Beach Photo. Please C&C.

[Tigerkn]

Please C&C. These were taken on Sunday at Laguna Beach, CA.
TIA.
Kevin

0.005 sec (1/200) - f/16.0 - 55mm
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3488/3899864736_ac368b038e_b.jpg

0.006 sec (1/160) - f/16.0 - 17mm
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2667/3899083283_250246130a_o.jpg

[Snydremark]

Exposure and all look pretty good to me, but aesthetically there isn't much to these. They're just sort of "hey, I was here", snapshot type pics.

I would try going back to the location from the second shot, with the rocks and waves, around sunset and shooting when the light is richer and more colorful. It looks like there could be some real promise there for some evening seascape shooting.

[midnight_rider]

I agree with the prior poster. Go back at the beginning or end of the Golden Hours and take a few more. Also you might try some long exposures during this time or moon lit even. I really like the way the waves end up looking like fog in those shots and this is a prime spot for just that type of shot.

[Tigerkn]

Thanks Snydremark and Midnight Rider

I wish I could stay till sunset, I was there with the family and we have to take off early. I also wish there were clouds in the sky but there was none. There was not much to do with the bright sun up high. Is there anything I can do to improve this type of shooting under that bright lighting condition?

[midnight_rider]

Thanks Snydremark and Midnight Rider

I wish I could stay till sunset, I was there with the family and we have to take off early. I also wish there were clouds in the sky but there was none. There was not much to do with the bright sun up high. Is there anything I can do to improve this type of shooting under that bright lighting condition?

Haze filter on number 1 and a CPL filter on the second one may help.
I find that in mid day shooting the CPL helps resaturate the washed out tones.

[midnight_rider]

Oh and when the sky is very bland, like it is most days, I find that recomposing to make the sky a minimal part of the image helps too.

[Jaewhy]

Salt Creek? try keeping the horizon closer to top or bottom of frame. also, agreed there's not much a "story" here, rather simple documentation

[Tigerkn]

Salt Creek it was. Thanks for the tip Jaewhy and Mid_Rider

[Snydremark]

The big thing would be to ask yourself, or someone else after the photo is taken, "What is going on here?" If you can instantly identify the "point" of the photo then you've probably got a good shot going on.

Since you have have image editing on, let me post a quick and not well done editorial example for future shots. Like the others said, try to minimize the sky in your exposure if it's fairly featureless and try to focus on the action that you want in the photo. In the second photo, the wave action is fairly interesting but the added houses and people sort of clutter the photo and make it only PART of the picture.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2503/3902364560_2d09a15602_o.jpg


The circular polarizer (CPL) suggestion is also good. It will help with the saturation, as mentioned, as well as absorbing a couple of stops of light. You might try stopping down your aperture as far as it will go and slow down your shutter to try and capture some of the movement of the waves. If you really want to go for it you might look into a neutral density (ND or Nd) filter to absorb a lot more of the light and get some different effects.

I'm sure others around here can elaborate a little more eloquently :p

[Tigerkn]

Thanks Snydremark. Those are very good pointers. Appreciated your time and effort. I will try to make better photo next time.