02 - Oregon Coast

It may be a beautiful place to be there, bit I don't think this photo captures it. Sorry
I think the main issue are the shadows of the waves; they're just black strips with no detail.

Also there is no interest in the foreground.
Sunsets work best when they have depth:
distant sun going down and interesting sky
foreground has a feature for the the eye to focus on

In other words, the best sunsets are the ones where they serve as a 'backdrop' to the subject matter rather than be the subject matter

pelooyen wrote in post #12817444
It may be a beautiful place to be there, bit I don't think this photo captures it. Sorry
I think the main issue are the shadows of the waves; they're just black strips with no detail.

Also there is no interest in the foreground.
Sunsets work best when they have depth:
distant sun going down and interesting sky
foreground has a feature for the the eye to focus on

In other words, the best sunsets are the ones where they serve as a 'backdrop' to the subject matter rather than be the subject matter

You make a good point.

Heh. You live and learn I guess.

For me, I see too much shadow in the waves, and too tight a shot overall. Underexposed? Try widening the shot, and find a location where there is some mix with the water (Rocks, interesting sandy beach, peer, etc)

give 2/3rds of the horizontal real estate to the sky and the remaining 1/3rd to the water. Add a stop to the exposure. adjust your color temp to 5500 ( the top rim of the sky is gray-ish. )

or you can give 3/4 to the sky and 1/4 to water.

Roamingbull wrote in post #12825186
For me, I see too much shadow in the waves, and too tight a shot overall. Underexposed? Try widening the shot, and find a location where there is some mix with the water (Rocks, interesting sandy beach, peer, etc)

There were some rocks, but they've already been shot to death.
I was trying to capture some sort of sea-scape instead of a basic beach shot; sand an all. I'll revisit this with a slightly adjusted exposure.

ckramos wrote in post #12825333
give 2/3rds of the horizontal real estate to the sky and the remaining 1/3rd to the water. Add a stop to the exposure. adjust your color temp to 5500 ( the top rim of the sky is gray-ish. )

or you can give 3/4 to the sky and 1/4 to water.

I was going for a 1/3 sky, 2/3 water sort of deal.
But I'll try other ratios as well as the color temp. recommendation.

Overall, thanks for the critique. I really appreciate it.
It isn't the best shot, but no one gets it right the first time, right?
Heh.

BlueCadet3 wrote in post #12826485
There were some rocks, but they've already been shot to death.
I was trying to capture some sort of sea-scape instead of a basic beach shot; sand an all. I'll revisit this with a slightly adjusted exposure.

I was going for a 1/3 sky, 2/3 water sort of deal.
But I'll try other ratios as well as the color temp. recommendation.

Overall, thanks for the critique. I really appreciate it.
It isn't the best shot, but no one gets it right the first time, right?
Heh.

There's a good reason for that...foreground elements will almost always make a landscape/seascape photo more interesting. With all the features along the Oregon coast, you're bound to find something interesting that will take your image to the next level. Basically...you've seen one sunset, you've seen them all. Reason being, everybody shoots them, and they'll all have nice colors that will cause the casual viewer to be wowed to death. To separate yourself from the masses, the combination of proper composition, good light, and the use of interesting foreground elements will transform a snapshot into a photograph.

argyle wrote in post #12827168
There's a good reason for that...foreground elements will almost always make a landscape/seascape photo more interesting. With all the features along the Oregon coast, you're bound to find something interesting that will take your image to the next level. Basically...you've seen one sunset, you've seen them all. Reason being, everybody shoots them, and they'll all have nice colors that will cause the casual viewer to be wowed to death. To separate yourself from the masses, the combination of proper composition, good light, and the use of interesting foreground elements will transform a snapshot into a photograph.

I figured that even while posting this very picture.
Hell, even when I was taking it. The critique corner always is full with sunsets, from what I've noticed.
Aside from this site, I've gotten only praise for that photo.
Facebook. Typical. Hah.

I really appreciate all this criticism though.
Next time I visit (soon), I'll go with a right mind in composition.

BlueCadet3 wrote in post #12827572
I figured that even while posting this very picture.
Hell, even when I was taking it. The critique corner always is full with sunsets, from what I've noticed.
Aside from this site, I've gotten only praise for that photo.
Facebook. Typical. Hah.

I really appreciate all this criticism though.
Next time I visit (soon), I'll go with a right mind in composition.

As I said in my post, the average viewer will see the colors and get wowed by them, but that's where they stop. OTOH, photographers know what to look for in an image, beyond the obvious. On the plus side, you have one heck of a coastline to shoot...take advantage of it.

argyle wrote in post #12827865
As I said in my post, the average viewer will see the colors and get wowed by them, but that's where they stop. OTOH, photographers know what to look for in an image, beyond the obvious. On the plus side, you have one heck of a coastline to shoot...take advantage of it.

Exactly. That's why I lurk around so much.
I'm headed back to the coast this weekend. So I'll have some more opportunity to shoot some quality photos.

Personally though, I still find interest in this particular photo.
I'm not going to give up just yet.
I'll PP it with some of the recommended adjustments and see what I come up with.

Great - I can almost feel the water.

David

Woodworker wrote in post #12833181
Great - I can almost feel the water.

David

Thanks.