critique needed

[mguna]

Hello there,

great forum....came upon this site after a search on canon lenses...wish I was here much much earlier as there a lot of excellent data to absorb....

Attached is a pic that was taken near my home....need critique especially on the composition.

Thanks

[JulianoL]

Mguna,

I like the composition. Next time I suggest playing with the exposure compensation, setting it to -2/3 for example. This way you will get more dramatic colors from the sunset and the people on the beach will turn into silhouettes giving a nice effect IMO. Since it's too late :) you can achive the same result in PS playing with Levels or Curves. I hope this helps.

PS: Welcome to the forum.

[Radtech1]

I would also say welcome, it is good to have you aboard!

Personally, I feel that there is a lot of room for improvement in the composition of this shot. The big problem - the one from which all other problems flow - is that you don't know what your subject is. There is too much in this shot for any one thing to hold my attention. Now, the most natural subject is the kid right in the sun's reflection. The other people in the water do nothing except distract from the natural subject.

The first thing that I would do is crop this down to just the good stuff. The sun, the reflection and the silhouette of the kid. That is the red box.

The second problem is that the horizon is right smack in the middle of the frame. Note the blue arrows. This is the absolute worst place that you could put the horizon. It divides the frame in the most boring manner possible.

Do your self a favor and do a google search for the phrase (a search in quote marks) "rule of thirds". Basically it is the idea that visual media is more interesting when the subjects and/or major lines are at the 1/3rd interval. That is to say, 1/3rd the way up or down or in from the edge. That is the green tic-tac-toe board in the red box.

Notice that the kid is now 1/3rd the way in from the right and the horizon is now 1/3rd down from the top. Also important is which 1/3rd the kid is at. As a general rule, any subject that shows or implies movement is best placed when he is moving into the frame. If I had cropped this so the kid was at the OTHER vertical green line, he would be moving out of the frame - a much less interesting composition.

So I hope that that helps some. As it stands, it is not a bad shot, but it could be made much better by knowing what the subject should be and how to crop down to that subject.

Rad

[gsmx2]

Rad---excellent explination and critique.

Now if that happens to be your family and you want all the people in it, you could crop out some blue sky and some of the sides. Unfortunately the boy will be walking out of the frame, but sometimes things cannot be helped.

gsm x2

[mguna]

Hi RadTech,

Thanks for the in-depth assessment. This is an excellent site with members taking their time out to show/teach others how to be better.

Do agree with your view, it does make the picture better.

regards
GunaM
:)

[Pugdaddy]

Thanks for the lesson, Rad. I appreciate it, also. Care to show the finished product? I'd like to see it.