[ilsiu]

June 26, 2011 at 2:12 am

I like this very much. The timing is excellent – right before that big wave is about to pound the rock. This clearly shows what a powerful force water is, and one almost feels sorry for the rock, getting punished like this for thousands of years.

The problem is the dynamic range; can you apply more fill light in Lightroom/photoshop to lift the shadow side of the rock? It kinda just disappears into a black hole.

[ilsiu]

January 31, 2011 at 9:22 pm

Paul – Lots of good advice. For #1, I actually used a 2-stop GND; I tried a 3-stop but it turned the sky darker than the reflection. I think what would’ve help is having a 2-stop over the sky and a 1-stop over the bright part of the reflection. Probably the best solution would’ve been to wait for a cloud to pass in front of the sun to tame the contrast, but I was impatient :). For #2, a polarizer is indeed on my shopping list, but I’m not sure it would help in this instance because the sun is almost directly behind me; my understanding is that polarizers aren’t very effective when shooting directly into or opposite of the sun. For #3, I agree!

Liam – The third is a crop; I think it’s a good candidate for a stitched panorama. As for the branch in the first, I’ll bring my pruning shears next time :D. Maybe I could try cloning it out.

Once again, thanks for taking a look and for the comments.

[ilsiu]

January 19, 2011 at 4:30 am

Great image with very dramatic lighting. At first I read the image title as ‘castaway’ and thought that was a very appropriate name. Then I realized it was just your userid :D.

[ilsiu]

January 7, 2011 at 1:39 pm

I like this very much. The colors look very natural and have just the right amount of saturation. The color and texture of the rock complements the golden beach and receding wave lines very well. And the best thing about this photo is it makes me want to go there and see this place for myself.

One very minor suggestion, and this is just my personal preference, but I don’t think the top half of the sky is contributing much to the image; maybe crop to a panorama.

[ilsiu]

December 11, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Great concept and execution!

I love how the layers lead the viewer from pebbles to foamy wave to sea and finally to clouds (also true for the reverse order). This deserves a very large print.

[ilsiu]

November 29, 2010 at 9:50 pm

Very cool, I see the face!

[ilsiu]

November 27, 2010 at 5:00 pm

Very nice. It look like you used a 10 stop ND? I like how it smooths the water and retains great color in the reflection.

Just need to crop out that piece of grass sticking up in the bottom right :)

[ilsiu]

November 21, 2010 at 10:14 pm

The second shot shows the problem with stitched panoramas and moving subjects – the surf line shows several discontinuities. For that reason, I think the first shot is better.

[ilsiu]

November 10, 2010 at 8:02 pm

Wonderful light, you really nailed the exposure.

I like the composition alot, the foreground leads nicely into the lighthouse. But at the same time, for lighthouse shots I prefer for the sea/shoreline to figure more prominently in the image.

Once again, very well done.