Which one of these two do you prefer?

[ekrimen]

Hi, which of these two photos do you prefer? The light one, where you can see more of the boats, or the darker one where the sky is more pronounced? Not the best pictures, I know, but I think I'm leaning toward the light one.

I have more (better) pictures of San Francisco and the surrounding area at http://www.photobird.com/ekrimen/San_Francisco_Bay_Area/ . I also have a lot of pictures of Europe at http://www.photobird.com/ekrimen/Europe/ . I have photos from other places around the US I'll be uploading soon.

http://www.photobird.com/ekrimen/San_Francisco_Bay_Area/Marinasunsetlight.jpg
http://www.photobird.com/ekrimen/San_Francisco_Bay_Area/Marinasunsetdark.jpg

[Warman]

Nice shot. I think that i would go towards the darker one because it gives you more sky detail which is realy the capturing side of the shot. Boats are just boats with nothing remarkable about them in your shot. They serve their purpose as a background but the sky is the main thing realy.
Anyway, impressive composition. Like i heard someone say arround here, i would be proud if it was mine.

[Leighow]

This is a lovely image ... and I LOVE boats and sailing.

COMMENTS
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The color balance seems to me to be a tad blue. I like the 1st image best -- primarily because it includes a better view of the shoreline boats. Such detail is important asit adds definition, a better sense of location, and depth to the image.

ANOTHER OPTION
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I'd like to keep the best of both lightness and darkness while deepening the mood of overall image and saturating its colors more. The end effect may not be exactly "what you saw " -- unless you stayed a half hour later with a tripod.

Adjusting the sky is easy with this image because we can select (and feather) along the harbour's breakwater. Consequently small changes in contrast and darkness should only be noticable at the entrance to the harbour where they may be seen as wind lines. Notice how the left hand wharf light glows red.

Note too that I cut out the boathouse to simplify the right hand side of the image. Unfortunately I dropped the right wharf light which negatively impacts the symmetery.

So see what you think :lol:

http://members.rogers.com/hleigh/MARINA.jpg