Christian and Alexa

[rick barclay]

Me and the wife celebrated our 27th anniversary tonight with dinner in
Pt. Pleasant--her treat. This time. Next dinner's my gift to her.

Anyway, I managed to catch this shot before mealtime. Hope you like it.

http://flashdaddee.com/chris_alexa.jpg

[Radtech1]

Rick,

As I am sure that you may have guessed by the lack of responses, this might not be the best shot you've ever posted.

The two things - three rather - that kind of causes shot to not do it for me is the subject, the color quality, and a little boat like thing in the background on the left.

As to subject - it's the back of a ship. Not much exciting going on there. I guess the problem is is that it is not *doing* anything. And in contrast to us still life shot - which is not supposed to be doing anything - ships do do things. Maybe if a a bunch of guys were hanging off the edge trying to grab a big netful of fish or something like that.

Colors - on my monitor this is a bunch of pretty flat blues. No real contrast, nothing that stands out purely a color basis.

Second boat - my eyes are drawn to this, and away from the subject, perhaps because the subject is not to compelling, but it does seem to be a distraction.

Sorry man - you've done better.

Rad

[rick barclay]

Sorry. dooder. I posted it for the colors, mainly. Try again later.

[JCK]

I'm sure Radtech1, with so many things in mind, forgot to mention the spilling ocean...

[Leighow]

RICK

I think that the critique is reasonable. I guess -- when it comes time to push the shutter button-- you take what you can get.

For a moment I did for a moment feel a sort of morning light in the sky .. perhaps a tinge of yellow -- and I liked that. Looked a bit like a shrimper to me (not that I know zip about big boats) and reminded me of the shrimp boats that wortk the shoreline off Hatteras. Their wake is frothy , the seas a bit more disturbed, their nets are out the back, and the sea gulls are squawking backside the boat.

Good shot -- super shots just around the next bay.

You might stamp out the cruiser, crank up the reds and then gaussian blurr the red channel. Also, I am not sure if my web browser is looking at your "color mode" = Adobe (1998).

[rick barclay]

Thanks for the comments. I certainly do take note of everything
people say about my images, and I'll try to keep the extraneous pleasure
craft out of future postings. The yellow tinge is caused by the late
afternoon sun, Leigh. The bilge I didn't thing anyone would mind, and if
I could get an explanation at to what Radtech1 doesn't like about the
color quality, I think this post might have some positive effects (hopefully).
I shot about 60 pics under these conditions and applied auto levels afterwards, and I thought the results were better than the RAW captures,
which render the ocean in that usual drab sea green you get. One other
reason I posted this particular shot was simply that it was taken with a
100-400mm with a 2x attached (actual focal length 270mm), and I thought it
came out pretty good with the help of my monopod. I have other close ups of the guys working on this vessel that I'd like to post, but I'm still debating it. Perhaps I'll go back with my 17-lb. tripod and give it another go.

[Leighow]

RICK

I hear you.

Critiquing ain't easy either.
To offer an honest critique on posts that provides no background information seems reasonable. Such a post is like a contest entry; "... Don't tell me anything and I will judge the merits of each submission in the collection .. ". SO too, if a competitor had to stand on his/her head to take a shot, that (presumably) should come through in the photo.

That is the kind of critique that you have received here.
If there was magic in the moment it may have been muted when it arrived online. You see, the ship is great, but it fills the entire frame. We have little other visual information to excite our eye. In the abstract sense, we might have reacted similarly to a racing car at rest on a speedway, or a horse in a farmer's field.

Now that you have desscribed the challenge you faced does not change the above reality. However, as a G2 owner, I am envious as I would have had to radio the captian motor closer to shore! You have demonstrated the wonders of a great lens-tripod option and many of us are guilty of leaving the tripod at home.

So what's the conclusion? It seems to me that a better scene might have set the boat set on a golden mean where magical light illuminates a broader nautical setting.

Thank you for the post. I do love boats and the sea.


PS:
While on a trip to Quebec's Saguenay region I took pics of 3 waterfalls. One was of Montmorency Falls. My Dad often talked about these Falls. I have not posted them , even though I shot until the histogram said Uncle !OK. I have not posted these because they just feell like "postcards" or "Trip photos" and would not set your photographic taste buds "on fire".

Fire away!

[Sailor Don]

Rick,

I like the photo, but the small boat on the left is distracting from the main subject.

From a technical point of view, the horizon could be brought back to level. IMHO seascapes should have a level horizon.

I would have changed the title to "Heading out to Sea". But that's just Sailor Don talk. :)

[rick barclay]

Lol. Yeah, that might have worked, Don, "Heading Out to Sea."
Wish I had thought of it. I see I was pretty careless with this picture. You hear a lot of comments around here about the 100-400 and the 2x converter, but you don't see too many photos by them, and in fact, this one isn't fully extended, either. It is really a challenge getting a sharp properly focused, properly exposed picture using this combination. You guys are a big help in getting me where I want to go with these images. I do appreciate it, and
I'll try to put forth a better effort in the future as I'm sure you guys will
with your postings. Happy shooting.

[Andy_T]

Rick ...

... now that suggestion might have been beaten to death already, but ...

I think that this picture (with all its shortcomings in the 'action department' as mentioned by Radtech) might benefit from applying the rule of thirds ... more sea on the right, less on the left.

Best regards,
Andy