Willipa Bars

I left this dark for the mood. It was what i was looking for when i saw the picture. The waves breaking over the sand bars and the orange dark sky i thought set the mood, so kept it under exposed. I gave my boy the canon 20 d on auto mode and this dummy forgot to take it off auto mode when i took the shot, so it was shot in jpeg high on automatic. canon 20d, 70-200 2.8, at 200mm, iso '250' 1/500 sec, f/6.30 Comments and critiques appreciated!

I love the mood captured and the wonderful sky Cliff. I find my eyes straining to make out the breakers and without ruining the mood I think it could be improved by highlighting to wave tops a tad more.

Cliff, bummer on forgetting to change the camera settings back. I've done that many times too. I like the mode as well. I agree with Craig on trying to bring out just a touch more detail in the surf. The colors are great.

Cliff,
Ive always thought that it's tought to get a good image with just water and sky. This is an exception after a little more processing.

Agree with all. Great shot waiting to become magnificent!

Well, heres my try at dodging and burning to bring out the highlights in those areas. I just did minor work in the sky, and obviously the most around the waves crashing around the sand bars to try and bring out more substance. I'm not that knowledgeable with dealing with layers in ps. I was wondering if i should have selected certain areas such as the waves and contrasted them more? :) Worse or better or to obvious or? thanks, Cliff :)

I really like the crop; my favorite part of the photo is the swells at the horizon and it focuses on them nicely. Maybe try the Shadow/Highlight adjustment to work on the water?

I like the repost. It's unfortunate that you're stuck with an 8 bit, jpg instead of a raw file. With the raw, you could pull out so much more. Still, the repost is about the best you could do, and it's pretty darn good.