Long Beach

Here's a shot I took on my first trip to Long Beach, Long Island! I know its a bit dark, but the sun in the shot kind of forces the rest of the shot to be slightly under exposed. I'm interested in critiques and suggestions about composition and color. Comments on anything about this photo are welcomed though! Opinions please!

This photo is one in a series of 8. You can find the others here: http://pierre81385.dev​iantart.com

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Pierre81385 wrote in post #5900370
Here's a shot I took on my first trip to Long Beach, Long Island! I know its a bit dark, but the sun in the shot kind of forces the rest of the shot to be slightly under exposed. I'm interested in critiques and suggestions about composition and color. Comments on anything about this photo are welcomed though! Opinions please!

This photo is one in a series of 8. You can find the others here: http://pierre81385.dev​iantart.com

Make: Canon
Model: Canon EOS 40D
Shutter Speed: 1/3158 second
F Number: F/7.1
Focal Length: 10 mm
ISO Speed: 100
Date Picture Taken: Jul 10, 2008, 4:25:38 AM

A final note: When uploading this photo I came across a problem I've never encountered before. While the original photo contained much more red color, especially in the sand, the uploaded one seemed to be missing this layer. Since then I have had this problem several times, all concerning red colored layers I used! I later found that this was due to incompatibilities with color profiles I use, and those used on the site I upload to. Does anyone know how to ensure the one I use is fully compatible? I was only able to correct this problem by editing my photos using GIMP rather than Photoshop, in which case oversaturated colors in GIMP resulted in correct colors after the upload.

Lovely shot, I like it being this dark, it gives it a moody feel.
If you wanted the sand exposed a tad more whilst keeping the sky nice and dark you should look at getting some ND Grad filters. But the shot is just nice as it is.

As for the colour thing, the majority of web browsers display images in sRGB, so you must make sure this is what you save your images as before uploading to the web.

I liked the color as well! It gives it character. The high reflection on the ocean to the left is somewhat distracting. Another thing I noticed is the buildings have slight detail which makes my eyes want more out of it, if they were silhouettes it would arguably work in my eyes favor. But who knows!

Anke wrote in post #5900396
Lovely shot, I like it being this dark, it gives it a moody feel.
If you wanted the sand exposed a tad more whilst keeping the sky nice and dark you should look at getting some ND Grad filters. But the shot is just nice as it is.

As for the colour thing, the majority of web browsers display images in sRGB, so you must make sure this is what you save your images as before uploading to the web.

Thanks for the tip on sRGB! I'm glad you liked my photo. I'm currently saving up to get a filter system, but for now I'm stuck with doing everything digitally. Should look into working out a digital ND Grad filter in the mean time. I was worried people would complain about the darkness, but I think the shot wouldn't be the same without it!

EOSBoy wrote in post #5900689
I liked the color as well! It gives it character. The high reflection on the ocean to the left is somewhat distracting. Another thing I noticed is the buildings have slight detail which makes my eyes want more out of it, if they were silhouettes it would arguably work in my eyes favor. But who knows!

Thanks for pointing out those details to me! In the future I'll take care to look for those elements and edit accordingly! Thanks for posting your thoughts!

WoW

Pierre81385 wrote in post #5900370
I know its a bit dark, but the sun in the shot kind of forces the rest of the shot to be slightly under exposed.

Not really, just forces you to use a layer mask:

griptape wrote in post #5901781
Not really, just forces you to use a layer mask:

As for the composition, having your secondary subject (assuming your primary subject is the sky) following the rule of thirds I think makes a little better composition. Good picture either way.

I like the composition you created following the rule of thirds! However I must point out that with the brightening you have done, much of the dramatic effect and a lot of the color have been washed out in my opinion. Also, can I do layer masks with Adobe Photoshop Elements????? Or is that just in CS3?

I don't have a problem with the ocean, but the orange blanket on the left could be fixed easily.

Pierre81385 wrote in post #5901861
Can I do layer masks with Adobe Photoshop Elements????? Or is that just in CS3?

If I remember right you can. You should have a button on your layers tab that looks like this:

Another version. Fantastic image!

The only thing that I'm not super keen on is the vignette.
_

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I would just like to thank everyone for the great comments and suggestions! I have learned a lot and I'll be sure to keep everything in mind for my next round of photos! Thanks!