Lighthouse near San Fransisco...

[drevilsmom]

Took these in 2006, and happened to find them while looking through my files. I'd love to enter them in a local photography contest. Are they OK, and is composition fine?

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/drevilsmom/lighthouse_filtered.jpg


http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/drevilsmom/lighthouse1_filtered.jpg

[Robert_Lay]

The upper shot is too centered and too isolated from its environment (out of context). The second picture has much better composition.

Unfortunately the sun is in front of you and so you have a silhouette. Either you are on the wrong side of the subject or at the wrong time of day.

[drevilsmom]

Unfortunately, it was the time of day, and we weren't able to get back for a better shot. I have a picture that dates back to 2000 and it is MUCH better concerning the position of the sun, but the pics have to be 3 years old or less.

Maybe this shot will be better?

http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s254/drevilsmom/light_filtered.jpg

[Flo]

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=555066

I think if you went out and played with your barn you would get fabulous results? i remembered you had posted these shots.

[drevilsmom]

LOL!! I get the hint, Flo. It's hard being a few thousand miles away.... I appreciate your thoughts, which is why I put these here in the first place.

[Flo]

Elizabeth.lol.I like barns.

[aram535]

2nd post of the light house is better, but I would crop out the sandy area. Its not adding anything to do the picture. You still have the light/time of day issue but otherwise its a good shot.

[LeuceDeuce]

Not sure what the rules are concerning post processing, but you can fix the white balance and lighting issues to a degree.

I went even further isolating the subject in the first image by cloning out the non-lighthouse structures.
_

[drevilsmom]

Wow!! Now that is nice. I wish I could clone stuff out. With the program I have, my cloning looks pretty bad.

[heycow]

BTW Elizabeth, if you're curious I'm pretty sure these are of Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It's a HIGHLY photographed lighthouse at both day and night, so getting a unique image is very very difficult. (See here: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=pigeon%20point&w=all)

If the "local" contest is local to you, then you should be fine. :) If it's local to the Bay Area, you should still enter, but probably won't do as well.

Have you thought of converting them to Sepia, B&W or cross-processing them? Might be a nice touch to them and would help "fix" the plain blue sky.

[drevilsmom]

Yes, it is Pigeon Point. I have family that lives near Palo Alto. I am entering a county fair here in Missouri. May try to play with them a little bit more, then. After looking at those images, I've truly been humbled! :D:rolleyes: