Vaitogi Bay

I'm thinking about using this photo for my NYIP project for showing motion (still trying to finish my first project). I had to wait till it was getting quite dark before I could set the shutter speed slow enough to get some motion effect on the water. Critique most welcomed. I shot with white balance set to cloudy, applied a warming filter effect from photoshop and sharpened the photo.

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You've got it!

That is an awesome image. You will find if you ever print it, that it will be difficult to get it printed just right. The difference between those deep shadows having just enough detail and not enough will be very critical - the slightest departure in printing will make or break the print.

Remember that the print media does not, in general, support the dynamic range that is possible with the monitors, so the darker areas may get mottled or muddy in printing.

The composition, colors, and level of interest are all just great! Your objective of getting motion to show in the water has definitely been achieved.

Congratualations!

Composition is a bit plain, which makes a good image flat instead of a great.

The lower half of sky is dramatic, however the upper half is quite empty, if you can just crop it, it would be a much pleasant image.

Overall exposure, I think it's quite dark, you can sense the green existing in the foreground but you can't really see it, to me, that's a downside, If you wanna achieve blurred water, try use a ND filter to extend exposure time, that way you get more dramatic sky and water motion blur, plus brighter foreground with more details. Or simply expose twice, once for foreground and one for background, and combine them afterwards.

Btw, you might wanna consider clean your sensor, there are quite a few visible dusts on it.

Thanks everyone for the comments. I wish I would have had a ND filter. I was actually thinking about doing two exposures and then blending but i wasn't sure if this would work sense the water is moving. Will have to give it a try next time. Sensor cleaning scares the you know what out of me (although I know it shouldn't) but I know sooner or later will have to get it done.

Thanks again.

I hope you folks don't mind, I tried another photo with a different crop and tried to lighten the shadows. I'm terrible at photoshop but my daughter likes this one better, while my wife likes the first one better.... I'm going bonkers cause I really want to get my first project under my belt but of course want to do the best I can. Any suggestions/comments?

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I like them both, and I do think that cropping out some of the sky was a good idea.

It is really hard to say which is better - the lighter one or the darker one. They each set a different mood, and as you have already found, each has its own following.

I think after you print the latest one and have it on your wall for a while, you will like it better, but you have to actually put it in print to be sure. Just the slightest difference in tonalities of the darker areas has such a big effect on the overall scene.

Thanks again everyone.... Printed both and compared side by side.
Out of my 5 kids (not a typo) the majority like the last one the best (although they say they like both - right before they asked for money for the movies). Put it in front of the dog and he just stared (although I do think he stared longer at the last one) so will probably go with that last one..... I guess when in doubt, go with the scientific approach. Seriously, the comments are much appreciated.