a tighter crop to the right would help to improve the symmetry of the bow of the canoe.
Wouldn't have hurt to wash the top of the canoe off either since it is a bit dirty. In fact, I guess I could have wetted the black top rail down and perhaps it would have given it a little interest with the light shining off the water rather than the plain flat black as seen.
The shadows on the canoe show that I was really struggling since the time off day wasn't ideal. Do you find the shadow distracting ?
A little fall color in the trees would have added some interest to the landscape but I was a few weeks early.
I do like the reflections and how the slight bend of the path of the river gives a sense of mystery as to what lies ahead.
How would you improve the composition of this capture?

Camera: Canon PowerShot A590 IS
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/640)
Aperture: f/2.6
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Auto, Did not fire

[windrider86]

The time of day really played a huge factor in this. The harsh sunlight was definatley not your friend. Altho I can sure see what you were going for, on this particular shot it just doesnt seem to work.
If you can, go back in early morning or evening when the lighting isnt so harsh. Play with different angles of the boat. Try seing what it would look like at a lower angle

[barabe]

Hello Tom,

I do agree that the time of day does not help here. Windrider was saying to get lower but how low can you get when sitting in a canoe without being in the water? I like the composition. I would try a bit of a boost in saturation and contrast to see the results. Knowing you as a big fan of BW, you must have already ventured into this avenue. I would be interested to see wat the outcome would be.

[windrider86]

What I meant was to kneel further down into the boat. This appears to have been taken while sitting up. You dont have to get intot he water to be lower.lol

[barabe]

Originally Posted by windrider86

What I meant was to kneel further down into the boat. This appears to have been taken while sitting up. You dont have to get intot he water to be lower.lol

If he did that, we would see only the inside of the canoe and not the scenery. I don't think that was the point of the whole shot LOL.

[windrider86]

Not so at all! I dont mean lay inside the canoe, just a little bit lower

[tvoelcker]

I'm always looking for unique vantage points and being low is one of favorites on landscapes.
In fact there are several shots where I had the camera inches above the water and snapped the pictures with my thumb. Kind of a trail and error thing.
In this case the vantage point shows what someone would see if they were sitting in the canoe.
This was actually what I was going for, I wanted the viewer to feel as if it was them sitting in the canoe looking out towards the river.
Have to admit that although I did several b&w conversions from the set of pictures, I don't think I tried a b&w conversion or sepia effect.
Might just have to give that a shot.
Thanks for the comments.

[Aegea]

I think I'd try cropping the bottom, so the shoreline is 1/3 the way down - that would leave less of the bow of the canoe, but it would still make the visual point (oops, no pun intended).