Some of you may have seen my post over in the Landscape gallery a few months back of a shot from Rodeo Beach. This is another version of the shot, taken shortly before sunset. The colors in the sky are not quite as vivid, but I liked the warm glow from the suns rays in the sand. This is a single exposure using a Singh-Ray 3 stop reverse GND filter, so no blending done here.
A few fixes I have already made (though are not represented in this jpeg) thanks to suggestions from my Flickr friends: I have removed the small amount of flare on the sea stacks. I also removed the color cast on the stacks themselves. Lastly I did a bit of selective color adjustments where the sun was setting, to remove some of the greenish tint that was apparent there for some reason.
I did manage to bring out a small amount of detail in the sea stacks themselves and I know that was the complaint of some folks. However, this particular location is very difficult to capture details in the stacks. The rock is extremely dark and with the sun setting behind it is very difficult, so I did the best I could.
I would love any additional feedback from you guys, to see if you see anything outside of what I mention above. I am hoping to print this one up at some point. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
From a compositional standpoint, this is compelling enough for me; its a beautiful scene. I suppose trying to bring out the details in the shadow areas of the rock is somewhat futile, if it goes to print; you'll see a muddiness in there that may be undesirable in my opinion. I've been printing images for years at labs and on my own unit, and that would be very hard to yield any data from that right-hand stack. The left stack appears to have some detail that may work out.
I'm going to violate forum rules and tell you you ought to visit me and I can print this up for you. I have a big Epson unit that doesn't get much use. Just one forum member trying to help another.
Where is Rodeo Beach? Oregon?
Posted by Doug Koepsel on May 20, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Koveh,
I like the reflected colors in the sand, along with the clouds. You might consider cloning the bright yellw line and spots in the center sand near the waterline, and maybe paint the blown areas of the sky that appear white.
Rodeo Beach? Is that George Strait's "Ocean Front Property" in the the Kofa Mountains of AZ?
Excellent composition with tricky lighting. The only spot that doesn't look right to me is the yellowish-green area around the sun, which looks very unnatural.
Chris - I will shoot you an email soon. I have a similar arrangement with a fellow photography friend on prints, but would like to chat with you as well.
Doug - I did fix the blown out areas to bring those back acceptable limits. I also did some selective color cloning to fix this further. Thanks for the feedback!
Scott - I also fixed the color cast issue you spoke of as Art pointed that out to me. I am not sure what caused that strange color, since this was a single exposure, but whatever the reason the fix was rather easy. It now appears more orange/yellow color than the green cast it has here.
It's a fantastic shot that doesn't need detail in the stacks. Pixel peepers are too fanatical about detail in every shadow. The bold blacks frame all of the gorgeosness without distracting from where the detail needs to be... and is.
This is simply superb from top to bottom and left to right, Koveh.
Some good eyes here picked out some minor nits that I wouldn't have noticed (I'm glad you posted in this forum for some real feedback ).
The small area of blown out sun looks completely natural to me, and the silhouettes of the stacks look great. I'm in complete agreement with Dave on that point. The detail present in the foreground rocks is plenty enough, IMO.
Excellent work, YJP (young Jedi photographer)!
Just to clarify. I think the color captured here at sunset is natural and not a fault of the light saber or jedi. There are cases of "green" suns. However I still think it's best to color "correct" it for psychological purposes.
The Force is strong with this one! from Mos Eisley.
This is fantastic, Koveh. Really gets me excited about our upcoming trip to the Oregon coast. I like the subtle colors and the cool patterns in the FG sand.
Posted by Russ Shugart on May 21, 2011 at 12:20 AM
Print it! I don't think you need any (or any more) detail in the stacks. The shapes are nice and the focus is the great sky and water reflections. Congrats!
This really is a beauty, Koveh! I just the love the reflections in the sand, but there is a yellow streak, right about dead center, that pulls my eye a bit. Nice work.
Absolutely spectacular sir! You've done it again! My only suggestion is the same one which Scott Fricke mentioned but this is killer stuff! I'm in awe!
Hi Koveh - you did a great job of capturing a technically difficult scene. I like the composition a lot. The small hints of light on the sand and rocks really add depth to this image. I agree with the comments about the unnatural greenish color in the sky and some of the brighter reflections, but otherwise think this is a really interesting photo that you executed well from a creative and technical standpoint. In terms of the detail in the sea stacks... I would like to see a bit more, but do not find it to be a big deal. An easy solution next time would be to take a lighter exposure and blend it in after the fact at a low opacity. I have been trying to remind myself to be consistent about this approach for my upcoming Oregon trip since I ran into the same challenge with one of my favorite images from my last Oregon trip.
Koveh,
Simply beautiful. Great composition and foreground leading you out sea! I think the sea-stack silhouettes look very natural with the sunset behind. Very nice. Print it big and hang it on the wall.
Discussion
22 repliesA few fixes I have already made (though are not represented in this jpeg) thanks to suggestions from my Flickr friends: I have removed the small amount of flare on the sea stacks. I also removed the color cast on the stacks themselves. Lastly I did a bit of selective color adjustments where the sun was setting, to remove some of the greenish tint that was apparent there for some reason.
I did manage to bring out a small amount of detail in the sea stacks themselves and I know that was the complaint of some folks. However, this particular location is very difficult to capture details in the stacks. The rock is extremely dark and with the sun setting behind it is very difficult, so I did the best I could.
I would love any additional feedback from you guys, to see if you see anything outside of what I mention above. I am hoping to print this one up at some point. Thanks in advance for your feedback.
From a compositional standpoint, this is compelling enough for me; its a beautiful scene. I suppose trying to bring out the details in the shadow areas of the rock is somewhat futile, if it goes to print; you'll see a muddiness in there that may be undesirable in my opinion. I've been printing images for years at labs and on my own unit, and that would be very hard to yield any data from that right-hand stack. The left stack appears to have some detail that may work out.
I'm going to violate forum rules and tell you you ought to visit me and I can print this up for you. I have a big Epson unit that doesn't get much use. Just one forum member trying to help another.
Where is Rodeo Beach? Oregon?
I like the reflected colors in the sand, along with the clouds. You might consider cloning the bright yellw line and spots in the center sand near the waterline, and maybe paint the blown areas of the sky that appear white.
Rodeo Beach? Is that George Strait's "Ocean Front Property" in the the Kofa Mountains of AZ?
Chris - I will shoot you an email soon. I have a similar arrangement with a fellow photography friend on prints, but would like to chat with you as well.
Doug - I did fix the blown out areas to bring those back acceptable limits. I also did some selective color cloning to fix this further. Thanks for the feedback!
Scott - I also fixed the color cast issue you spoke of as Art pointed that out to me. I am not sure what caused that strange color, since this was a single exposure, but whatever the reason the fix was rather easy. It now appears more orange/yellow color than the green cast it has here.
Some good eyes here picked out some minor nits that I wouldn't have noticed (I'm glad you posted in this forum for some real feedback
The small area of blown out sun looks completely natural to me, and the silhouettes of the stacks look great. I'm in complete agreement with Dave on that point. The detail present in the foreground rocks is plenty enough, IMO.
Excellent work, YJP (young Jedi photographer)!
The Force is strong with this one!
Russ
www.AlpineGalleria.com
Simply beautiful. Great composition and foreground leading you out sea! I think the sea-stack silhouettes look very natural with the sunset behind. Very nice. Print it big and hang it on the wall.